open fire, with bake-ovens set into the wall on either side. In every available space there were floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted cupboards, and two long, low windows looked out on to a stableyard. Hester stared all round the room, then at last let her gaze rest on her companion, who was surveying her thoughtfully.
Mrs Cledwen was not just beautiful, she was striking. She was tall and slender, with a rich mass of coal-black hair, very white skin and blue eyes, and she had scarlet lips which parted as she smiled at Hester to reveal perfect, pearly little teeth. Hester, dazzled, thought she had never seen a woman so beautiful.
‘So you are Matthew’s little bride! No wonder he’s kept you hidden away – you’re very pretty. Now I wonder just what you saw in our worthy Matthew?’
Hester, who had sometimes wondered the same thing, found she was bristling at the implied criticism, but before she could speak Mrs Cledwen shook her head at herself,with a grimace so comical that Hester could not help but smile.
‘Listen to me! What a perfectly beastly thing to say, especially as Matthew is not only worthy, he’s one of the handsomest men I know. But he is shy with women, even with me, and he’s known me for a number of years, so I can’t help wondering how he brought himself to propose marriage.’
‘He is shy,’ Hester allowed, ‘but once we got to know each other we got on very well and perhaps my being not very old made it easier for him.’
‘Were you still at school last summer? You do seem very young, my dear.’
‘I’d left school,’ Hester said quickly. ‘The summer in Rhyl was a – a holiday before I started work.’
‘I see. And how long have you been married now?’
‘Not terribly long,’ Hester said stiffly, telling herself that it was a nasty, nosy sort of question for anyone to ask. Despite Mrs Cledwen’s prettiness and charm she was beginning to dislike the other woman’s inquisition – if she had been here, as she said, for years, she must know very well when Matthew brought his bride back to the lodge. ‘Can you tell what you want me to do?’
‘To do? Oh, the housework.’ Mrs Cledwen plunged a hand into the pocket of her full black skirt and produced a small watch on a length of gold chain. She consulted its face. ‘Just cleaning, my dear, and I should prefer that you start earlier, tomorrow. At about ten in the morning, I think. You may bring the child. You have a perambulator?’
‘It’s very old; but I daresay it’ll survive being pushed up the drive,’ Hester said. ‘Suppose the baby cries, though?’
‘You know best how to hush her,’ Mrs Cledwen said briskly. ‘Tomorrow morning, at ten, you may start in here. You can clean right through, and I’ll keep an eye on you so that no mistakes get made. If you work hard you’ll befree by lunchtime. I’ll pay you weekly; you should earn about two shillings and sixpence a week, which isn’t bad for a dozen or so hours.’
Hester thought of the girls she had met who were waitressing in Rhyl; they got five shillings a week, but then they worked a ten-or twelve-hour day, and there were tips too. Probably half a crown was fair, especially since she would have to take time off to see to Helen.
‘All right, I’ll be here by ten,’ she said equably. ‘What else will I be required to do, apart from cleaning in here?’
‘You’ll do the rough work,’ Mrs Cledwen told her. ‘Scrubbing, carting coal, laying and lighting the fires in the winter.’
‘Ten o’clock’s too late for fires,’ Hester pointed out. ‘It takes an hour for a room to warm up. Fires are usually lit before breakfast.’
Mrs Cledwen gave her a glance in which annoyance and a grudging respect were mingled. ‘Yes, of course, I was forgetting. Very well then, you had best come earlier, in winter.’
Hester shook her head. ‘I can’t, Mrs Cledwen. Don’t you have a housemaid to do things like that? I have to do my own work before I come, I have
Mrs Cledwen was not just beautiful, she was striking. She was tall and slender, with a rich mass of coal-black hair, very white skin and blue eyes, and she had scarlet lips which parted as she smiled at Hester to reveal perfect, pearly little teeth. Hester, dazzled, thought she had never seen a woman so beautiful.
‘So you are Matthew’s little bride! No wonder he’s kept you hidden away – you’re very pretty. Now I wonder just what you saw in our worthy Matthew?’
Hester, who had sometimes wondered the same thing, found she was bristling at the implied criticism, but before she could speak Mrs Cledwen shook her head at herself,with a grimace so comical that Hester could not help but smile.
‘Listen to me! What a perfectly beastly thing to say, especially as Matthew is not only worthy, he’s one of the handsomest men I know. But he is shy with women, even with me, and he’s known me for a number of years, so I can’t help wondering how he brought himself to propose marriage.’
‘He is shy,’ Hester allowed, ‘but once we got to know each other we got on very well and perhaps my being not very old made it easier for him.’
‘Were you still at school last summer? You do seem very young, my dear.’
‘I’d left school,’ Hester said quickly. ‘The summer in Rhyl was a – a holiday before I started work.’
‘I see. And how long have you been married now?’
‘Not terribly long,’ Hester said stiffly, telling herself that it was a nasty, nosy sort of question for anyone to ask. Despite Mrs Cledwen’s prettiness and charm she was beginning to dislike the other woman’s inquisition – if she had been here, as she said, for years, she must know very well when Matthew brought his bride back to the lodge. ‘Can you tell what you want me to do?’
‘To do? Oh, the housework.’ Mrs Cledwen plunged a hand into the pocket of her full black skirt and produced a small watch on a length of gold chain. She consulted its face. ‘Just cleaning, my dear, and I should prefer that you start earlier, tomorrow. At about ten in the morning, I think. You may bring the child. You have a perambulator?’
‘It’s very old; but I daresay it’ll survive being pushed up the drive,’ Hester said. ‘Suppose the baby cries, though?’
‘You know best how to hush her,’ Mrs Cledwen said briskly. ‘Tomorrow morning, at ten, you may start in here. You can clean right through, and I’ll keep an eye on you so that no mistakes get made. If you work hard you’ll befree by lunchtime. I’ll pay you weekly; you should earn about two shillings and sixpence a week, which isn’t bad for a dozen or so hours.’
Hester thought of the girls she had met who were waitressing in Rhyl; they got five shillings a week, but then they worked a ten-or twelve-hour day, and there were tips too. Probably half a crown was fair, especially since she would have to take time off to see to Helen.
‘All right, I’ll be here by ten,’ she said equably. ‘What else will I be required to do, apart from cleaning in here?’
‘You’ll do the rough work,’ Mrs Cledwen told her. ‘Scrubbing, carting coal, laying and lighting the fires in the winter.’
‘Ten o’clock’s too late for fires,’ Hester pointed out. ‘It takes an hour for a room to warm up. Fires are usually lit before breakfast.’
Mrs Cledwen gave her a glance in which annoyance and a grudging respect were mingled. ‘Yes, of course, I was forgetting. Very well then, you had best come earlier, in winter.’
Hester shook her head. ‘I can’t, Mrs Cledwen. Don’t you have a housemaid to do things like that? I have to do my own work before I come, I have
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