The Passions of Bronwyn Read Online Free Page A

respectable living, he had lost a lot of money recently and after the events of the previous night Hester had decided that the only way to save him and the London house was by taking him to the country straight away.  There had been too many witnesses to what had gone on and she was very concerned that they would be ostracised by London Society, anyway. She did not want to lose the house or anymore of the servants.  Times were hard for below stairs staff and she didn’t want them homeless without a job because of her husband’s gambling habit.  She summoned Mrs Danvers and told her to get the household ready to leave the next day.
    The next morning was chaos with staff running all over the house.  Mrs Danvers was shouting orders at all the housemaids and Mr Carter was shouting instructions to all the footmen.  It was relatively calm in the kitchen.  Mrs Davis was packing a few items she felt they would need that wouldn’t already be in the country house.  Betty and Wyn were packed and ready to go.  They were just sitting having a last cup of tea waiting to leave. 
    ‘Alright,’ said Mrs Davis, ‘get yourselves upstairs, the coach is here to take you to the station.’ 
    Betty and Wyn were feeling really excited to be going.  William had told them they would have a lot more spare time there.  They were piled in the coach with all the luggage. ‘Blimey,’ exclaimed Betty, ‘look at all this stuff.  How long are we going for?’ 
    They were soon at the station.  It was very busy with people shouting and rushing around.  William was there to greet them and showed them into their compartment in the train.  As they were servants they obviously didn’t travel first class but Mr Charles had made sure they had their own carriage. 
    ‘We’ll be there in about two or three hours,’ said William, ‘so make yourselves comfortable.  Mrs Davis will be along shortly with food for the journey.’ 
    ‘Which carriage are you in?’ asked Wyn. 
    ‘I’m with the other footmen two carriages down,’ replied William.  ‘See you when we get there.’
    Mrs Davis appeared with packed lunches for them just as the train started to move. 
    ‘I’m in here with you two,’ she said, ‘so behave yourselves.’ 
    The two girls looked out of the window at the scenery flashing past.  It was hard to see much at times because of all the steam.  Betty marvelled at the countryside she was seeing.  She was a London girl and had never been outside the city before.  The time went past very fast and they were soon coming into the station. They were met by a groom from the house.  His name was Frank Cooper and he looked very happy and friendly.  He had a ruddy red face with hair nearly the same colour.  He was very thin but the girls could see he was quite muscular with sun darkened skin.  He came up to them whistling and gave them a smile. ‘Your carriage awaits,’ he told them, ‘don’t worry the luggage will be picked up separately, you just come with me.’  Wyn. Betty & Mrs Davis followed him to where there was a horse and trap waiting for them.  They all clambered in but Frank had to help Mrs Davis up. 
    ‘Where are we?’ asked Wyn. 
    ‘We’re near the village of Ripplesdown,’ replied Frank.  ‘The house is just the other side of the village, it won’t be long now.’
    It was late in the afternoon when they finally went down a deep narrow lane and saw the house shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight.  It was a grey-stone mansion with large chimneys and a pond with a small fountain at the front.  It was surrounded by fields and there was a stream running through the nearest one.  There were cows in the field and ducks swimming in the stream.  Wyn was captivated by the sights around her and for the first time started feeling slightly homesick.  Frank drove the trap round to the back of the house and they all jumped down.  They were met at the back door by Mrs Danvers.  She told them to