From then on Mrs Carter helped her each evening and within a week, between them, the first dress was finished and Amber could hardly wait to wear it. All in all, life at her uncle’s was proving to be far more pleasant than she had thought it would be, and sometimes she forgot that this was just a temporary home – because as soon as the baby was born, her time here would end. She had already decided that she didn’t want to go back to working at Greenacres. Every time she laid eyes on the master it would only remind her of the pain he had put her through, and worse still, what if he wanted to resume their relationship? She knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it and so soon she would have to think very hard about what she planned to do with her future.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

On a fine sunny morning early in June, as Mrs Ruffin was helping her young mistress to dress, Louisa stamped her foot and pouted. ‘Pull the stays tighter, Ruffy,’ she grumbled as she looked down at her thickening waistline.

‘If I pull them any tighter, you’ll not be able to breathe!’ her faithful servant retorted. ‘And any road, you’re going to do damage to the baby if you keep insisting on binding your stomach so tight!’

Louisa was in danger of flying into a full-blown tantrum and threw herself down onto her silk chaise longue with tears smudging her pale cheeks.

‘Oh, I feel so fat and ugly!’ she declared as she mopped her face with a scrap of a lace handkerchief. ‘And I just feel so sick and ill all the time. I swear once this is over, I shall ban Barnaby from my bedroom forever! I simply refuse to go through this ever again.’

At that moment there was a tap at the door and Barnaby strolled in carrying a large box of sweetmeats he had ordered from London especially for her.

‘Here you are, my darling. They just arrived.’ He smiled at her as she pouted back at him. He had always spoilt her but since discovering that she was with child again, her every wish had been his command and Ruffy almost felt sorry for him.

‘How are you feeling? Isn’t Dr Flynn calling in to see you today?’

Louisa sniffed and took the sweetmeats from him before throwing them carelessly onto the other end of the chaise longue.

‘Yes he is . . . again.’ She gave a martyred sigh. ‘And I’m so tired of being poked and prodded about. He’s concerned that my ankles are starting to swell! Says it could be a sign of trouble to come.’ Pulling up her petticoat she displayed them to him. She had always been very proud of her shapely legs but now she was ashamed of them.