Clifton Manor (Season One) by Spencer Victoria

Author:Spencer, Victoria [Spencer, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2014-12-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Gladys Colton (30th April 1912)

The annual village fair had come at a perfect time for Gladys. She nearly hadn’t gone at all; traces of the illness that struck her down had hung around for a while. Fortunately this morning, she had stopped throwing up and almost felt like a human being again.

She still nearly skipped it. Anna had made it clear that she and James would be going together, and there were too few people in the staff she actually wanted to spend time with.

In the end, Gladys just went out of hope—hope that a certain young driver would also be there. She figured there was a decent chance they would meet. Most of the village went to the fair, so he would almost certainly be there. It was just a case of whether or not they bumped into each other.

She found Nicholas waiting for her at the main entrance.

“There you are,” he said as she approached. “I hope this doesn’t seem too forward, but I was hoping to see you here today.”

“No, no, not at all,” Gladys replied. She broke off from the crowd she had walked down with and walked in with Nicholas.

“I don’t really know many people in the village. Not that I just want to spend time with you because you’re the only person I know.”

“It’s fine,” Gladys said. She smiled when she saw how flustered he looked. She was usually the shy one, but she had to link her arm through Nicholas’ because he didn’t seem about to offer. “I thought you would know a lot of people. You must have met half the village in your line of work.”

“I mainly meet the people who are rich enough to require a driver,” Nicholas explained. “And they don’t come to the fair. I recognise a lot of the people here, I suppose, but it’s always a brief visit as they help unload the car or I take the bags inside. It’s not like I live in a house full of other servants like you.”

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Gladys said. She felt surprisingly at ease with Nicholas, but she didn’t want to spend the entire day complaining about her job.

“You want to have a go at the coconut stall?” Nicholas said. “My treat.”

“Thank you, but I hope you aren’t expecting me to win. I don’t have much of a throwing arm.”

“It wouldn’t matter if you did,” Nicholas said. “These things are glued down, anyway. Haven’t you ever wondered why no one wins?”

“Really? So why are we playing?”

Nicholas shrugged. “Because it’s fun. Besides, they come unstuck occasionally, and that is a really big jar of sweets on offer for the winner.”

The prize for knocking off a coconut with one of three throws was a glass jar stuffed full with gummies, guaranteed to rot the teeth and keep you up at night, but they did taste good. Gladys took hold of a ball and awkwardly aimed an over-hand throw. Her aim was not bad,

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