‘A message for me?’ Amber raised her eyebrow. ‘Who from?’
‘From the master,’ Nancy told her. ‘I were just takin’ the bottles up to the nursery when he stopped me in the hall to ask if I’d come an’ ask if you’d go to see him at the house at ten o’clock tomorrow mornin’.’
‘What would he want to see me for?’ Amber snapped suspiciously. Just the mention of that loathsome man could put her hackles up.
Nancy shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me, lass. I’m only the monkey not the organ grinder!’
‘Sorry, Nance.’ Amber looked repentant. ‘I didn’t mean to snap at you.’
‘S’all right,’ Nancy answered as her mother placed a mug of stewed tea in her cold hands.
Amber’s first instinct was to ask Nancy to tell him to go to hell, but then she bit her tongue. What if he needed to speak to her about her daughter? Could it be that something bad had happened to her? Was she ill?
‘So what’ll I tell him then?’
Amber took a deep breath. ‘Tell him I’ll think about it,’ she said eventually.
‘An’ how are you copin’ lookin’ after them two babies?’ Mrs Grimshaw asked.
‘I’m copin’ fine,’ she told her, looking sad. ‘Though I’ll be glad when Mr Greenacre employs a new nanny. I’d sooner do me proper job. Charlotte is a little beauty, good as the day is long, but little David?.?.?. well, he’s a different kettle o’ fish altogether. He ain’t thrivin’ at all an’ the doctor is really worried about him. In fact, things ain’t good up at the house at all at the minute what wi’ the mistress bein’ so poorly an’ all. Mrs Ruffin looks shattered but she insists on carin’ for the mistress herself an’ won’t hear o’ the master bringin’ a nurse in. Poor sod, from what I’ve heard whispered she ain’t long fer this world.’
‘That’s awful.’ Mrs Grimshaw shook her head, setting her double chin wobbling. ‘An’ her were such a bonny young woman an’ all.’
Amber told Nancy about the letter she’d received from her mother then and they chatted for another few minutes before Nancy set off back to Greenacres leaving Amber to suffer another evening of noise and mayhem at her mother’s.
As the children snored around her that night, Amber lay awake into the early hours of the morning trying to decide what she should do, but when she eventually fell into an exhausted sleep she was no nearer to reaching a decision. The next morning, she was up with the lark and after helping Mrs Grimshaw to feed and dress all the children she set off again in her quest for a job, although she was fast losing heart now.
And then just before ten o’clock in the morning she found herself standing in front of the gates that led to Greenacres just as she had known she would deep down. She hated the thought of having to be in Barnaby Greenwood’s presence again but her need to have information about her child overcame her hatred and she set off down the drive.
When the house came into view she hesitated. Should she take the servants’ entrance at the back of the house? Her chin rose defiantly. Why should she? It was the master who’d requested she should call so she would enter by the front doors for the first time. She had no doubt it would set the staff gossiping but she was beyond worrying about that. She climbed the steps to the door, pausing to self-consciously smooth the material of the warm cape her uncle had bought her, glad that she was dressed in her decent clothes, before pulling on the bell that hung to one side of the doors.
It was Mrs Boswell who answered and when she saw Amber, she looked surprised to say the least.
‘Hello, Mrs Boswell. I have an appointment wi’ Mr Greenwood at ten o’clock. He wished to see me,’ Amber informed her grandly and just for a moment the woman’s jaw dropped open.
‘Then you’d best step inside and I’ll inform him that you’re here.’
While Mrs Boswell scuttled away to find the master, Amber looked around her with awe. She’d rarely been into this part of the house before and hadn’t realised how luxurious it was. She didn’t have long to admire it, however, before Mrs Boswell came back. ‘Mr Greenwood will see you now, Amber. Would you come this way?’
Amber followed her along a corridor until they came to the door that she guessed must be the master’s study.
When Mrs Boswell held it open for her, Amber stepped past her to see Barnaby Greenwood seated in a high-backed leather chair behind a large mahogany desk.
He rose instantly and gestured towards a chair in front of his desk. ‘Ah, Miss Ainsley. I’m so glad you came,’ he greeted her, for all the world as if she was one of his wife’s well-to-do friends. ‘Do sit down.’
‘I’m quite all right standin’ if it’s all the same to you.’ Her voice was so sharp that it could have sliced butter and she saw him cringe. ‘So what did you want me for?’
He gave a nervous cough as he ran his hand through his thatch of blond curly hair. ‘Actually, I have a position vacant here that I hope you’ll be interested in.’
She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. ‘Oh, so you’re offerin’ me me old job in the laundry back, are you?’ she said scathingly. She would have welcomed the position of laundry maid anywhere else but she had no intention of ever being his lackey again.
‘Oh no, no!’ He shook his head and after taking a deep breath he went on, ‘As you may be aware our nanny left recently and Nancy has been caring for my twins. But that was only on a temporary basis and I’ve asked you here to offer you the position of nanny full-time.’
Amber was so shocked that now she did drop heavily onto the seat he had formerly offered. ‘What?you wantmeto care for your babies?’
When he nodded, she laughed mirthlessly. ‘Well, that’s a turn up for the books, ain’t it? You do realise I ain’t had no trainin’ in that department, don’t you, apart from carin’ for the two Temple lads for a short time? An’ why didn’t you come an’ offer the job to me at Mrs Grimshaw’s instead o’ gettin’ me to come here?’
‘I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,’ he explained. ‘People might have wondered why I was seeking you out and offering the post to you when so many others are seeking jobs.’
