to see to the baby and Matthew. Ten o’clock is the earliest I can manage.’
Mrs Cledwen chewed her lip, a faint frown marring her perfect brow.
‘I see. Well, the fire in the range stays in all the time, but I shall have to light the other fires myself, until we get a housemaid. Your job will be to keep the scuttles and wood-boxes full, the floors clean and the paintwork and furniture polished. You must be flexible, so that if I tell you to do something different you can learn to do it, whatever it may be. And you’ll start at ten o’clock tomorrow morning; is that all right?’
‘Yes m’m,’ Hester said, hoping that she now sounded sufficiently like a scrubbing woman. She guessed that MrsCledwen would keep an eye on her to start with, but after that she would be able to explore. After all, she had yearned to know what the castle was like; what better way to find out than to work here? It would not be fun, of course, in the way working in Rhyl would have been fun, but it was convenient in other ways. And she had always known in her heart that Helen would make it impossible for her to apply for the more interesting jobs. ‘What’ll I do now, Mrs Cledwen?’
‘Now? Oh well, since you’re here you’d best come with me into the scullery. I’ll show you where the cleaning things are kept.’
Leaving the castle, by the back way this time, Hester reviewed her visit. Mrs Cledwen was a strange person, friendly one minute, nosy the next, frosty the next. She’s very beautiful but I don’t think she’s very nice, Hester decided. She’s the sort to take advantage – I bet I slave for that half a crown!
Despite her attempts to find out, she still didn’t know precisely what job Mrs Cledwen held at the castle. Housekeeper? But a self-respecting housekeeper wouldn’t light the fires, she would insist that the old man got a housemaid, probably two or three. A poor relative, perhaps? But poor relations who were as young and beautiful as Mrs Cledwen didn’t stay poor relations long. If I hadn’t known I might have thought her the old man’s daughter; could she be a niece, perhaps, or some other relative? Not a poor relation but a rich or eccentric one, someone who chose to live at the castle because she wanted to do so, not because she had nowhere else to go.
However, asking herself unanswerable questions did not help much and since she was to start work in the morning she would have countless opportunities to satisfy her curiosity. The extra money would be nice, of course, but the more Hester thought about it the more sure shebecame that working at the castle might yet prove a doubtful pleasure. The cleaning things, kept in a tall cupboard in the smelly, chilly little scullery, consisted of a bass broom, some torn-up shirts, a couple of buckets and a very large, very new scrubbing brush. Mrs Cledwen bought the brush when the old man told her I was going to work for her, Hester thought, aggrieved, but Mrs Cledwen didn’t know enough about scrubbing floors to buy soap as well. She had pointed out the lack and received a chilly glance from those magnificent blue eyes, but Mrs Cledwen had seen her point.
‘I’ll buy soap tomorrow,’ she had said. ‘Oh, put a pan of water on the range when you arrive or you won’t have any hot water to scrub with. I daresay hot is needed?’
‘Yes,’ Hester said baldly. ‘Cold just spreads the dirt around.’ She hesitated a moment, then decided that if she didn’t ask she would never know. ‘Who was your last scrubbing woman, Mrs Cledwen?’
‘We had a – a girl from farther up the coast.’ A shadow crossed the older woman’s face, but whether it was of sadness or annoyance Hester could not have said. ‘Mr Geraint dismissed her; she was an idle creature and none too bright. I hope and trust you’ll be very different from Katie, Mrs Coburn … no, I shall start as I mean to go on and call you Hester.’
‘Very well, Mrs Cledwen. Shall you be here tomorrow
Mrs Cledwen chewed her lip, a faint frown marring her perfect brow.
‘I see. Well, the fire in the range stays in all the time, but I shall have to light the other fires myself, until we get a housemaid. Your job will be to keep the scuttles and wood-boxes full, the floors clean and the paintwork and furniture polished. You must be flexible, so that if I tell you to do something different you can learn to do it, whatever it may be. And you’ll start at ten o’clock tomorrow morning; is that all right?’
‘Yes m’m,’ Hester said, hoping that she now sounded sufficiently like a scrubbing woman. She guessed that MrsCledwen would keep an eye on her to start with, but after that she would be able to explore. After all, she had yearned to know what the castle was like; what better way to find out than to work here? It would not be fun, of course, in the way working in Rhyl would have been fun, but it was convenient in other ways. And she had always known in her heart that Helen would make it impossible for her to apply for the more interesting jobs. ‘What’ll I do now, Mrs Cledwen?’
‘Now? Oh well, since you’re here you’d best come with me into the scullery. I’ll show you where the cleaning things are kept.’
Leaving the castle, by the back way this time, Hester reviewed her visit. Mrs Cledwen was a strange person, friendly one minute, nosy the next, frosty the next. She’s very beautiful but I don’t think she’s very nice, Hester decided. She’s the sort to take advantage – I bet I slave for that half a crown!
Despite her attempts to find out, she still didn’t know precisely what job Mrs Cledwen held at the castle. Housekeeper? But a self-respecting housekeeper wouldn’t light the fires, she would insist that the old man got a housemaid, probably two or three. A poor relative, perhaps? But poor relations who were as young and beautiful as Mrs Cledwen didn’t stay poor relations long. If I hadn’t known I might have thought her the old man’s daughter; could she be a niece, perhaps, or some other relative? Not a poor relation but a rich or eccentric one, someone who chose to live at the castle because she wanted to do so, not because she had nowhere else to go.
However, asking herself unanswerable questions did not help much and since she was to start work in the morning she would have countless opportunities to satisfy her curiosity. The extra money would be nice, of course, but the more Hester thought about it the more sure shebecame that working at the castle might yet prove a doubtful pleasure. The cleaning things, kept in a tall cupboard in the smelly, chilly little scullery, consisted of a bass broom, some torn-up shirts, a couple of buckets and a very large, very new scrubbing brush. Mrs Cledwen bought the brush when the old man told her I was going to work for her, Hester thought, aggrieved, but Mrs Cledwen didn’t know enough about scrubbing floors to buy soap as well. She had pointed out the lack and received a chilly glance from those magnificent blue eyes, but Mrs Cledwen had seen her point.
‘I’ll buy soap tomorrow,’ she had said. ‘Oh, put a pan of water on the range when you arrive or you won’t have any hot water to scrub with. I daresay hot is needed?’
‘Yes,’ Hester said baldly. ‘Cold just spreads the dirt around.’ She hesitated a moment, then decided that if she didn’t ask she would never know. ‘Who was your last scrubbing woman, Mrs Cledwen?’
‘We had a – a girl from farther up the coast.’ A shadow crossed the older woman’s face, but whether it was of sadness or annoyance Hester could not have said. ‘Mr Geraint dismissed her; she was an idle creature and none too bright. I hope and trust you’ll be very different from Katie, Mrs Coburn … no, I shall start as I mean to go on and call you Hester.’
‘Very well, Mrs Cledwen. Shall you be here tomorrow
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