Thea was glad of the respite. ‘Yes,’ she said as neutrally as she could imagine. ‘They were exceptionally entertaining for the children.’
‘Very good of you and Mrs Henry to take them,’ said Frankie, a cheeky twinkle in her eye. ‘Must have been intolerable.’ Thea would not permit this from any other servant, but she had afeeling she would have to tolerate it from Frankie, and actually quite enjoyed it.
‘Mrs Henry particularly enjoyed the show,’ said Thea.
Frankie snorted. ‘And I bet she disappeared afterwards.’
‘She did no–’ but she broke off as she realised that Harriet had, in fact, left her immediately after the show.
‘Good for her,’ said Frankie, chuckling. ‘I hope she tamed one.’ Her face took on an even more mischievous look. ‘I assume you had a terrible time, Your Grace?’ Frankie asked, crossing her arms and leaning back on a low wall. Thea picked some invisible dust from her sleeve.
‘Better than the cock fighting,’ she said, turning on her own bright smile and challenging Frankie’s. Perhaps the thing to do was to play her at her own game.
‘She might be good, but she is also impertinent,’ muttered Martha to Thea. ‘She needs to learn some manners.’
‘That I cannot argue with, but she has gumption and is quite extraordinary,’ said Thea, as the two of them tramped after Frankie on the way to her intended arboretum site. ‘And she is also sensible of having you and the coming Mr Crumpacker in the glasshouses.’
‘I suppose so,’ said Martha.
Thea snorted. ‘You always were the jealous type.’
‘Can’t help it.’ Even Martha was a little breathless from trying to keep up with the energetic gardener. ‘You seem to attract girls like moths to a flame.’
‘Two, apart from you,’ said Thea, unimpressed. ‘It hardly makes me a chandelier.’ She paused as a thought occurred to her. ‘Oh, and Harriet kissed me, if we’re going for full disclosure,but that was quite unsatisfactory also.’ She felt Martha stop and smiled to herself as she strode on.
‘Harriet?!’ shouted Martha from behind as she ran to catch up. ‘Harriet Henry? I should have known she would be no more sensible than she was when I caught her in that carriage with Emma, but I wouldn’t have thought she would be your choice?’
‘Absolutely not,’ said Thea. ‘I think she’s just working her way through all the willing ladies in London after her split with Hugh.’ This seemed to satisfy her companion.
‘Goodness, we have to stop talking,’ said Martha, gasping a little. ‘That girl has energy.’
They caught up with Frankie on an incline overlooking the natural Hawkdean lake. They must be around a quarter of a mile from the house and nearby glasshouse now. ‘I thought here,’ said the gardener, hands on her hips as she gazed around. ‘Good soil, far enough away from the formal gardens, and it won’t obscure your view from the house.’ She looked around at them. ‘I take it you’d agree?’
Thea nodded but saw Martha scowl. ‘You’d see it better from the drive if it were down there on the east slope,’ she said almost petulantly. ‘Better when receiving visitors.’
‘West-facing avoids morning sun,’ said Frankie with only fact in her voice. ‘East facing slopes mean damaged spring blooms so if Her Grace wishes to grow magnolia or camellia, it needs to be over there.’ She pointed to the side she had previously indicated. ‘We can do a lime avenue on the entrance and a carriage path round the arboretum. Better for Her Grace to show off in person.’ She managed to say it without a hint of judgement. Martha opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again. Thea looked between them, amused.
‘A very good point, Frankie,’ she said, shooting Martha a look. ‘That will be quite acceptable.’
‘Then I’ll start the planning, Your Grace,’ said Frankie. They stood as an uneasy trio, overlooking the lake, Martha uncharacteristically quiet.
‘Do you think you will be content here?’ Thea asked Frankie. ‘Have you seen enough to know that you will like the country as much as London?’
Frankie turned to her briefly, and then back to the lake. ‘I think I shall. The house is the biggest building I have ever seen in my life and I keep getting lost. And there is a lot of air, but the plants seem to enjoy it. I have lots of ideas for the garden if we can get the seeds or the plants and there must be a way with that protea.’
‘No luck yet?’ asked Thea.
‘No, but it’s still early,’ said Frankie. ‘I’ll not worry until May.’
‘I assume you have attempted scarification on some,’ asked Martha, imperious.
Frankie was unmoved. ‘Both scarification and stratification my countessness,’ she said smoothly. ‘And I boiled one, just to see.’
Martha blinked once. ‘No doubt that one has been rendered entirely unviable,’ she shot back. ‘With seed in such high demand that is a little reckless, do you not think?’
Thea rolled her eyes to herself and thought she should come to Frankie’s aid. ‘Many people have tried many things,’ she said. ‘It is a difficult plant. We had eight seeds from Mister Gordon and we will hope. He had no more so either they are rare, or Knatchbull has them all in his endeavours to grow for the queen. We have to try everything.’
Frankie nodded and kicked a stone, a defiant look in her eye. ‘Boiling works well for the Indian shot plant. Like The duchess says, we have to try everything if we want to do it first. I won’t have Herbert beating me.’ Thea suspected Frankie wanted it almost as much as she did, but could they have any hope againstKnatchbull’s army of gardeners, state of the art glasshouses and presumably plentiful seed?
