by Lynn Austin
“Why?”
“Because I need to help her get ready for bed, then take care of her clothes and shoes and brush her hair and—”
“Can’t she do those things herself?”
“It doesn’t matter if she can. This is the way wealthy ladies live. Women like Lady Rosamunde expect their lady’s maid to help them with everything.”
“It doesn’t seem fair that you have to stay up late while she has all the fun. Aren’t you tired?”
“I can nap a little while I wait. But this is my job.” Eve sank down in front of Mum again, loving the touch of her fingers as she smoothed Eve’s hair from her face. “What else did you see in London today?”
“We walked through St. James’s Park and saw Buckingham Palace, where the king lives. We were supposed to have tea, but I felt too sad. We might go tomorrow instead.”
“I don’t think so, Eve. You had the afternoon off because the Clarksons dined out this evening. But Tildy will need your help in the kitchen tomorrow. And the day after that, too. You’re here in London to work.”
“But Audrey said—”
“Miss Audrey,” Mum corrected.
“She said we’re going to do a lot of things together while we’re here in London. She let me borrow one of her dresses to wear today.”
Mum leaned forward and cupped Eve’s face in her soft hands. “Eve. I’m so glad you enjoyed your day. But listen carefully to me. Miss Audrey will be your friend for only a short time. I don’t think her mother knows about your friendship yet, but believe me, she’ll never allow it to continue once she finds out.”
“Audrey says she can do whatever she wants.”
“Not for much longer. You may enjoy her company for now, but never forget that you’re her servant. That’s never going to change. Young ladies like Miss Audrey don’t socialize with their maidservants, especially once they become adults.”
“But you’re friends with Lady Rosamunde.”
“No. We’re not friends. She confides in me and tells me personal things because there’s no one else she can trust. But I’ll never be her friend, Eve. I’ll always remain her servant. The same is true for you and Miss Audrey. Even if you become her lady’s maid someday, there will always be a gap between you that you can never cross.”
“But—”
“Eve, listen to me.” Mum took both of Eve’s hands in hers. “Enjoy your time with Miss Audrey while it lasts. But please remember that it won’t last. I don’t want you to be hurt when she casts you aside. And she will someday.”
Eve’s stomach ached as if she’d eaten too much food. She didn’t want to believe that Audrey would stop being her friend, yet deep down she knew Mum was right. After all, Mum wasn’t out having fun at the party with Audrey’s mother. She was here, staying up until she came home so she could wait on her. If Eve became Audrey’s lady’s maid, her role would be the same. She had to accept that. She squeezed her eyes closed as her anger flared, the embers stoked and coaxed into life by the harsh truth. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life as a lady’s maid or a kitchen maid or any other kind of maid. “I won’t always be a servant,” she said. “Especially not Audrey’s servant.”
“That’s right, my love. As soon as you turn sixteen, you’re going to take a typing course and leave the manor house and the gentry behind for good.”
“You could leave too, Mum. We could take the course together.”
Mum gave a slow, sad smile. “You’re absolutely right. Maybe I’ll do that very thing.” But Eve knew she never would.
5
WELLINGFORD HALL, SEPTEMBER 1935
Why were goodbyes so hard? The Sunday worship service ended, and Eve stood with her mum outside the village church, saying goodbye to the people she loved. Everyone in the village wanted to hug her and wish her well before she moved to London to begin her typing course.
“I’m glad to see one of us making good and moving up,” Mrs. Ramsay said, gripping Eve’s arm.
“I’m not sure if moving up is such a good thing,” someone else said. “Seems like the upper crust all wear sour faces. We don’t want that for our Eve, do we?”
“You’ll never lose your pretty smile, will you, Eve?”
“I hope not,” she said, laughing.
“That’s our girl.”
