Hope - Lesley Pearse [54]
But to her astonishment it wasn’t Anna Nichols at all, but Master Rufus. And he looked as startled as a rabbit.
‘I’m sorry, Master Rufus,’ Hope stammered. ‘I didn’t know it was you.’
‘Didn’t you? Well, that’s good. I mean, that’s the whole point of the game, isn’t it?’ he said with a beaming smile. ‘I’d been waiting for ever for someone to come along. I was so pleased when I saw you– I didn’t think you’d scream like I was a murderer, the way Miss Bird would.’
Hope didn’t like sour-faced Miss Bird one bit, so that made her laugh.
Rufus was ten now, and almost as tall as Hope, but he still looked as sweet and innocent as he had as a five-year-old. His blond hair almost touched his shoulders, and he had wide blue eyes and a soft plump mouth. He had Lady Harvey’s slightly upturned nose and her creamy skin, yet overall he looked like a junior replica of his father, who also had a very girlish mouth and curly hair, and Rufus wore his navy-blue sailor suit with as much style as his father wore his riding clothes.
‘Should you be out here, Master Rufus?’ Hope said archly. ‘I didn’t think you were allowed beyond the grounds of Briargate.’
‘No, I believe I’m not,’ he grinned. ‘But don’t call me Master. Just Rufus will do. Let’s have a game of hide-and-seek?’
Hope might have turned thirteen back in April but she often ached to have the kind of fun she used to have with her brothers before their parents died. Her life was all work, up at five, toiling in the kitchen day after day, often until eight in the evening and later still when there was a dinner party. The only respite was her afternoon off when she visited Matt and Amy, but Amy was as staid as Miss Bird most of the time. All she did was gossip about her neighbours, or boast how clever her children were.
Albert wouldn’t approve if she was late home; he’d give her one of his black looks and point to the clock. But she doubted he’d take it any further than that. She often wondered what Nell said to him that evening after he whacked her against the wall, because he’d been different ever since.
He wasn’t nicer, for he was just as silent and brooding, but he hadn’t hit her again, nor did he order her and Nell about the way he used to. It was rather strange really, for Hope sensed he still resented her every bit as much. He certainly wasn’t any kinder to Nell either, but he did draw the water from the well and brought in fuel for the stove. Hope remained wary of him though, and did her best not to upset him in any way.
Luckily she was hardly ever alone with Albert any more. Soon after Cook’s funeral, Martha Miles, the new cook, arrived, and Baines told Hope she was to be a proper kitchenmaid, at six pounds a year, and that meant she worked till much later in the evening. On her regular afternoon off on Wednesdays she always went to see Matt and Amy, and Baines arranged it so she and Nell could have the same Sunday afternoon off once a month.
Hope played hide-and-seek with Rufus for quite a while, and it was a bit like old times when they’d played in the garden, only a great deal more fun because now Rufus was old enough to hide properly. But eventually Nell said she’d have to go and told Rufus he must too for his mother would be getting worried about him.
He just shrugged. ‘Maybe that will make a change from worrying about Papa,’ he said.
Hope frowned, assuming Rufus was a little jealous that his father got more of Lady Harvey’s attention. ‘You should be glad they are happy together,’ she reprimanded him. ‘It would be much worse for you if they didn’t like each other.’
He looked at her strangely. ‘Happy together? They are hardly ever together. Even when he’s here at Briargate he’s out most of the time. He only comes back for meals.’
Hope had not been aware of that, but then the only time she got a glimpse of Sir William was when he went to the stables to get Merlin. She hadn’t heard it from the other servants either, for Baines was very strict about them gossiping about what the master and mistress did.