Promise to Obey Read Online Free PDF

going to be a fight. Two strong wills in opposition. Jessica might end up feeling a fool, but she knew she could genuinely make a difference.
    Bathtime with Lily was hilarious. The family bathroom had been converted from a small side bedroom. It was plain cream tiled, but there was plenty of space and a comfortable lloyd loom basket chair to sit on, and there were more ducks than the Royals could shoot in a day. Lily blew enough bubbles to launch herself into space. Jessica was glad of a plastic apron. It was ages since she had towel dried a little girl, and the small cuddly, sweet smelling bundle was delightful. So different fromwashing a sickly child in the antiseptic confines of a hospital ward.
    ‘You are going to read me a story, aren’t you, Willdo?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Jessica. ‘I always keep my word, if I can.’
    ‘And you are not going off down to the pub after we’ve gone to bed?’
    ‘No, I’ll be here. Wherever did you get that idea from?’
    ‘The nanny before the last one was always down the pub.’ Lily giggled. ‘We called her Ginger Beer because of her hair and the pub. She was always down at the pub drinking ginger beer. And she had ginger hair.’
    ‘That wasn’t very kind. She might have been drinking champagne.’
    ‘She wasn’t very kind. She wouldn’t read to us at all.’
    ‘Perhaps she couldn’t read very well.’
    ‘I can read. Only small words, of course. Daniel can’t read properly yet.’
    Daniel bathed by himself in awkward silence. He didn’t want a story but Jessica noticed that his door was left open so that he could listen to the baby mole story. Lily managed her nightly inhaler dose with a careless regard to the correct procedure . It was more gasp and puff and blow. Jessica made a mental note to show Lily tomorrow. She wondered if anyone had ever checked.
    ‘Goodnight, Lily, sweet dreams,’ said Jessica, tucking her in. ‘Sleep tight.’
    ‘Night, night, Willdo. I like having you here. You will stay, won’t you?’
    Again that anxious note as if Lily was used to being let down. Perhaps nannies came and went. It seemed they did.
    ‘Don’t you worry, Lily. I’ll be here tomorrow.’
    Jessica switched on the dim battery light on the wall and half closed the door. Mrs Harris had told her that Lily had nightmares if she was left in the dark. Jessica wondered what the nightmares were about.
    Jessica looked into Daniel’s room. He was already in bed,huddled under the clothes, only the top of his head showing. He also had a dim light on the wall.
    ‘Goodnight, Daniel, sweet dreams,’ she said. ‘You can stay up a little later tomorrow if you like. You don’t have to go to bed at exactly the same time as Lily.’
    There was no answer. But she hadn’t expected any.
    She tidied up the bathroom, leaving nothing on the floor that they could slip on, in case one of the children got up to use the bathroom in the night. She gave her hair a quick smooth, tucking away the damp ends, and went across the landing to Lady Grace’s bedroom. After a polite knock on the door, and a moment’s pause, she went in.
    Lady Grace was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking distraught and dishevelled. Her hair had escaped from its neat French pleat.
    ‘Where were you when I wanted you?’ she cried out, her voice low and full of pain. ‘I’ve been calling and calling.’
    Jessica knew this was not true. She would have heard. The children’s bedrooms were only across the landing. And the baby mole story had been read in a hushed silence.
    ‘I’m here now, Lady Grace. What do you need?’
    ‘I need to get to the bathroom, idiot. I can’t make it without help.’ She was struggling to stand up but making a poor job of it. ‘You know that.’
    ‘My name is Jessica by the way, not idiot. Take my arm and I’ll help you to the bathroom. Lucas is going to bring up your walking frame which you will find a great help. You can lean on it as two extra legs.’
    ‘I’m not using