Eve wiped her cheeks, damp with tears and rain on this drizzly fall morning. Goodbyes were like crossroads where the path divided, places where you could look back at what you were leaving behind yet glimpse the choices and possibilities that lay ahead. Goodbyes were hard because they meant change. Eve knew she would be different the next time she returned, and the people she loved would be, too. The narrow village streets and stone cottages already seemed smaller than when she’d left to work at Wellingford Hall four years ago.
Eve was glad she’d brought her umbrella as she walked the muddy road back to Wellingford with Mum and George. The drizzle had changed to a steady rain, and she needed to keep her Sunday dress dry in order to wear it to London tomorrow. None of them spoke much as they walked with bent heads, dodging puddles. After drying off and changing her clothes, Eve crept down the back staircase and through the forbidden door to the Clarksons’ bedrooms on the second floor. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d visited Audrey here and didn’t know what sort of greeting she would receive. The afternoon teas they’d shared as children seemed so long ago, they might have happened to different people in a different lifetime. In the past three years, their cozy teas in Audrey’s room had dwindled from every week to every few weeks and then had stopped altogether. Eve would say goodbye to Audrey, taking another look back before moving forward.
“Eve! Come in!” Audrey said, opening the door. “I’m in the middle of packing, so everything is a bit of a mess.” The room looked different to Eve. Along with the usual chaos of packing—a suitcase open on the bed, a steamer trunk half-filled, bureau drawers and wardrobe doors open—she also noticed that new draperies and bed linens had replaced the old ones. Books and a jewelry box had replaced the dollhouse and other toys on the shelves.
“I came to say goodbye,” Eve told her.
“I suppose you’ve heard that I’m leaving for finishing school in London tomorrow.”
“Yes, Mum told me. And I’m also off to London tomorrow. I’m leaving service for good and enrolling in a course to become a typist.”
Audrey backed up to sit on the edge of her bed. “So I won’t see you after today?”
“You can see me whenever you want to,” Eve said with a smile and a shrug. “We’ll both be in London.” When Audrey didn’t respond, Eve quickly added, “But I suppose the people in your fancy finishing school wouldn’t like you socializing with a working girl like me.” Nor would Audrey’s mother allow it. When the household went up to London for the Season, Audrey’s mother kept her much too busy to visit the sights with her kitchen maid, just as Mum had predicted.
“Wellingford Hall is going to feel deserted,” Audrey said with a sigh. “Alfie is studying at Oxford this fall, Mother stays in London most of the time, and now I’m going away, too.” As if sensing the strain between them, she added, “If you give me your address, I could write to you from time to time.”
Eve smiled and shook her head. “You don’t need me anymore, Audrey. You’ve become very brave all on your own.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’ve peeked through the baize door once or twice and watched you mingling with all those elegant people your mother invites to her parties. You look perfectly at ease.” Eve lifted her chin and held out her pinkie finger as she imitated a fancy lady sipping tea.
Audrey smiled. Then her smile vanished as her eyes welled with tears. “I’m going to miss you, Eve. I’ll never forget you.”
Eve scrambled for something to say to stop her own tears. She didn’t want Audrey to know how much she would miss her—or how hurt she’d been as Audrey had slowly outgrown their friendship. They were both young women now, sixtee
n years old, and both about to start new chapters in their lives. “I’ll share a secret with you if you promise not to tell anyone,” Eve said.
Audrey’s smile returned at this reminder of their childhood ritual. She placed her right hand over her heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die. I swear by my very life not to tell.”
“I’m not always going to be a typist. Once I get a job in a fancy office, I’m going to charm my boss until he falls head over heels in love with me and asks me to marry him. Someday I’ll be as rich as you are, and I’ll be the mistress of a house just as big as Wellingford. Maybe bigger!”
“I’m sure you’ll do it, too,” Audrey said with a somber nod. “You’ll go far, Eve Dawson.”
“Thanks.” Eve rarely admitted to anyone, including herself, that she envied Audrey’s wealthy, pampered life. She backed toward the door. “Well, goodbye, Audrey, and good luck. Maybe we’ll meet again someday.” She needed to leave before their farewell turned tearful.
