Crossing back to the bed she bent to place one last kiss on Louisa’s pale cheek before fetching her cape and walking woodenly out of the house. She had nothing and no one to live for anymore. She had no idea where she was going, but eventually, she found herself at the harbour. It was deserted and there was nothing to be heard but the sound of the waves slapping against the quay. A number of boats were anchored there and as she stared past them to the sea beyond, she felt bereft. Only once before in her life had she felt such grief when, as a young mother-to-be, the mine owner from the pit where her husband worked had come cap in hand to tell her that her darling husband had been killed in a fall below ground. Her grief had been so intense that only days later the child she had been carrying had been born too soon. It was a little girl and Maude Ruffin had felt that her life was over.

The months that followed had passed in a blur of heartbreak until the small amount of savings they’d had was almost gone and she applied for the post of nanny to the Hamilton-Tates’ new baby daughter. She was accepted for the job and the minute she held Louisa in her arms she had begun to heal and in her heart, Louisa had become the daughter she had always longed for.

She stared despairingly down into the murky depths. She was on the very edge of the quay, just one more step and she could disappear beneath the dark water and be with her precious girl forever, but did she have the courage to take that step? she asked herself. And then suddenly Louisa’s beautiful face appeared floating beneath the turquoise depths. She looked like a mermaid with her lovely hair floating about her and she was smiling as she held her arms up towards her.

‘I’m coming, my love,’ Maude Ruffin murmured, her heart soaring and, just for a moment before she plummeted into the cold water, she had the sensation of flying. Louisa seemed to be waiting for her and after wrapping her arms about her beloved Ruffy she drew her down and down and as she sank there was a gentle smile on Ruffy’s face.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Early the next morning Margaret Hamilton-Tate entered her daughter’s room to find her cold and dead, and her screams echoed along the landing. Even Becky and Amber heard her up in the nursery and Becky stared at Amber. ‘What do you think’s ’appened?’

Amber shook her head sadly. ‘I can only think it’s the mistress passed away. But we’ll know soon enough.’