Nobody's Darling by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788632997
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2018-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘Oh. Lowered yourself to come and see us have you?’ Cook was hanging the big copper pan on the wall above the great range when she heard the door swing to. She seemed surprised to see Ruby. ‘Well, now,’ she said, looking from the new maid to the wretched girl, both of them cleaning silver at the table. ‘Look who’s ventured below stairs.’ She made a stiff little bow from the waist. ‘What can we do for you, m’lady?’ she asked sarcastically, looking pleased with herself when the other two began giggling.

Ignoring the jibe, Ruby came into the room and seated herself at the table. ‘Can’t I come and see you when I like?’ she asked. After Luke had left the house, she had crept back to the drawing-room, where through the half-open door she had seen how agitated and lovestruck Cicely was. It worried her more than she could say. What was more, she had missed her tram. It always left at precisely five-forty and not one minute later. It was now almost quarter to six. ‘I thought I might be offered a cup of tea,’ she said hopefully. ‘I’ve missed the tram, and the next one isn’t for fifteen minutes.’

‘Oh? So that’s the reason for this little visit. I don’t suppose we should have seen you at all if you hadn’t missed your tram then?’

‘That’s not fair, Cook,’ Ruby told her, ‘I come and see you as often as I can.’

‘Well, that ain’t too often neither,’ came the haughty reply. ‘Since you’ve been got up to lady’s maid, you can’t seem to drag yourself away from up there.’ She clenched her fist and jerked her thumb upwards to the ceiling. ‘Too good for us now, that’s the truth of it, I dare say.’ Cook was a spiteful woman when she set her mind to it, and she had set her mind against Ruby.

Suddenly another voice interrupted. ‘Ruby does come and see us.’ It was the wretched girl. And so astonished were the others that she had spoken out, all eyes were turned on her.

‘She’s allus coming down to see if we’re all right, and she helped me the other morning when I dropped the tray outside Miss Cicely’s door…’ She clapped her hand to her mouth, her colour deepening when she realised how she had let the cat out of the bag. Ruby had been shaking her head all the while the wretched girl had been speaking, but the poor little soul didn’t have the brains to know that she was trying to warn her.

Cook was on her like a mad dog. ‘WHAT!’ She leaned over the table. ‘You dropped the tray?’ she thundered. ‘You little idiot. Can’t I trust you to do anything?’

Terrified, the wretched thing ran off into the scullery, whimpering and squeaking, ‘I didn’t mean to. There weren’t no harm done.’ The new recruit didn’t know what to make of it all. She stared from one to the other with round frightened eyes.

‘She’s right,’ Ruby confirmed.

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