Hope - Lesley Pearse [60]
Albert stopped his work and gave one of his rare smiles, showing very white teeth. ‘Aye, that one has done me proud,’ he said with surprising warmth. ‘But the rest is getting past its best now.’
Hope moved nearer to him and held out a plum. ‘Try one, they’re delicious.’
He looked at her stained apron and she expected that he would pass one of his more usual sarcastic comments, but he didn’t, just took the plum and bit into it, and smiled as juice spurted out.
‘Umm,’ he said appreciatively. ‘We’d better get them all eaten before the wasps find them.’
Delighted that for once he wasn’t being unpleasant, Hope handed him another. ‘You’ve made a fine job of the garden,’ she said.
He looked pleased at her compliment but made no comment.
‘It takes an artist’s eye to pick colours and shapes that blend so well together,’ she said shyly.
He smiled at that, and leaned on his scythe to mop the sweat from his brow with a piece of rag.
‘You look very hot,’ she said. ‘Shall I bring you out a drink?’
‘I’ll come up to the house myself soon,’ he said. ‘But thank you for asking.’
Hope went on then, but she felt a little glow inside her because she felt they’d at last made some sort of connection. She thought that when she went down to the gatehouse in the afternoon she’d leave a few of the plums in a bowl for him, and perhaps put a few flowers on the table. Nell would like it so much if she came home to find they were getting on better.
Ten days later, Ruth came into the kitchen from the stable yard, looking worried. ‘I can’t find Rufus,’ she said.
Martha and Hope were preparing supper. ‘He was with James in the stables,’ Martha replied. ‘At least, he was a while back because I heard them laughing.’
‘He’s not there now. James said he thought he’d come back in here. But he’s not in the house anywhere. I’ve looked everywhere in the gardens. I don’t know where else to look.’
‘He’ll turn up, Ruth, he’s not a baby any more,’ Hope said.
‘But he’s my responsibility while his mother’s away,’ Ruth said, her voice cracking with anxiety.
Only the previous day Ruth had claimed she wouldn’t mind if the master and mistress never came back, for the weather had remained hot and sunny, and she, like all the servants, had been very relaxed, doing only the bare minimum of work.
Yet for Ruth it had been an almost complete holiday for right from the first day his mother left, Rufus had insisted he wanted to eat with the servants, and now, a week later, the only time he went back into the nursery was to sleep.
In the mornings he was up early helping James with the horses, and later he’d come into the kitchen and offer his help there. His sunny nature and obvious delight at being let into the servants’ world affected everyone. All the normal rigid structure of the day had collapsed, work was done in the early mornings or evenings when it was cooler, meals were far simpler. A table and chairs were taken out into the stable yard, and even Albert, who normally only came in for a drink, gulped it down and left, now sat down at the table and joined in the conversations.
Hope could not remember ever hearing so much laughter at Briargate. One afternoon Baines had taught her, Rufus and Ruth a new card game, on another Rose had instructed them all on making corn dollies. But what Hope liked best of all was that she and Rufus could be together.
At first they were careful to behave as though they barely knew each other, but as the days passed no one seemed to notice or care about any over-familiarity. Baines did point out one Sunday morning when they were going to church that Hope should walk sedately and not run with Rufus like a hoyden, but it was only a very gentle reminder of her position, not a real rebuke.
‘He’ll be hiding somewhere hoping one of you will come past so he can jump out on you,’ Hope said. ‘I’ll go and look for him.’
She left the kitchen quickly, because she was pretty certain of where Rufus might be, although she just couldn’t imagine why he’d gone there now when it was