Hope - Lesley Pearse [68]
‘My father used to say when an oak came crashing down that it was an omen of something worse to come,’ Rose said fearfully.
‘I’m sure your father believed in witches too,’ Baines retorted sarcastically. ‘I would say this is fortuitous as it means we’ll have plenty of logs this winter. So get about your work now, and don’t be so foolish.’
Hope missed her sister dreadfully. She hadn’t realized until Nell went that it was she who had become the glue that held everyone together. Although she was a quiet person, she really cared about her fellow servants and could stimulate chatter and laughter between them. Without her it was very gloomy. Martha talked of nothing but food. Rose would grumble about how much work she still had to do, and Baines hardly said a word.
Sir William’s unpredictability didn’t help the mood. They’d lay the dining-room table for him and he’d want his meal in his study; he’d tell Baines he wouldn’t be back for dinner, then come in roaring drunk late in the evening and demand a meal. Several times he’d told Martha he wanted a special dinner that evening because he was bringing a friend home, and then didn’t turn up at all. Rose said he was a selfish swine, but as Baines pointed out, it was Sir William’s house and he paid them to dance attendance on him. He also reminded them all that if they thought they could get an easier job, they were free to leave Briargate.
A letter with the same bold script Nell had shown her came after Lady Harvey had been gone over two weeks, coinciding with one for Hope from Nell. She put them both into the pocket of her apron, placed the rest on the silver tray in the hall for Sir William to look at later, finished laying the drawing-room fire, and then returned to the kitchen before reading her own letter.
Nell couldn’t write very well so it was brief and to the point: Squire Dorville had died. She expected it would be about two weeks before they set off for home, and she hoped everything was running smoothly at Briargate.
Hope knew that if Nell was writing to her, Lady Harvey would have written to her husband, and presumably he would leave immediately for Sussex. She wondered in passing whether he’d collect Rufus from school and take him too, or just write to him to pass on the news of his grandfather’s death.
It wasn’t until after breakfast, when Hope went upstairs with Rose to see to Sir William’s bedroom, that she thought about the letter from the Captain again. She had taken it from her apron pocket and slipped it into the bodice of her dress while out in the privy, but it crackled a little when she moved and she knew she must put it in a better place for safe keeping.
She knew she had to be careful. Rose was extremely nosy and Ruth had always warned Hope never to have anything in her room that she didn’t want seen because Rose poked into everyone’s belongings. Rose couldn’t read, so she wouldn’t know who the letter was for or from, but she was crafty enough to take it down to Baines, making out she’d found it on the stairs. That also meant it wouldn’t be a good idea to hide it somewhere in Lady Harvey’s bedroom for no doubt Rose went through that with a fine toothcomb while cleaning it.
The gatehouse seemed the safest place. She could slide it under the mattress of her old bed, for Albert would have no reason even to go into that room, let alone disturb the bed. She had intended to go down there that afternoon to clean up anyway.
Hope was back in the kitchen later on in the morning, when Sir William came in. She knew immediately why he’d come, but Martha and Baines looked astounded to see him as he seldom visited the kitchen.
As always when she saw her master, Hope was struck by his similarity to Rufus. He was in his mid-forties now, but he looked much younger; even the heavy drinking hadn’t spoiled his clear skin or dulled his beautiful blue eyes. The slackness of his full lips and the absence