The Watercress Girls Read Online Free Page A

not much more than thirty years old, slim and vivacious, attired in a stylish afternoon frock in rose-pink, with wide sleeves and knee-length skirt. She wore a matching headband on bobbed platinum-blond hair. Her make-up was startling to Mattie, who’d only experimented with face powder, then been sternly advised to scrub it off by her mother. Sybil’s lips were painted a glossy scarlet, her brown eyes and long lashes emphasized with kohl.
    ‘I’ve been so looking forward to your arrival, Mattie.’ Sybil’s voice, too, was a surprise. Breathless, with a captivating lilt. She held out her hand, a silver charm bracelet jingling on her wrist. ‘Come and sit by me. How was your journey?’
    ‘Rather tedious, but comfortable,’ Mattie said. She thought wryly that it had been a waste of time dabbing Walter’s Mitcham lavender on her hanky because Sybil’s perfume was almost overpowering.
    There was a rattle of crockery as Hilda wheeled in the tea trolley. While she poured out, Sybil proffered a plate of brandy-snap biscuits, filled with fresh cream.
    ‘Dinner will be at seven. I should say, we change for that, so don’t eat too many.’
    ‘Oh, good. Hilda does sometimes take note of my heavy hints,’ Griff exclaimed, as he joined them, spotted the delicious sweetmeats and helped himself to a couple.
    Then footsteps were heard going along the hall, followed by an irritable masculine bellow. ‘Sybil, where are you? Hilda, run my bath!’
    Sybil leapt to her feet. ‘Excuse me – my husband is back. Entertain Mattie, Griff!’
    As she hurried out, Griff said to Mattie, ‘We all jump to his command. Don’t look so apprehensive, old Rufus has a penchant for young blonde ladies, hence Sybil, eh? It was the photograph of you your mother sent that made him decide to employ you.’
    Mattie hadn’t heard ‘penchant’ before, but she could guess its meaning.
    ‘I wish I hadn’t come here,’ she said frankly.
    ‘But you don’t have a return ticket?’ Griff guessed.
    ‘No. I’ll have to save up for that out of my wages.’
    ‘I don’t blame you. Still, it was worth coming, just to meet me, eh?’
    Mattie couldn’t help smiling at his audacity. She’d met two attentive young men in a short time, she thought, but she already knew which one she found more attractive.
    ‘I have another dilemma now,’ she confided. ‘What to wear this evening.’
    ‘I happen to know,’ Griff told her, ‘that Sybil thought of that. Hilda’s hung some suitable clothes in your wardrobe.’
    ‘That’s very kind of Sybil! But won’t Mr Fullilove realize…?’
    ‘Sybil chose things she bought herself, before her marriage. I should have let her tell you herself, but I didn’t want you to worry.’
    Mattie didn’t meet Mr Fullilove before dinner. When Sybil returned she resumed her cheerful chat, but Mattie noted the flickering of her eyelids, the glances at the door. Eventually, after the trolley had been taken away, Sybil looked at her wristwatch. ‘Well, Hilda gave me a nodto let me know she has tidied up the bathroom. You will find everything you need, I hope, in there. Look in the wardrobe, too. We’ll assemble downstairs at five to seven. Don’t be late.’
    Mattie was standing in her petticoat, following a reviving soak in the bath, regarding the clothes in the wardrobe, when there was a rapping on her door. For a moment she hesitated, then called: ‘Come in.’
    To her relief, it was Hilda. ‘Thought you might like me to help, Miss Mattie.’
    ‘Oh, would you? Which dress, d’you think?’ There were three to choose from.
    ‘Miss Sybil is wearing blue. How about this sprigged muslin? Not too revealing.’
    ‘I’m glad of that.’ Mattie smiled, thinking of Mr Fullilove and his penchant.
    ‘Now,’ Hilda said, deftly tying the bow at Mattie’s waist, ‘I’ll dress your hair.’
    Mattie sat at the big dressing-table, where she had arranged her few toiletries. The triple mirrors reflected her solemn