Page 28

Chapter 28

August 1911

Isobel was hurrying, Ursula could feel it.

‘Is everything alright?’

‘Yes, yes. I’m just making sure that all my jobs are done properly before I go off this afternoon.

’

Ursula looked out of the window.

‘It looks like another beautiful day.’

‘Enough blue in the sky to make a sailor a pair of trousers, my auntie used to say. Everything is ready for dinner; there’s a pie under a tea towel on the cold shelf in the larder so that’s ready to go in the oven at five, and the potatoes are peeled and covered in water in the pan, but I haven’t added the salt yet.

And there’s a jug of that sweet onion gravy that Master Finlay likes.

’

‘Thank you.’ Ursula really wanted to know what Isobel’s plans were but there wasn’t a question-sized gap in the conversation.

‘There’s a fruit flan for pudding.

I mean dessert. That’s in the larder too.

You just need to put cream with it.

There might be a few more raspberries ripe in the patch down the garden that you can add if you like.

’

‘Won’t you be back by six?

’ It wasn’t like Isobel to be late.

She had been so appreciative of the extra hours she now had to herself and always strived to make sure that her routine didn’t disrupt the household.

‘I expect so. I’m meeting a friend for an hour and she doesn’t have as much time off as I do, so her afternoon is precious.

I don’t want to be late.

’

Ursula nodded and poured herself another cup of tea.

The locksmith on Bread Street had been most helpful when Ursula had visited, and had supplied not just the lock and the new doorknobs, but also a rather pretty door knocker, and she had booked a lock fitter to install them all.

He was coming this afternoon, while Isobel was out.

It was to be a surprise.

*

It was well past seven o’clock when Isobel returned.

She rushed in through the scullery door, gasping for breath, and found Ursula washing the last of the plates.

Isobel was horrified.

‘What are you doing ?’

‘You weren’t back, so I decided to wash up.

It’s not difficult, and I didn’t want you to come back to a pile of dirty dishes.

It’s a lovely evening and everyone else has gone out for a walk.

’ Ursula wiped her hands on the towel that hung behind the door.

‘I didn’t want to go with them because I have a blister from my new shoes.

’

‘Right, I’ll get my apron and if you would like to leave the rest of it now, I’ll finish up.

’

‘There isn’t anything to leave, it’s all done.

Really, it was just a few plates.

You did all the dishes from the baking this morning.

Don’t forget that I lived alone before I came to Library Terrace so I’m not a stranger to hot water and soft soap.

We kept some pie and some dessert for you.

’

‘Thank you.’ Isobel took her coat off.

‘I’ll just put this in my room and I’ll be back down right away to set up the breakfast things.

’

Ursula nodded, and as Isobel put her foot on the first step, she smiled to herself.

A few seconds later there was a gasp.

Ursula waited.

‘What has happened to my door?’ Isobel ran back down the stairs.

‘It’s locked and I can’t get in.

’ Her voice began to break.

‘Is this because of the jewellery box? I explained about that and I am so, so sorry.’

‘Oh my goodness, absolutely not!’ Ursula reached into her pocket and pulled out a shiny new brass key.

‘This is for you. We all thought that as you are part of the household here, part of the family, really, you should have your privacy when you want it. I would never dream of coming into your room without permission, but after everything that happened before, we thought you might like to be sure of that.’ She offered the key to Isobel.

‘Although you probably won’t want to lock the door when you are actually in the room, in case there is an emergency or something.

’

‘A fire.’

‘Yes, a fire. But when you’re up there, I thought that rather than shouting up as though you are a naughty child, I could use this instead?

’ Ursula pointed to a small brass door knocker which had been mounted on a piece of wood and fixed above the hand rail at the foot of the staircase.

Isobel took the key.

‘Did the person who fitted the lock take the old one away?’

‘It’s outside.

Finlay is fascinated by things like that and I thought he might want to take it apart and see how it works.

It’s on the scullery windowsill.

’

Isobel fetched the old lock.

‘Let me show you something.’

‘What am I looking at?’

‘She had the lock changed. It’s not the one that was on the door to start with; that one was taken away when Mr Black was on a trip somewhere, and this one was fitted instead.

’

‘Why would she do that, if she intended to stuff it with paper?’

‘That happened later. Look at the lock. You can only lock it and unlock it from one side, see? The keyhole the other side has been blanked off.’

Ursula frowned.

‘I don’t understand.

’

‘She could lock me in. And even if I had a key, I couldn’t get out.

She did that to make sure I was too frightened to go up to my room during the day.

To make sure I was working all the time.

She would lock it in the morning when I came down and not unlock it again until after eight o’clock at night.

And then when she got bored of that, she stuffed all the paper in so anyone could come up at any time.

Not that they did, but it was another way to make me worry.

’

Ursula shook her head.

‘I cannot imagine why you stayed.’

‘I told you. It was because of the children. I knew that if she was doing this to me then she was almost certainly practising so she could do it to them.’ Isobel looked down at her new key.

‘Especially Miss Ann. It wasn’t a secret that she had never wanted a daughter, and she blamed her for the troubles.

’

‘Troubles?’

‘Women’s troubles.

