The meal – pork chops served with boiled potatoes and vegetables – was simple, although nicely cooked and presented, but Amber found that she couldn’t swallow a mouthful of it and so she was thankful when her uncle finished and dabbed at his lips with a napkin.
Only then did he look at her and say, ‘So, what’s to be done regarding your situation, eh?’
‘Well?.?.?. as my mother said in her letter, we were hoping you’d let me stay here, just till after the baby’s born, sir,’ she added hastily. She didn’t want him to think that she was hoping to foist herself on him forever. ‘I can work,’ she hurried on. ‘An’ I don’t mind what I do, I’m used to hard work. I could help out in the shop, or per’aps help Mrs Carter here?’
‘Hm.’ Her uncle stroked his chin as he stared at her thoughtfully. ‘I suppose you could help out in the shop, at least until your condition becomes evident,’ he mused. ‘I’m a great believer that idle hands make work for the devil. But what about what we discussed earlier – about your leaving the child at the poorhouse once it’s born? What will happen if you can’t go through with parting with it and you decide you want to keep it?’
‘But Iwon’twant to keep it!’ Amber answered vehemently. ‘How could I? I know I couldnevertake to it knowin’ how its father has treated me!’
‘Very well then, in that case you may stay here until after the birth, which will be when?’
‘I reckon about early September,’ Amber answered in a small voice and he nodded.
‘In that case be ready to leave for the shop with me at seven thirty sharp in the morning. Mrs Carter will show you to your room and for the time you are here you will eat with me in here.’
‘But I don’t mind eatin’ wi’ Mrs Carter an’ Biddy in the kitchen.’
He shook his head. ‘No, you are my niece and it wouldn’t be seemly, so if you want breakfast before we leave in the morning be in here for seven o’clock. Goodnight, Amber.’
She watched him leave the room closing the door gently behind him and let out a breath of relief. All she had to do was get through the next six to seven months and then hopefully she would be able to put this all behind her. It couldn’t come quickly enough.
*
Within a week she was actually enjoying working in the shop thanks to Archie Moorcroft who almost fell over himself trying to assist her in any way he could. He was a lovely young man and Amber enjoyed his company. It was soon clear that he was her uncle’s right-hand man and knew almost as much about running the shop as her uncle did. Archie had happily told her that he lived with his widowed mother and two young sisters in Scarborough but whenever he asked her anything about her own personal life, she changed the subject feeling that the least he knew about her past the better. Her only concern with Archie, though, was that she had a horrible feeling he might be forming romantic feelings for her and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want any man now and doubted that she ever would again after the way Barnaby Greenwood had treated her. In any case, in a few months’ time she would be gone and it would be highly doubtful she would ever see Archie again. She knew that her uncle had informed him that she was a widow but she wasn’t even sure if Archie was aware she was carrying a child as yet and she felt it was best left that way.
It had also quickly become clear to her that Mrs Carter had fond feelings for her employer. Uncle Jeremiah appeared to be completely oblivious to it and Amber thought it was a shame because she was sure they could have made each other happy. Even so, she was just grateful to her uncle for allowing her to stay and so she kept her thoughts to herself.
Two weeks after she had started working at the shop, however, her stomach sank when Archie asked her one Saturday, ‘I were wonderin’ if you’d like to come to my house for tea to meet me mam an’ me little sisters tomorrow?’
They both worked each weekday from eight till five in the afternoon and on Saturday they worked from nine till four, so Sunday was the only day off they had. Her uncle had already told her that he would expect her to attend the chapel with him on Sunday morning and now Amber was in a tizzy. She didn’t want to hurt Archie’s feelings but the last thing she needed was to get romantically involved with anyone and she knew that if he was thinking along those lines and she accepted the invitation, it might give him false hope. And so with a cheery smile she told him, ‘Thanks, Archie, that’s really kind of you but, well?.?.?. it’s not so long since I lost my husband and?.?.?.’
When her voice trailed away poor Archie blushed to the colour of a beetroot. ‘Oh?.?.?. I’m sorry?.?.?. I weren’t thinkin’.’
Amber grinned. ‘But if you’re after a bit of company why don’t you ask that young Daisy, the little maid from the big house up the road that comes into the shop every chance she gets? I’m sure she’s taken with you. I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes follow you everywhere whenever you’re about.’
‘Daisy Saunders!’ Archie looked shocked. He had known Daisy for years; they’d practically grown up together but he’d never looked at her in that way before and he’d certainly had no idea that she liked him. She was a very pretty girl though, now he came to think about it, and he looked thoughtful as he got on with what he’d been doing.
It was mid-afternoon when Amber’s uncle drew her to one side and pressed some money into her hand saying brusquely, ‘Slip out and get yourself some lengths of material from the ladies’ dress shop up the road. And while you’re at it go into the bootmaker’s and order yourself some new shoes. Those boots you’re wearing will be far too big and cumbersome with the spring upon us.’
‘Oh, but Uncle you really don’t need to do this,’ Amber protested, even though she knew that although they were spotlessly clean, the clothes she was wearing were very shabby indeed.
‘I want you looking smart in the shop,’ he said as he busied himself tidying the counter. ‘Spend it on whatever you need.’
Amber was tempted to kiss his cheek for his kindness but thought better of it. Her uncle wasn’t a demonstrative man and she didn’t think he’d appreciate it, so, needing no more persuasion, she thanked him and scurried away. She couldn’t remember ever having a brand-new gown in her whole life. Her mother had usually bought their clothes from the second-hand stall in the market and altered them to fit and even the uniform dress she had worn at Greenacres had been worn before. In addition, once she had the material, the making of the gowns would give her something to do of an evening. Her uncle always retired quite early after dinner and she’d found the hours before she herself went to bed passed slowly, giving her too much time to think and fret about what lay ahead.
There was a spring in her step for the first time in some while as she entered the dressmaker’s and the portly woman who owned the shop immediately confused her as she produced bolt after bolt of material. Amber was completely spoilt for choice!
‘This might be nice for the spring and summer,’ the kindly shopkeeper suggested as she unrolled a pretty cotton print. It had a white background sprigged with tiny yellow rosebuds and Amber fell in love with it instantly.
‘It’s perfect.’ She smiled. ‘But perhaps something a little more sober for working in my uncle’s shop?’
‘How about this one?’ The woman reached for a bolt of slightly thicker material in a warm russet colour. ‘It would look beautiful with your blonde hair and eyes. You could perhaps trim it with this dark brown braid around the neck and the cuffs?’
Amber beamed at her and nodded, and once the material had been cut and she was told the price she fingered a warm shawl with a thick fringe. It was all autumn colours and she knew that it would go with the russet dress beautifully on cold mornings.
‘Seein’ as you’ve bought enough material for two gowns, I could do that a bit cheaper fer you if you were interested?’ the shopkeeper offered, and after hesitating, Amber nodded and waited again while that too was wrapped in brown paper and tied with string.
The next stop was the bootmaker’s and once he had measured her feet, he produced a book full of designs.
