The Ribbon Weaver Read Online Free PDF Page A

very mixed feelings about it. Her daughter would have to live in the servants’ quarters at Forrester’s Folly, which would make a little more room in Bessie’s cottage for the rest of her family, but Molly knew that Bessie would miss her dreadfully.
    Bessie remained at the door. ‘She surely can’t be much longer now,’ she sighed, gazing up the lane over the heads of the children.
    Molly laughed. ‘Come away in, woman. Yer know what they say – a watched pot never boils. Now come and drink this tea.’
    Obediently, Bessie crossed to the large scrubbed table and plonked herself down while Molly made the tea. It was some minutes later when a shadow in the door blocked out the sunlight and Mary almost exploded into the room, her plain little face alight.
    ‘I got the job, Mam – I got it !’ She was almost beside herself with excitement.
    Bessie threw her arms about her and hugged her in delight. ‘You clever girl, you. When do yer start? What are yer hours? When’s yer day off ?’
    Laughing, Mary held up her hand to stem the flow of questions, saying, ‘Slow down, Mam, let me sit down an’ get me breath back an’ I’ll answer as many questions as yer like.’
    Once the girl was seated, both women stared at her intently.
    ‘Now tell us everythin’ , mind, right from the time yer got there,’ ordered Bessie, and nodding, Mary began.
    ‘Well, I got there and the gate man let me in, then it took me ten whole minutes to walk up the drive – it seemed to go on forever. And the grounds … eeh, you’ve never seen anythin’ like ’em. There are flowerbeds everywhere and the grass is so green. Apparently there are two gardeners who work fulltime just to see to the grounds.’
    Both women were already suitably impressed and stared at Mary in awe.
    Aware of her captive audience the girl continued, ‘Nearer to the house is trees all cut into the shapes of animals. A to … topiarararay or sommat like that, I think it’s called. Eeh, they’re lovely, I’m tellin’ yer. An’ there are real marble steps that lead up to a front door that looks as big as the whole of the front of our cottages.’
    Bessie gaped in amazement as Mary giggled and went on, ‘To one side o’ the house is a little wood, and inside it looks just like a carpet o’ wild flowers. The other side o’ the house, the lawns slope right down to the River Anker and there’s a little boathouse where Mr Forrester has his very own boats.’
    It was Molly’s turn to gawp now and Mary, who was enjoying herself immensely, gabbled on, ‘Well, as I’m approaching the front o’ the house, the butler comes out to meet me. Yer should have seen his uniform; the buttons on his jacket were so shiny I could see me face in ’em. He told me to follow the path around the house to the back to the servants’ entrance, so I did.’ Here she stopped to catch her breath, but both women urged her on impatiently. ‘Around the back is the stableblock, the laundry room an’ the dairy, and by the time I got to the back door I can tell yer I was shakin’ like a leaf.’ She giggled again as she recalled her nervousness.
    ‘Anyway, then the housekeeper appears and she takes me down this big long passage to the kitchen. I couldn’t believe me eyes when I saw it. It must be as big as the one in Buckingham Palace!’
    She nodded as if to confirm the truth of her words before hurrying on, ‘The housekeeper, well at first she points to a chair and tells me to sit down, so I did, then she starts asking me all these questions. I was so scared by then that the words kept gettin’ caught in me throat. After that she took me back out across the yard and showed me the laundry room – that’s massive too. There’s great dolly tubs and mangles everywhere, and there was a girl there washing who winked at me and made me feel a bit more at ease like. It’s her job I’ll be takin’ as she’s leavin’ to have a baby. Anyway, the housekeeper asked me if I thought I