Nancy blushed prettily. ‘He’s asked me if I’d like to walk out wi’ ’im on me days off,’ Nancy admitted. ‘An’ I’ve said yes.’
‘But what will happen if he has to move away when his job at Greenacres finishes?’
Nancy smiled. ‘That’s all sorted. Mr Greenwood is givin’ ’im a job in his warehouse.’
‘Then I hope everythin’ goes well for you,’ Amber said sincerely. Nancy had been a true friend and had stood by her through the most difficult of times so it would be nice if she could find a little happiness; she deserved it.
They met Barnaby just coming out of the nursery when they arrived back at Greenacres and the hint of a smile twitched at the corner of his lips as he noted the state of them. Amber had a dirty smear across her nose and their clothes were filthy.
‘How did it go?’ he asked and still unable to look him in the eye Amber paused and nodded as Nancy went ahead of her.
‘We’ve got the kitchen and the parlour clean an’ we’ve been able to save almost all o’ the furniture, although all the curtains an’ soft furnishin’s were beyond repair. We’re goin’ to tackle the hallway an’ the stairs tomorrer an’ make a start on the bedrooms, though I’m guessin’ we’ll need all new bed linen. We’ll need new curtains for each room an’ all.’
‘Could some of the ones we have here be cut down to size?’ he asked.
Amber nodded. ‘Yes, they could an’ they’d look lovely in the house. Me an’ Nancy could alter ’em.’
‘Then take whatever you like. The same goes for bed linen or whatever else you might need. I dare say if the house is to be sold my in-laws won’t miss them.’
There was a note of bitterness in his voice and again Amber almost felt sorry for him. As Nancy had pointed out, after what had happened to him, most men would have turned tail and run as far away as they could get but he was still here, trying to do right by as many people as he could.
He smiled again as he nodded down at her old soiled skirt. ‘I won’t keep you any longer. I’ve no doubt you’ll be longing to get washed and changed and have something to eat. I’ll see that Mrs Boswell sends you both something up, although I believe it’s stew again. She’s an excellent housekeeper but I’m afraid her abilities as a cook are rather limited. Oh, and er?.?.?. thanks for what you’re doing, Amber.’
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him abruptly that she wasn’t doing it for him, she was doing it for Charlotte, but she bit back the words and merely nodded.
*
Later that evening, when Charlotte was sleeping, Amber left her in Becky’s care, and she and Nancy wandered about the house collecting curtains, bed linen, cushions and anything else they thought would help to make the house comfortable.
They had quite a pile of things by the time they had finished and Nancy giggled as she fingered a pair of soft, deep-crimson velvet curtains. ‘These’ll look grand in the parlour,’ she said. ‘It’s goin’ to be quite a place by the time we’ve finished. An’ some o’ that furniture an’ the framed maps o’ the world we found there are superb. They’ll look grand on the walls once we’ve given ’em a good polish. There is just one thing that occurred to me though?.?.?. somethin’ you may not ’ave thought about. What’ll ’appen if you meet someone an’ want to get wed? I mean, I can’t ever see the master lettin’ little Charlotte go.’
‘Huh! There’s no chance o’ that happenin’, not in a million years,’ Amber snorted. ‘After what he did to me, I wouldn’t ever trust a bloke again as far as I could throw him!’
‘All right then?.?.?. what if it’s the master who meets someone? Where will that leave you?’
Amber frowned; that was something she hadn’t thought of either. He was undeniably a good-looking man after all, and still relatively well-off, so no doubt there’d be a number of women setting their caps at him now that he was widowed.
‘I suppose that’s somethin’ I’d have to face if an’ when I came to it,’ she admitted as she stifled a yawn. ‘But now I don’t know about you but I ache in every bone in me body an’ we’ve only tickled the surface o’ what needs doin’ at the house as yet, so I suggest we both go an’ try an’ get a good night’s sleep, eh?’
Nancy nodded in agreement and after wishing her goodnight, she trotted off to her room leaving Amber to check on Charlotte before she too tumbled into her bed, exhausted. It had been a long hard day and there were many more of them ahead before they’d manage to put the house to rights.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
By the end of the first week the downstairs of the old sea captain’s house and everything in it was gleaming like a new pin. Men were now busily working outside erecting a sturdy fence around the garden to keep Charlotte safely away from the cliff edge and Amber was delighted when one of them informed her that there was actually a path at the end of the garden that led down to their own little private beach – she could just imagine how much Charlotte would love playing on the sand and paddling in the blue sea.
Each night she and Nancy had sat altering the curtains from the enormous windows at Greenacres to fit the windows in the new house, and the material they cut off had been used to stitch pretty cushions for the chairs and the wooden settle. Now every downstairs room looked cosy. Throughout the house they had found framed maps, pictures and ornaments from every part of the globe, no doubt fetched back by the captain and they had all been lovingly cleaned and placed about the house. The furniture they had salvaged had been polished until they could see their faces in it and they had begun to bring pots and pans from Greenacres for the kitchen. The large gardens had been scythed and although they would still need a lot of work, they would be manageable now and somewhere safe for Charlotte to play in.
‘I almost envy you movin’ in ’ere,’ Nancy said dreamily as they waited for Jimmy to come and fetch them early one evening in late May, just days before Amber and Barnaby were due to move in.
Back at Greenacres the majority of the staff had left and it felt strangely empty.
‘I would be lookin’ forward to livin’ here too,’ Amber admitted as she brushed a stray curl from her damp forehead, leaving a smear of dirt over her face. ‘If it weren’t for?.?.?. you know?’
‘Aye, I know, lass. But that’s a small price to pay for bein’ able to bring up your daughter an’ I’ve no doubt you’ll rub along all right. Though I should warn you, when I went to see me mam on Sunday she said the gossip ’as already started in the town. I’m afraid once yer do move in yer name is goin’ to be muck.’
Amber shrugged. ‘There’s nowt I can do about that, is there?’
They heard the sound of the carriage then so after putting away their cleaning things they hurried out, glad of the chance for a rest.
