Just before midday Mrs Brompton and Catherine came back from the village, the carriages had already arrived and were being loaded with all the chests. Wyn and Betty were already sitting in the second carriage ready to leave. William helped Mrs Brompton and Catherine up into the first carriage then jumped in with them. Mrs Davis and Ned climbed into the carriage with Wyn and Betty. They all looked at the house for the last time as the carriages started moving. Wyn sighed and commented, ‘I’m going to miss it here.’
‘Me too,’ replied Betty. They looked at the passing scenery. ‘Doesn’t it look different in the snow,’ remarked Betty as they passed the village they had spent some fun times in.
‘Yes,’ Wyn agreed. ‘You can hardly recognise it. How strange it looks with no-one around.’
When they finally reached the station they felt a bit battered and bruised after being thrown about for what seemed like hours. ‘Oh my,’ exclaimed Betty, ‘that hurt in all the wrong places.’
‘I know what you mean,’ replied Wyn, ‘I’m sure I’ve got a bruised bottom.’
They got all the chests off the carriages and then walked into the station. They sat down on the cold benches to wait for the train to arrive.
‘It’s late,’ Mrs Brompton complained. She and Catherine went into the waiting room which had better and more comfortable seating. They had only been waiting for about ten minutes when the train arrived. ‘Thank God for that,’ muttered Betty, ‘I’m freezing.’ All the chests were put into the baggage carriage and everyone clambered into first class. Mrs Brompton had told them that they would all be travelling first class in case she needed them for anything during the journey. A corridor ran all along one side of the train so moving from carriage to carriage was easy. It was strange for her to be travelling alone and she wanted to make sure she had help if she needed it. Wyn climbed in and looked around the carriage. ‘This is very grand,’ she remarked.
‘Yes,’ agreed Betty, ‘I could get used to this.’
The carriage had very comfortable upholstered seats but was very cold although Mrs Brompton had purchased foot warmers for everyone which helped them keep a bit warmer. The train started moving with a jolt that knocked Betty off her feet. She landed on the seat in a heap with her skirt up around her waist. The others in the carriage burst out laughing as she sat up red faced and straightened her skirt. ‘Shut up you lot,’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s not funny.’ ‘It is where we’re sitting,’ laughed Wyn.
They settled down and watched the passing scenery with interest. The train went through several tunnels which made Betty give a small scream as it took her by surprise when the carriage suddenly went dark. Wyn jumped when she felt a hand touch her breast until she realised that it was William making good use of the darkness of the tunnel. After they had been travelling for about two hours, Mrs Brompton looked in through the door and told them to go to the restaurant car to get some lunch. ‘I don’t want to sit in there by myself,’ she told them. ‘Catherine refuses to come with me so I would be very happy if you all would join me.’ They all stood up and followed her willingly along the corridor until they entered the restaurant car. It had plush purple upholstered seats and there were vases of flowers on each table. When Mrs Brompton had been seated at one of the tables she asked Mrs Davis to sit with her as she didn’t want to dine alone. Wyn, Betty, William and Ned were then shown to another table. There was no choice of food but none of them cared what they ate, it was something they had never had the opportunity of doing before and they were determined to make the most of it. After they had all eaten they went happily back to their carriage. William and Ned then promptly fell asleep. Wyn looked over at them. ‘Typical,’ she said to Betty. They were travelling through sparsely populated countryside with few stations. They entered a very long tunnel and Wyn felt William sit down next to her. He turned her face towards him and gave her a long lingering kiss. ‘Oh Wyn,’ he whispered, ‘I do want to be with you.’ They suddenly came out of the tunnel and Wyn wasn’t surprised to see Betty and Ned kissing passionately on the other seat. Wyn cleared her throat very loudly and Betty and Ned jumped apart. Betty’s face went very red and she looked embarrassed. Wyn and William just grinned at each other and looked innocent. When they next looked out of the window they were going past a very large factory. ‘What do you suppose they make in there?’ asked Betty.
‘I can see a sign on the side that says Huntley and Palmers Biscuit Factory. Looks like a grim place to work,’ William said, ‘I’m glad I don’t work somewhere like that, it’s alright working for Mrs Brompton.’
