Chapters (71)
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Part Two
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Part Three
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Part Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Part Five
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Books by Barbara Taylor Bradford
- About the Author
- Newsletter Sign-up
Mrs. Turner laughed, and said, “Go to the sink and wash yer hands. Then come and sit by me. I’ve got a big bowl of soup on the ready for ye.”
“Thank ye, Cook,” Kip said, and ran over to the sink.
Blackie leaned closer to Cook, and asked, “What happened ter his parents, his family?”
“His father was in the army and was killed in the Boer War. His mother died, a while ago, of rheumatic fever. Young she was too. No brothers or sisters, no grandparents, so I took him in. He lives with me daughter at weekends.”
“And he’s here during the week? In the servants’ quarters, I suppose.”
“That’s right, Blackie. And just so ye know, he’s in the room next ter me. Emma on the other side of him. And with Squire Fairley’s permission.”
“Ye are a good woman, Mrs. Turner.” Blackie squeezed her arm. “And a brilliant cook—” Blackie stopped talking when Kip came back to the big oak table in the center of the room.
After a week at Fairley Hall, Blackie had come to understand all of the occupants of the house. Except for Emma Harte. In certain ways, she was an enigma to him, although he liked her very much.
Now, as he lay in the bed in the attic, musing about his time here, he decided she might always be a bit of a mystery to him.
She was like a chameleon, instantly changing right before his eyes. One moment swinging on a gate, filled with girlish laughter, the next serious and quiet as she went about her work in the house.
He realized she was always cautious, wary and careful when she was working, and kept very much to herself during the day. They ate their dinner together at two o’clock, and then later they had a snack in the evening, after the family had been served supper. And this was when they chatted.
She had confided in him about her worries, particularly her mother’s failing health and her brother’s dream of going off to join the Royal Navy. She was friendly, bright, and very frequently made him laugh with her pithy comments and sarcasm at times. She laughed with him; they enjoyed each other.
Earlier this evening she had told him she would miss him and seemed sad that he would be leaving in a couple of days. And then she had brought up the idea of perhaps coming to Leeds one day.
He worried about how a girl like her, from the country, would cope in the city, would find work that wasn’t soul destroying or dangerous. But he had reassured her that he would be there for her, if she ever made that journey. And this had pleased her.