Polly's Story by Jennie Walters

Author:Jennie Walters
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Swallowcliffe Hall Book 1
Published: 2011-09-03T23:00:00+00:00

Nine

Do not smile at droll stories told in your presence, or seem in any way to notice, or enter into, the family conversation, or the talk at table, or with visitors; and do not offer any information unless asked, and then you must give it in as few words as possible.

From Rules for the Manners of Servants in Good Families, 1901

The next day dawned bright and hopeful. I laid a bunch of meadowsweet and dog roses on Miss Harriet’s early-morning tray, together with a lavender bag that I had made for her birthday out of a scrap of lace. It was not much, but I had embroidered it with her initials as well as I could, and she seemed very pleased.

‘It’s lovely, Polly. Look at your tiny stitches! How can you possibly make them so neat? Oh, this is going to be the best birthday ever. It is such a lovely day, and I am to go out riding with Miss Brookfield after breakfast, and then boating with Rory and Edward.’

Miss Brookfield had instructions to keep Harriet well out of the way while we carried all the china and food out to the boathouse. Mrs Bragg had prepared her favourite dishes: game pie, salmon mayonnaise, lobster salad and a huge side of roast beef with a chunk of fresh horseradish to grate. There were strawberries and peaches from the greenhouse too, and Mrs Henderson had baked a walnut cake which Iris had iced and decorated most beautifully with crystallized violets and rose petals. I didn’t get a chance to speak to Iris privately that morning, but at least she seemed a little calmer at breakfast.

At one o’clock sharp the guests were all waiting in the boathouse, its gingham curtains drawn so as not to give away the surprise. I winked at Master John across the room; he was almost bursting with excitement, hopping up and down while the nurserymaid held his hand and tried to keep him quiet. We maids had been given permission to stand at the back and wish Miss Harriet a happy birthday; Miss Brookfield thought it would be a nice way to thank us for everything we had done. Everyone fell silent as we heard Harriet’s voice come floating across the water, followed by the clunk of the boat’s wooden hull against the jetty. Then suddenly I noticed that Iris was missing. She should have been there, especially as she had taken such trouble icing the birthday cake, and I knew that she had been looking forward to seeing the boathouse in all its glory.

Rory opened the door and Harriet came in, and there was a great deal of ‘Oh, my goodness!’ ‘Look who’s here!’ and ‘Are you sure you didn’t realize?’ but I could not enjoy any of it. I knew in my bones something was badly wrong. Slipping away from the party as soon as possible, I ran back along the path around the lake, then straight up the servants’ staircase to our bedroom.

Everything of Iris’s had gone.

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