“I wish you well, Eve,” Audrey called after her. “And thank you for being a good friend when I needed one.”
Eve hurried up the back stairs to her room, wondering if anyone would ever take Audrey’s place in her life. She would never forget her friend’s quiet dignity and grace and the many things she’d taught her as they’d shared tea together, things she probably never had thanked her for.
Early the next morning, Williams drove Eve to the train station. He offered to let her take the wheel one last time, but she shook her head. Eve looked back only once, not to say goodbye to Wellingford Hall, but for a final glimpse of the woods she’d roamed as a girl. Leaving Mum behind, along with George and Tildy and Williams and Robbins and Mrs. Smith, and all of the other people she loved, had been harder than she’d imagined. They watched out for her, took care of her, but now she was on her own. Alone. If she dared to admit it, she felt afraid.
Williams braked as they rounded a curve in the road, coming to a halt to allow a flock of sheep to cross. The shepherd tipped his hat to them, then used his staff to guide a wayward sheep back to the path. Eve remembered a snippet of the psalm Granny Maud had taught her—“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”—and she smiled at this reminder of the Good Shepherd’s care. She wasn’t alone after all.
A small crowd of passengers already filled the platform at the train depot. Williams got out and lifted Eve’s lone suitcase from the boot of the car. “I’m sorry I can’t stay and wait for the train with you, but I have to hurry back and load Miss Audrey’s things. I’m driving her to London today. Lady Rosamunde wouldn’t let me drive you both there together.”
“I’ll be fine,” Eve said around the knot in her throat.
“I know you will, my brave girl. I never met anyone as fearless as you, Eve Dawson. Imagine, coaxing me into teaching you to drive when you could barely see over the steering wheel.” Williams sounded as if he had a knot in his throat, too. He paused to clear it. “You still have the directions I gave you for taking the Underground to that new school of yours?”
She blinked away tears and patted her jacket pocket. “I have them. Thanks.”
“Well, good luck to you, Eve. I’ll miss you, girl.” He seemed reluctant to leave.
Eve threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I’ll miss you, too, Williams. Maybe I’ll sneak back and visit you once in a while.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” She backed away to wipe her tears and saw tears in his eyes, too. “I’ll need to practice shifting gears so I don’t forget how to do it.” He nodded and bowed to her before getting behind the wheel and driving away. Eve watched the car until it turned out of sight.
LONDON, JANUARY 1936
Eve took the steps to her school two at a time and pushed through the door. Several of her teachers and fellow students huddled in the foyer, talking quietly. “Is it true?” Eve asked, panting for breath. “I just heard a newsboy shouting, ‘King George is dead! Long live King Edward.’ I didn’t want to believe it.”
“It’s true,” her typing instructor said. “His Majesty died last night at Sandringham House. Classes are canceled until after the funeral.”
Eve wanted to sit down to absorb the news, but the only bench was taken. The hallway seemed oddly quiet without the usual clacking and pinging of typewriters in the background. “I can’t imagine England without His Majesty,” Eve murmured. She didn’t know why, but it seemed like a significant event in her life, the end of an era. Like when Granny Maud died. The other girls continued talking.
“They say King George will lie in state in Westminster Abbey so leaders from around the world can pay their respects.”
“I wonder what sort of king Prince Edward will be. He never seems to take his duties very seriously.”
“He hasn’t even married yet. He has no heir.”
“And he’s having an affair with a married woman.”
“She’s twice married! She divorced her first husband and is still married to the second while running all over Europe with Prince Edward.”
“It’s quite shocking.”
“And she’s an American!”
“That’s enough, girls,” the instructor said. “We must show respect for our new monarch.”
