Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin

Author:Anne Goodwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9781913117061
Publisher: Inspired Quill
Published: 2021-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

Mrs Embleton laughed when I told her I would prepare the party food. Why shouldn’t I? There was a girl no older than me on the front of the Bero book, and I’d cooked at The Marsh since I was five.

Mrs Embleton proposed we do it together. “Mr Windsor would have a dicky fit if I left you to cater for eight hungry lasses yourself.” I accepted graciously, gratefully: Mother was poorly again and in no position to help. Merely mentioning jam tarts and Victoria sponge made her retch. She couldn’t stomach breakfast, and spent most of the day on the couch reading The Lady and sipping beef tea.

I ricocheted between relief and agitation when the prince summoned the doctor. Mother’s condition must be serious. Yet Dr Glover was positively beaming when he came downstairs with his black bag. Was that because his patient was in fine fettle or because he envisaged repeat visits lining his pockets?

Mr Windsor caught me haunting the doorway of the front parlour and ushered me forward to meet the doctor. “You’re a fine young lady, Miss Matilda,” he said. “You’ll be a boon to your mother when the time comes.”

Dr Glover’s allusion transported my ambition beyond a bedtime story. “I hope so, sir.” Bolstered by the smiles on both men’s faces, I continued, “There must be no higher calling – other than the church – than healing the sick.”

Their smiles faded. Had I insulted the doctor by pitching his profession beneath a clergyman? Did I sound childish or priggish when I’d meant to sound mature? Was I getting above myself by voicing any opinion? I did want to be a credit to Mother, but The Willows felt foreign without her to translate. Inwardly, I crumbled, crushed by the demands of recent months. Passing required more than perfect enunciation. Sometimes, you had to purse your lips to stop any words leaking out.

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