When Miss Wood hesitated before answering, Hermione snapped, ‘Tell us, then! You might as well, because if you don’t Oscar will when he next calls.’

‘Erm, we had a visit the other day from Mrs Pembroke,’ Miss Wood confided uneasily. ‘And she and Mr Pembroke had a terrible row. We could hear them all over the house, couldn’t we, Betty?’

Betty’s head bobbed in agreement – she loved a bit of a gossip. ‘Not ’alf. They were goin’ at it hammer an’ tongs, but the master gave as good as he got. We couldn’t hear what they were sayin’, but she were in a right temper when she left.’

‘And have you heard anythin’– sorry, anything from Miranda?’

Miss Wood shook her head. ‘Not us personally but I believe she has written to her father.’

Shortly after, the two younger women went outside to look at the garden, leaving Miss Wood and Hermione to chat and once outside Betty asked, ‘So, how are you? Really, I mean?’

Ruby’s smile was genuine. ‘I’m fine, honestly. I really like Hermione; she’s taught me so much already and she thinks I might get to be a jewellery designer eventually. She’s taught me a lot about gardenin’ an’ all – I mean, gardening as well.’ She gave a guilty smile. ‘Hermione is teaching me to speak correctly for when I have to meet clients or work in any of the shops, but I still tend to say things wrong.’

‘Hm.’ Betty smiled at her. ‘I don’t mind tellin’ you, we miss you, all of us, though we don’t miss Miss Miranda, or her mother for that matter.’

‘Do you still think there’s no chance of her and Mr Pembroke getting back together?’ Ruby asked as they stopped to admire a cluster of delphiniums.

Betty shook her head. ‘I doubt it very much; I think he’s got used to bein’ on his own now, an’ long may it last. The house is so much more peaceful without them.’

They continued their tour of the garden until eventually Mrs B came outside to tell them, ‘Sorry to break this up, dears, but Miss Wood is ready to leave now. You don’t want to go missin’ your train.’

And so the two girls went back inside and after saying goodbye, the visitors hurried away, leaving Ruby feeling quite sad. She was happy enough where she was but she still missed them.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

At the beginning of July a letter arrived for Hermione and when Ruby collected it from the doormat, she noticed that it had a French postmark. She suspected it was from Miranda, and when Hermione opened it, she was proved to be right.

‘Huh! The little madam wants to know if she can come and live with me.’ Hermione snorted. ‘She says she hates the school and the teachers and can’t stay there another minute!’