She never said what they were but it was seemingly Miss Ann’s fault.

She was born so quickly that I think there was, well, I think there was an injury, you know.

And she wasn’t the same afterwards.

’ Isobel surveyed the clean scullery.

‘But that’s enough of the past, don’t you think?

If there’s nothing else, I’ll eat my supper, and then I can get on with laying the table for breakfast.’

*

After she had eaten the pie and the slice of flan, and had done the last of her chores, Isobel went in search of Ursula and found her sitting in the dining room.

Evening sunshine stretched long shadows across the table.

‘I need to speak with you, Mrs Black. I haven’t properly thanked you for the lock and the door knocker.

’

Ursula put down her pencil and closed her diary.

‘You are very welcome. It’s the least we could do for you.

’

‘It’s just .?.?.

’ Isobel was distinctly uncomfortable about something.

‘Go on.’

‘Well, it’s just that after I saw my friend this afternoon, I went to see about a new position.

With everything that’s happened I wasn’t sure if you really wanted me to stay.

I needed to see if there was another house that would offer me a place so I went for an interview.

Someone told me there is a big household in the Grange who are looking for a maid and that the family are good, you know?

’ Isobel looked past Ursula and fixed her eyes on the clock on the mantelpiece.

From ten feet away she could see that the dark wooden case needed dusting.

‘And were you offered the job?’

‘I was. Subject to references, of course.’

Ursula felt her stomach tighten.

‘When are you leaving us?’

‘I haven’t decided about it.

’

‘We will be very sorry to see you go, I hope you know that.’

Isobel sat down on one of the best dining chairs, without asking permission.

‘It’s a good situation, and there is a kitchen-maid who would be beneath me, so it would be a promotion, sort of.

’

‘I see.’

‘But I would be going back to having just a half-day off each week, and it would be on a Sunday, when the shops and things are closed.’ Isobel paused.

‘And the lady asked me all sorts of questions but she didn’t give me a chance to ask any of my own.

’

Ursula waited for Isobel to untangle her thoughts.

‘She walked me around the house so I could see what needed to be done, and then she showed me the kitchen. The house has electricity and I think she was rather proud of it. But in the cold cupboard there was a chicken with its head still on, and there were sausages and some black pudding ready for the Sunday breakfast. It struck me that I’ve hardly cooked anything like that since the start of the summer.

Mr Black has stopped expecting his Sunday roast, and even Master Finlay has given up complaining about not having meat on his plate.

’

Ursula couldn’t resist a smile.

‘I’m sure Finlay still eats it when he’s out with his friends.

And I know for certain that Mr Black enjoys a good meaty lunch when he is at the golf club, so he isn’t missing out.

But yes, that little yellow book has changed all of us.

’

‘You may be right about Master Finlay. It’s just that, to be honest with you, I’m not sure I could go back to dealing with it all now.

’ Isobel stopped, as though she had made a decision.

‘And I would miss everyone. I know I’m only the maid here, and even though I work hard, this is not an easy house to look after.

The electricity in that house did look as though it would be a help.

’ She smoothed her skirt with her hands, trying to flatten the day’s creases.

‘But I’ve been going over everything in my head ever since I left.

I even walked back to the Meadows and sat on a bench so I could have a proper think about it.

’ Isobel looked at Ursula.

‘I feel as though I really belong here. You listen to me. That lady was very nice, but she didn’t listen at all.

’ She pushed the chair back and stood up again.

‘So I’ve decided that if you want me to stay, I will.

’

The ticking of the clock seemed to fill the room.

From the moment Isobel had first mentioned her visit to the grand house in the Grange, which was undoubtedly a more prosperous residence than 25 Library Terrace, Ursula had felt a twist of anxiety in her stomach.

Although Isobel was saying she would like to stay, Ursula wondered if it was time she laid her own cards on the table.

This was not about kitchen-maids or electricity.

She had to decide whether or not it was time to include Isobel in her plans.

‘It’s very important to me that you realise how much I appreciate your work in this house, Isobel,’ she began.

‘You could have just left us when I became vegetarian and you didn’t do that.

Between us we cooked two different dinners every night for several months and somehow we muddled through everything and learned the new recipes together.

And after the circumstances with your necklace last month, it would have been completely understandable if you had decided to leave immediately, but you stayed.

’

This was not at all what Isobel expected.

She reached up to her neck and rubbed the old penny which was now threaded safely onto a silver chain which Ursula had given her.

She didn’t know where to put herself.

‘And apart from those things, before I married Mr Black, you were the person who looked after Ann. I don’t know how she would have survived without you.

’ Ursula paused. ‘Although I worked in Mr Black’s office, before that I had quite a privileged upbringing, and when I first came to this house I was not educated in the way things are for many women in this country.

I thought it wasn’t necessary to make changes, but I’ve learned a lot from the people I see at Café Vegetaria, and I have learned from you as well.

I’m a different person now.

You are partly responsible for that.

’ She leaned forward, her elbows on the table.

‘You are not just a maid. You never were. And if you want to stay here and try to change more things with me, it would make me very happy.’

Isobel listened carefully to every word.

And then she smiled.

‘I think I would like that very much, Mrs Black.’