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Authors: Alanna Knight
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now, a bit slovenly and careless. Always breaking things in my kitchen – a nightmare she was. Anyway, Sir seized on her, blaming her for leaving the window unlatched. He sent her packing and, what was worse, refused to give her a reference.’
That sounded very harsh to me and I protested: ‘That was hardly fair. She was very young, after all.’
‘Lasses go into service here at twelve often enough, Mrs McQuinn. They don’t need much wages, work for pennies at that age—’
Another sign of Sir’s meanness, I thought, as she went on: ‘And Lily’s family – there were five other bairns younger than her – needed the few shillings she got each week. Their dad was an invalid, after an accident in the mine when he was a lad. Couldn’t work again.’
I felt a rising sense of outrage against Hubert Staines, with his child labour exploiting the family of one of his injured pitmen. ‘Surely Mr Staines could have given her a reference,’ I said angrily.
Mrs Robson shook her head. ‘No. Sir said she was unreliable and that he couldn’t in all conscience recommend her to anyone else after her causing his wife’s death.’
‘She didn’t push her out of the window, Mrs Robson. It was a tragic accident,’ I protested.
She shook her head. ‘We all knew that. But Sir was beside himself at the time, said I’d have to do all the work myself, he would never trust another young maid in the house. Put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, I can tell you,’ she said, sounding ill-used. ‘And all for two extra pounds a month, but beggars can’t be choosers, can they? I had my living to make and I’d been a loyal trusted servant to the family for years.’
‘What happened to the girl? Does she still live in Staines – I mean, did you keep in touch?’
She gave me a slightly offended look. ‘Not with me. Sir wouldn’t have approved. Sad for Kate, though, she missed her, they were very friendly. Lily might have been useless in the kitchen but she liked making things for Miss Kate, doted onher. Good at sewing, too,’ she added with a reproachful glance at the pile of darning. ‘Used to do all this sort of thing, even said she enjoyed it. Now it all comes to me, as if I hadn’t enough to do running the house.’
My thoughts were with Lily. ‘I hope she got another job in spite of everything.’
Mrs Robson shrugged. ‘Couldn’t say, but her father limped up to the house next day and went on something terrible, shouted at Sir, for taking away his daughter’s character. I was at the door but I heard every word. Threatened to strike Sir with his stick, he did. It was awful.’
Shaking her head, she added: ‘How it might have ended is anyone’s guess if Lily’s father hadn’t been killed on the level crossing in the village – the one that divides us from the old colliery. You would have come through it when you came on the train.’
I nodded and she said, ‘Last I heard of the lass was that she’d married a railwayman who was a chum of her father’s. That must have been a comfort for her. They moved to Alnwick.’
I was making a mental note of Alnwick and bad feelings, trying to see if they might add up to someone with a good reason for blackmailing Hubert. A maid who had been familiar with the house might have seen those photographs, and if she didn’t steal them herself, she might have gossiped about them. And that gossip could eventually have led to a burglary and Hubert’s present unfortunate predicament.
Mrs Robson was saying, ‘Sir really showed how kind he was and prepared to forget the past; he gave them a good wedding present.’
From someone who had refused Lily a characterreference, that was a surprise. I asked, ‘Something for their home?’
She laughed. ‘No. Money! To help them set up.’
Perhaps I was misjudging Hubert and he had shown genuine remorse. ‘A sad story indeed,’ I said encouragingly. ‘Do you ever hear of them?’
‘Not I, Mrs McQuinn. They weren’t my
That sounded very harsh to me and I protested: ‘That was hardly fair. She was very young, after all.’
‘Lasses go into service here at twelve often enough, Mrs McQuinn. They don’t need much wages, work for pennies at that age—’
Another sign of Sir’s meanness, I thought, as she went on: ‘And Lily’s family – there were five other bairns younger than her – needed the few shillings she got each week. Their dad was an invalid, after an accident in the mine when he was a lad. Couldn’t work again.’
I felt a rising sense of outrage against Hubert Staines, with his child labour exploiting the family of one of his injured pitmen. ‘Surely Mr Staines could have given her a reference,’ I said angrily.
Mrs Robson shook her head. ‘No. Sir said she was unreliable and that he couldn’t in all conscience recommend her to anyone else after her causing his wife’s death.’
‘She didn’t push her out of the window, Mrs Robson. It was a tragic accident,’ I protested.
She shook her head. ‘We all knew that. But Sir was beside himself at the time, said I’d have to do all the work myself, he would never trust another young maid in the house. Put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, I can tell you,’ she said, sounding ill-used. ‘And all for two extra pounds a month, but beggars can’t be choosers, can they? I had my living to make and I’d been a loyal trusted servant to the family for years.’
‘What happened to the girl? Does she still live in Staines – I mean, did you keep in touch?’
She gave me a slightly offended look. ‘Not with me. Sir wouldn’t have approved. Sad for Kate, though, she missed her, they were very friendly. Lily might have been useless in the kitchen but she liked making things for Miss Kate, doted onher. Good at sewing, too,’ she added with a reproachful glance at the pile of darning. ‘Used to do all this sort of thing, even said she enjoyed it. Now it all comes to me, as if I hadn’t enough to do running the house.’
My thoughts were with Lily. ‘I hope she got another job in spite of everything.’
Mrs Robson shrugged. ‘Couldn’t say, but her father limped up to the house next day and went on something terrible, shouted at Sir, for taking away his daughter’s character. I was at the door but I heard every word. Threatened to strike Sir with his stick, he did. It was awful.’
Shaking her head, she added: ‘How it might have ended is anyone’s guess if Lily’s father hadn’t been killed on the level crossing in the village – the one that divides us from the old colliery. You would have come through it when you came on the train.’
I nodded and she said, ‘Last I heard of the lass was that she’d married a railwayman who was a chum of her father’s. That must have been a comfort for her. They moved to Alnwick.’
I was making a mental note of Alnwick and bad feelings, trying to see if they might add up to someone with a good reason for blackmailing Hubert. A maid who had been familiar with the house might have seen those photographs, and if she didn’t steal them herself, she might have gossiped about them. And that gossip could eventually have led to a burglary and Hubert’s present unfortunate predicament.
Mrs Robson was saying, ‘Sir really showed how kind he was and prepared to forget the past; he gave them a good wedding present.’
From someone who had refused Lily a characterreference, that was a surprise. I asked, ‘Something for their home?’
She laughed. ‘No. Money! To help them set up.’
Perhaps I was misjudging Hubert and he had shown genuine remorse. ‘A sad story indeed,’ I said encouragingly. ‘Do you ever hear of them?’
‘Not I, Mrs McQuinn. They weren’t my
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