‘I wouldn’t like to work in a place like that neither,’ agreed Wyn, ‘I’m quite happy where I am.’
They were entering a more densely populated area so they knew they would soon be arriving at Waterloo Station. They were covered in a light film of soot by the time the train stopped and it gave them all a laugh. They found carriages waiting for them and were happy once they and all the baggage were on them.
When they finally arrived at the house they were all exhausted.
‘What a journey,’ remarked Wyn.
‘Oh I don’t know, it had it’s interesting bits,’ William replied with a smile.
Mr Carter and Mrs Danvers were there to greet them. As William started taking Catherine and Mrs Brompton’s chests up to their rooms, Mr Carter stopped him.
‘Leave Miss Catherine’s chest down here, her aunt will be here in the morning to take her to Surrey. She has to make do with any clothes left behind in her room.’
He turned to all of them, ‘I know you are all very tired, but you’re to take your things to your rooms and get changed into your uniforms. When you have done that you are all to gather in the drawing room as Mrs Brompton wants to talk to you.’
Wyn and Betty slowly walked upstairs to their room. When they opened the door it felt cold and smelt a bit musty. ‘Urgh,’ uttered Betty, ‘we’ll have to sort this room out. Come on quick put your things away and get changed, let’s get out of here. Leave the door open when we leave, it might help get rid of the smell.’
They quickly got changed and made their way back down to the drawing room. Mrs Brompton was already there waiting for them. When everyone had gathered Mrs Brompton stood up to speak to them. She looked exhausted and had black smudges under her eyes.
‘I know it has been a hard time for all of you over the last few weeks and I thank you for all the help you have given me. Things now have to change in my life so I just wanted you to know what is going to happen. The house in the country is going to be sold. I understand from the Estate Manager that there is someone already interested. There will only be a small staff kept on here. This will consist of Mrs Davis, William, Betty and Wyn. You will have no specific tasks but I hope the house will still run smoothly with just you four. I have brought Ned with us as I will no longer need a groom but, before we left for the country, Mr Brompton had bought a new motorcar and I would like Ned to learn how to drive it so he can become the new chauffeur.’ She turned to Ned and asked, ‘is that alright with you Ned?’ ‘Yes Mrs Brompton,’ he replied, ‘I’ll be very happy to do that.’
Mrs Brompton smiled and said, ‘on a lighter note, I have to tell you that Mr Carter and Mrs Danvers are getting married and will be leaving to go and work in a hotel in Kensington.’
‘Oh how wonderful,’ Mrs Davis exclaimed. ‘Congratulations to both of you.’
‘The wedding will be held here,’ continued Mrs Brompton, ‘and will be happening next week. Will you be able to arrange a wedding breakfast by then?’ she asked Mrs Davis.
Mrs Davis looked at Betty and Wyn and both of them nodded. She then turned back to Mrs Brompton and said, ‘yes, we’ll get it done.’
‘Good,’ replied Mrs Brompton, ‘I’ll leave it in your hands. Mrs Danvers will tell you exactly when and what kind of things she wants.’
She looked at Ned and told him that the car was in the newly built garage at the back of the house. ‘There is a room above the garage for yo
u to sleep in and another for your ablutions. After you have had something to eat, go down there and get some sleep, you can have a look at the car in the morning and see if you can figure out how to drive it. There is extra land next to the garage, so just have a go there.’
She turned back to the rest of them, ‘as we knew you all would be exhausted after travelling, Mrs Danvers has done a small buffet for you in the kitchen. I would like a tray of food to be brought up to mine and Catherine’s rooms. Catherine will be leaving in the morning to stay with her aunt in Surrey.’ She gave them all a tired smile and left the room.
They slowly walked down to the kitchen where the table was covered in food. ‘Oh my,’ exclaimed Mrs Davis, ‘this looks wonderful,’ she turned and smiled at Mrs Danvers. ‘On behalf of all of us, thank you,’ she said.
Wyn’s mouth was watering and she was suddenly starving.
‘Well don’t just look at it,’ Mrs Danvers told them, ‘go ahead and eat.’