“Our new monarch.” What changes would he bring? The front door opened and closed, bringing gusts of cold air as more students arrived to chew over the news. Eve didn’t want to stay and digest this unsettling loss with them. Nor did she want to return to the boardinghouse, where the other girls would be laughing and giggling as they celebrated a few days off from classes. She tied her scarf around her neck again and ventured out into the January morning. Her breath fogged the air as she walked to the nearest Underground station and took a train across town to the Clarksons’ town house, hoping to see her mum. Lady Rosamunde lived in London almost year-round now, rarely returning to Wellingford Hall, even for holidays.
“Lady Rosamunde returned home very late last night,” Mum said after greeting Eve with a hug. “We’ll have plenty of time for a cup of tea before she wakes up.” She brewed a fresh pot and poured them each a cup. They sat at the table in the basement while the other servants bustled around with morning preparations. Mr. Clarkson’s morning newspaper had announced the tragic news, and the atmosphere downstairs had the subdued hush of a church service. The single, high window near the ceiling allowed scant light on this dismal morning, and the electric bulbs hanging on cords from the ceiling did little to chase the darkness.
“It will seem odd not to have King George on the throne,” Eve said. “Nothing will be the same without him.”
“He was wonderful to the soldiers during the Great War,” Mum said. “Did I ever tell you that he visited the frontline troops?” She had, but Eve wanted to hear the story again. “Your father saw him, and he said it cheered him to see His Majesty mingling with his soldiers. King George walked in the funeral procession when they brought the Unknown Warrior home to London.”
“Will there be a funeral procession for King George?”
“On January 23, according to the paper. I’m sure they’ll announce the route, too.”
“I want to watch it.” Eve couldn’t explain why but it seemed important. “Come with me, Mum. We should watch it together.”
“I’m not sure I can. Lady Rosamunde may need to appear at some of the funeral events, and she’ll need my help getting ready. I’m so sorry, Eve.”
“I understand.” But she didn’t. Over the years, hundreds of disappointments had contributed to a thick wall of resentment toward Audrey’s mother for commanding all of Mum’s time, expecting her to be at her beck and call. Before they had a chance to share a second cup of tea, the jangling bell summoned Mum to Lady Rosamunde’s room.
“Don’t look so glum,” Mum said as they hugged goodbye. “I’m sure the new king will rise to his duties. England will soldier on.”
Eve left through the servants’ entrance and walked around the row of town houses to the fron
t. A taxi pulled up, the rear door opened—and there was Audrey. Eve might have mistaken her for Lady Rosamunde if she hadn’t known she was still in bed. Audrey looked slender and elegant, dressed in a fur-collared coat and stylish hat like the ones her mother wore. Even the languid way Audrey moved and walked was like her mother. But there was no mistaking Audrey’s amber hair glowing in the sunlight beneath her hat. Eve hurried toward her before she had a chance to disappear inside. “Audrey! Audrey, wait!”
“Eve? . . . Oh, hello!” She paused on the front step. “How nice to see you. How did you know I would be here?”
“I didn’t. I came to see my mum. Did you hear that King George died last night?”
“Yes. They closed school for a few days.”
“My classes were canceled, too.” Eve looked her friend up and down again, noticing her fashionable shoes this time. “You look really great, Audrey. And so stylish. Like a model in a magazine.”
“Thank you.” The new Audrey seemed cool and remote. Eve was about to say goodbye and leave, but then the old Audrey emerged with her shy, familiar smile. “It’s too cold and wet to stand out here and talk. Come inside so we can warm up with a cup of tea.”
“Are you sure?” Audrey’s butler opened the front door, but Eve had never entered through it before.
“Of course I’m sure. I want to hear all about what you’ve been doing.”
The butler took their coats, and they went into the morning room, where a fire blazed on the hearth. If the maid who brought their tea was surprised to see Eve Dawson upstairs when she had just been down below with the servants, she didn’t reveal it.
“So tell me about your classes, Eve. Have you become a typist yet?” Even Audrey’s voice sounded different, clear and precise like a radio announcer for the BBC.
“No, it’s only been five months. But my teachers think I’ll be ready to apply for a job in the spring.”