‘Yes, ma’am?’
‘Tea for two, if you please, Binny,’ Mrs Temple told her. ‘Oh, and you might tell Cook we wouldn’t be averse to some of those lovely shortbread biscuits she made yesterday to go with it, if there are any left.’ She grinned at Amber as the maid left, confiding, ‘They’re Master Harry’s absolute favourite and I’ve no doubt he’s been cadging them off the cook. He can wrap her around his little finger. But now, let’s get down to business?.?.?.’
For the next ten minutes they discussed Amber’s wages, which Amber thought were very generous indeed, and what duties she would be expected to perform, and then Binny appeared wheeling a little tea trolley loaded with a silver teapot, bone china cups and saucers and a number of fancy pastries on a plate, along with some of the shortbread biscuits.
‘Do help yourself,’ Mrs Temple encouraged as she strained the tea into the delicate cups, and feeling much more relaxed than she had when she’d arrived, Amber willingly did as she was told. It wasn’t often she got to have such delicacies. Eventually, when they were done, Mrs Temple again pulled the silken rope and when Binny appeared she asked her, ‘Could you fetch Master Harry and Master George down from the nursery, please, if they’ve finished their lesson.’
‘Oh, they have, ma’am, I just saw Mr Bowler leaving,’ the nurse informed her. Mr Bowler, Amber was to learn, was the boys’ tutor who came in daily to teach them.
Amber sat quietly for a few moments, admiring the lovely room, until she heard the scuffle of footsteps outside the door on the tiled floor and two young boys, who looked remarkably like their mother, exploded into the room.
They were both giggling and jostling each other but at sight of Amber they stopped abruptly and stared at her.
‘Now boys, do remember your manners,’ Mrs Temple told them severely, although her eyes were smiling. ‘This is Miss Ainsley. She’s coming to London with us and she will be your nanny until you leave for school in the New Year.’ Mention of the school took the twinkle from her eye and Amber guessed that it must have been her husband’s idea to send them there. She certainly didn’t look too happy with the idea.
The boys, meantime, were eyeing her curiously. She certainly didn’t look anything like any of the other nannies they had had. They had all been older and much more smartly dressed than the young woman in front of them now.
‘How do you do, Miss Ainsley,’ they chorused at a frown from their mother and Amber gave them a broad smile that showed off the dimples in her cheeks.
‘’Ello, lads. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.’
Their eyes stretched wide as they heard her speak and they would have broken into laughter if a glare from their mother hadn’t stopped them.
‘Very well, you may go back upstairs now,’ Mrs Temple told them. ‘I’m sure Mr Bowler will have left you some homework to be doing and I shall be checking it later this afternoon to make sure you’ve done it.’
‘Yes, Mamma,’ they both said miserably and with a nod towards Amber they quietly trooped out of the room.
‘So, have you had much experience of boys?’ Mrs Temple asked.
‘Well?.?. . I’ve got four brothers, if that counts.’
Mrs Temple smiled and nodded. ‘Then I’m sure I shall have no need to tell you how boisterous they can be. But now I shall summon Mrs Brewer and she will fit you out with suitable clothes. Can you be here on Friday evening? We shall be travelling early on Saturday morning so it would be easier if you were already here to help get the boys up.’
‘Of course, ma’am.’ Amber inclined her head and when the housekeeper appeared she followed her to the back of the house where she unlocked a door that led into a small room where a number of uniforms were hanging.
‘Now then, let’s see, you look about the same size as the last but one nanny the boys had,’ she said thoughtfully as she looked Amber up and down and so saying she lifted a gown down and held it against her. ‘Try that one on,’ she urged, heading for the door. ‘And I shall be back in a minute.’
The dress was a fine wool in a soft blue-grey colour and when Amber slipped it on, apart from it being a little long, it fitted as if it had been made for her. There was a detachable cotton collar and cuffs and a very full skirt and Amber felt very grand in it.
‘Perfect apart from the length,’ Mrs Brewer observed when she came back. ‘Will you be able to shorten it yourself or should I get Mrs Temple’s seamstress to do it?’
‘Oh, I can do it,’ Amber quickly assured her.
‘Good, there’s another identical one here and of course you’ll need the petticoats to go beneath it and some new boots and a cloak.’ By the time Mrs Brewer had finished there was a pile of clothes and Amber wondered how she was going to carry them all.
‘You can leave them here and I’ll have them packed for you ready for Saturday,’ Mrs Brewer offered. ‘Just take the two gowns that need shortening.’
And so soon after Amber set off for home feeling a lot more optimistic about her new post than she had when she’d arrived.
‘I reckon Harry an’ George are goin’ to be a bit of a handful,’ she told her mother when she got home.
Alice chuckled. ‘Show me a little lad as ain’t. Why, I can remember I used to threaten our Amos an’ Reuben wi’ all sorts when they were little. They fell out like cat an’ dog an’ I’d threaten to bang their bloody heads together if they didn’t pack it in, yet look at ’em now! Thick as thieves they are. So, just stand firm, lass, an’ let the little buggers know who’s boss from the start.’ The smile slid away then and she said, ‘I were talkin’ to Mrs Preston earlier on an’ she were sayin’ Bertie ain’t too ’appy about you goin’ at all.’
‘I don’t know why,’ Amber snapped. ‘I’ve never given him any reason to believe there’s anythin’ atween us so if he wants to think there is then that’s his lookout!’
‘All right, all right, leave me head on,’ Alice soothed. ‘I were only sayin’.’ And bending her head she got on with kneading the dough on the table while Amber set about altering the hems of her new gowns.
In no time at all Friday rolled around and as Amber kissed her mother goodbye there were tears in Alice’s eyes. ‘Eeh, it feels as if you’ve only just got back from your Uncle Jeremiah’s,’ she said sadly. ‘An’ now here you are off again. Still, I suppose I should get used to it. All me chicks will fly the nest eventually.’