They all sat down at the table and filled their plates. Mrs Danvers filled plates for Mrs Brompton and Catherine then took them upstairs to their rooms. It was very quiet as they were all trying to take in the information they had been given. Wyn turned to Betty and asked her what she thought. ‘Do you think we can keep this house going with just us’.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Betty, ‘we’ll just have to be really organised. I suppose it will help that it is just Mrs Brompton here. She is not untidy like Catherine. I think we’ll have to write down what to do in which room every day.’
‘Be quiet and eat,’ Mrs Davis told them, ‘you’ll have time to talk about everything tomorrow.’
After they had finished eating, Wyn and Betty cleared the table and washed up.
‘Take a warming pan up to your room and go to bed now,’ said Mrs Davis. ‘Don’t worry about being down here early in the morning. Have a bit of a rest. I think there is going to be special tasks for you to do.’ When they got to their room it smelt less musty now but was still freezing cold.
‘Quick, put the pan in the bed so it can warm it up a bit before we get in,’ instructed Betty. They stripped their uniforms off and got into bed.
‘Ooh it’s so cold,’ shivered Wyn.
‘Come and snuggle up against me,’ said Betty. Wyn snuggled up against Betty’s back and could feel the warmth starting to spread up her body.
‘Oh that’s better,’ she said. Suddenly Betty jumped, ‘get your cold feet off me,’
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Wyn who was already half asleep. Betty smiled in affection and closed her own eyes.
CHAPTER TEN
The next morning Mrs Brompton’s sister Abigail turned up to take Catherine home with her. She was a very stout woman with hair tightly pulled back into a bun and a naturally stern expression but she smiled kindly at Catherine when she came down the stairs.
‘Don’t look so worried’ she told her. ‘You are not going to a prison. We have a lot of parties planned. I know you are supposed to still be in mourning, but your mother and I have decided that you are too young to worry about that and you should be having some fun. You never know, you might meet a suitor. Your cousins have plenty of eligible friends.’ She turned to William, ‘can you take Miss Catherine’s chests out to the carriage please,’ she asked. She then turned to Catherine and told her to say goodbye to her mother. Catherine walked up to her mother and kissed her on the cheek but didn’t look at her. Mrs Brompton put her hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at her, ‘don’t worry about anything, it’s going to be alright,’ she said, ‘just have some fun and try to forget everything that’s happened, it’s all in the past.’ Catherine gave a little sob and hugged her mother tightly. ‘Go along now,’ Mrs Brompton said. ‘I will come and see you soon.’ She followed them out of the house to wave goodbye. When she came back in, she ran up the stairs sobbing. Mrs Danvers followed her up shaking her head sadly. Wyn, Betty, William and Ned walked slowly down to the kitchen. ‘That was so sad,’ exclaimed Wyn, ‘I do feel sorry for Miss Catherine.’
‘And Mrs Brompton,’ Betty quickly added.
‘Come on, we’ve got work to do,’ said Ned.
While Ned went back down to the garage to see the new motor car, Wyn, Betty and William were told by Mr Carter that they were to go round the house looking for anything that may be of value to sell. ‘Mrs Brompton needs all the money she can get hold of to pay off Mr Brompton’s gambling debts. The sugar plantation isn’t doing too well and she doesn’t want to have to sell this house too. Look absolutely everywhere, your jobs here may depend on it,’ he told them. ‘It will take you a few days but take your time, don’t miss anything.’
Just then the bell from the drawing room rang.
‘I’ll leave it in your hands,’ he told them as he left the room to answer the bell.
‘Let’s start in the attics and work down the house,’ suggested William.
They went up the stairs to the attics. Wyn and Betty’s bedroom was up there too. ‘I don’t think we need to search in that room, Betty told him. ‘There’s nothing of value in there.’ William looked at Wyn, ‘yes there is,’ he replied. Wyn just blushed and didn’t reply. Either side of their room were the attic rooms. There were no windows in there and it was very dark.
‘I think we need a couple of lanterns, I’ll go and get them,’ said Betty.
