‘We didn’t want anyone to think we had been shirking work,’ said Annie, still a little shaken. ‘And we both spoke about it and said we knew you wouldn’t mind but some of the others might get jealous.’
‘Well, that is – ah – bold,’ said Thea, not quite understanding.
‘And we were using the greenhouse but there’s a risk of people seeing,’ said Annie. Thea blinked at her.
‘And it does make sense to do it here where Frankie can practise as loudly as she likes without anyone hearing,’ said Annie. Thea took a breath, but she couldn’t think, for the life of her, what words would be appropriate, and so she let it out again. Her gentle and attentive governess and the gardener. Being loud in the nursery while the children were out with Mr Fenwick. Who would have thought? She looked to Frankie, who still stood by the door, hands over her face.
‘Annie is teaching me to read,’ she said quietly.
‘So, they’ve been at it for weeks?’ asked Martha, as Thea applied the salve to her finger in the scullery. ‘What a delightful pair they are.’ Mrs Phibbs had made a hasty exit on Thea’s return, presumably happy to be out of the presence of the sponge.
‘I’m so glad to see it,’ said Thea, who had avoided mentioning her complete misunderstanding in the telling of the tale. ‘You should have seen the look on Frankie’s face – she was delighted to be able to read the words aloud.’
‘But only from the older books?’ asked Martha.
‘Well,’ said Thea gently applying the bandage to the finger and beginning to wind. ‘The most yellow parchment, apparently. Says it stops the letters jigging around on the page and so she can read them. Annie has started writing books on her own parchment, just for Frankie to read.’
Martha looked as touched as Thea was. ‘That’s delightful. And it will make her work outside so much easier.’
‘Agreed,’ said Thea, as she dropped Martha’s hand. ‘Done.’
Martha studied the bandaging work. ‘Not bad at all,’ she said, pushing off from the table. ‘Thank you.’ She looked around and dropped a gentle kiss onto Thea’s lips. ‘Shall we see how Crumpacker is getting on in the library?
Thea allowed Martha to go on ahead and then peered into the bucket, still on the bench. The sponge sat at the bottom, appearing unconcerned.
‘Sorry,’ she whispered to it, just in case.
Chapter 21
‘What on earth is that?’ asked Thea, poking around the glasshouses a couple of days later. She leaned over to where Musket was on his back legs, nose twitching up towards the plunged pots. Packages kept arriving from Martha’s contacts, and she had lost count of the things in her house and garden that she didn’t recognise. She loved it, and felt a little of her old, curious self returning. Martha had been right. She needed this to feel alive. Whilst she and Martha still struggled for time together, at least George seemed to be leaving them alone. Coupled with the green of the countryside, she felt almost happy.
Frankie wandered over to peer at what she was looking at. ‘Oh, she said. ‘Rabbit droppings.’
‘Rabbit droppings?’ asked Thea, hoping to gain a little more insight.
‘Exactly,’ said Frankie. She didn’t look too worried, so Thea deduced that rabbits weren’t running wild in the glasshouse and eating all the seedlings.
‘Why?’ she asked finally, when it became clear that Frankie wasn’t going to be any more forthcoming.
‘I’m trying some new seed treatments for the protea,’ said Frankie. ‘Now we have loads of seed, I’m experimenting more.’
‘And did you just make it up?’ asked Thea, peering at the small, black nuggets atop the compost.
Frankie hesitated for a moment. ‘Of course not, Your Grace,’ she said. ‘Now I’m better with my reading I’ve been having a look at some of the ideas in the library.’
‘Hmm,’ said Thea. There were plenty of books in the library, but she had never seen anything about rabbit poo.
‘How is the reading going?’ Thea asked, thinking she would address the issue of the droppings at a later date when Frankie was in a more accommodating frame of mind. ‘Are you still making progress?’
‘It’s brilliant,’ said Frankie, smiling broadly. ‘Everything makes sense all of a sudden. Even when Annie comes out here and we look at the plant names. Like all the times I was told I was stupider than the other kids didn’t really matter.’
Thea gritted her teeth. ‘You were not stupider than the other kids. It is simply that everyone excels in different areas. And you have worked hard and found out how you can overcome an obstacle.’
Frankie nodded once. ‘Annie is amazing. I am sure the children will be geniuses.’
‘I am very lucky,’ said Thea, meaning it in earnest.
‘Just watch out for her though,’ said Frankie, a brief pucker to her brow. ‘She’s been looking peaky for a few mornings and not at her best. Seems to perk up later in the day, though.’
