Screwing the newspaper up he flung it aside and bounced out of the chair. ‘Ruby is little more than a child,’ he said angrily. ‘And from what I’ve been told she’s recently lost her mother so perhaps you should try to be a little more compassionate. But now I’m going out. I shan’t be dining here this evening; I’ll have dinner at my club.’ And with that he strode away leaving Lydia with a frown on her face.

So now there would be just Miranda and herself for dinner because her father-in-law was ill in bed, but then it did have its compensations: there would be all the more for her. She so hated the way Oscar looked at her every time she took a second helping. Picking up a magazine, she popped another sweetmeat into her mouth and settled down amongst the cushions.

*

‘Don’t look so glum, bab,’ Cook said to Ruby later that evening. The chores for the day were done and the staff were having a well-earned cup of cocoa before retiring to bed. The elderly Mr Pembroke was quite poorly at present and confined to bed and they were all having to work extra hard to meet the demands of the mistress, Miranda, and now him; not that the old man could help it. Ruby hadn’t met him yet but she’d heard the rest of the staff say that he was a kindly soul.

‘I just wish I knew what I’d done to make her dislike me so much,’ Ruby said with a sigh as she sat staring miserably into the fire.

‘Just take a look in the mirror and that should give you your answer.’ Cook took a sip of her cocoa then wiped the froth from her lip with the back of her hand. ‘You’re a pretty, dainty little thing whereas she . . . well, let’s just say she’s going the same way as her mother. It’s unbelievable the amount o’ food that miss can put away in one sittin’. She eats more than a grown man so it’s no wonder she’s runnin’ to fat and gettin’ spots.’

Betty chuckled; she loved it when Cook got on her high horse.

‘I haven’t thanked you yet for what you did earlier,’ Ruby told Betty then. ‘If it hadn’t been for you and that ring had been found in our room, I would have got the sack, that’s for sure.’

‘Don’t give it another thought. I guessed straightaway what the little madam were up to; she tried it before wi’ one of her other maids. But what I will say is, you need to be on your guard now. She’s a spiteful bitch an’ I wouldn’t put anythin’ past her. Just make sure you come an’ tell us or Miss Wood if she tries to hurt you.’