‘Alright but don’t be long,’ William told her. When Betty had gone William grabbed Wyn and kissed her passionately. ‘Ooh I’ve missed this,’ he groaned as he rubbed himself against her. Wyn moaned as she felt his hard erection push against her.
‘When can we be together again?’ he asked her.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied, ‘we’ve got a lot of work to do now but we must get some time off soon, I’ll ask Mrs Davis and let you know.’
William jumped back as he heard Betty coming back.
‘I’ve got them,’ she said as she came up the last set of stairs. She was breathing hard, ‘oh them stairs,’ she moaned, ‘give me a minute to get my breath back.’ When she had recovered they went into the first room which was full of all kinds of stuff.
‘How on earth are we going to look through this lot?’ Wyn grumbled. ‘There’s loads of it.’ There was old furniture, kitchen equipment and general rubbish. They did find a few paintings they thought may be of value so they put them to one side. Wyn came across an old wooden box and opened it. Inside were a lot of necklaces, bracelets and earrings that sparkled when the light hit them.
‘Come and see this,’ she told the others.
‘Oh my,’ exclaimed Betty, ‘look at this lot.’
‘What do you think?’ Wyn asked William, ‘do these look like they are valuable?’
‘Oh yes,’ replied William, ‘they look like real stones, we’ll let Mr Carter have a look. Come on, we’ll do it now, it’ll give us a break.’
They took the paintings they had found as well as the jewellery and went to find Mr Carter. ‘Look what we’ve found,’ they said. Mr Carter looked in the box and said, ‘well done, this looks like it could be worth some money. Keep looking there may be more of it. Go and have a cup of tea first, you look like you need it.’ When they got to the kitchen they found Ned sitting at the table with a cup of tea. He was covered in oil and muck.
‘How’s it going?’ William asked him.
‘I’ve finally found how to start it,’ Ned told him. ‘It’s pretty scary though. I’m going to try and drive it when I’ve finished my tea.’
‘Do you know what kind of motor vehicle it is?’ asked Betty.
‘It’s an Alldays & Onions Traveller,’ Ned told them. ‘It’s brand new. There aren’t many of them available. I don’t know how Mr Brompton got hold of one.’
‘He won it at cards, Mr Carter told me,’ William told him. ‘Mrs Brompton doesn’t know, he told her he bought it.’
‘That explains a lot,’ said Ned. ‘I wondered why he would have bought it. Oh well, better go and see if I can drive it.’ Good luck th
ey told him.
‘Right come on,’ William said, ‘let’s go back and see what else we can find. We’ll try the other attic room.’
They walked back up the stairs to the top floor and tried to open the other attic room door. William pushed it but it wouldn’t budge. He got Wyn and Betty to help him. They all pushed but it still wouldn’t open. ‘What can be stopping it do you think?’ Betty asked him.
‘I don’t know,’ replied William. ‘Keep pushing, it has to give in the end.’
They kept really pushing the door and eventually it started moving. It took them another hour to get the door open fully.
‘Grab the lanterns.’ William told Wyn, ‘let’s have a look at what was holding the door.’ They walked in with the lanterns to find a large safe had fallen against the door.
‘This looks like it might hold something valuable,’ remarked Betty as she tried to open it. ‘It’s locked,’ she said.
‘Look around, there may be a key somewhere here,’ William told them. They moved everything around the safe but couldn’t find the key. ‘Keep looking,’ William said, ‘it’s got to be here somewhere.’ Betty was looking in a drawer of an old desk when she found a small bag. Looking inside she saw a large key.
‘I think I’ve found it,’ she said excitedly. She took it over to William who tried it in the keyhole. It was a bit stiff but eventually the door opened. Inside they found a bunch of share certificates.
‘Put these outside the door,’ he told Wyn, ‘I think this is the sort of stuff Mrs Brompton wants.’ They also found a bundle of what looked like legal documents. ‘We better take these too,’ said William. He looked inside again but as there was nothing else in there, he shut the door. As they went further into the room Betty suddenly gave a little scream,
‘Urgh I’ve just walked through a huge cobweb,’ she told them, ‘hurry up I don’t like spiders.’ The only other things they found were a few more old paintings.
The Passions of Bronwyn Page 8