Friends and Traitors E-Book

Helen Peters

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 276

Beschreibung

Some secrets are just too dangerous to know... A gripping World War II story about how two girls foil an aristocratic plot to bring down the government and hand the country to the Nazis... When Sidney Dashworth's school is evacuated to a huge stately home in the countryside, she thinks she's going to spend the war being very bored. At least her brother must be having fun, flying his Spitfire all over France! But soon Sidney and a housemaid called Nancy discover that the Earl is up to no good. He has secret nighttime meetings with mysterious men from the government, is hiding something sinister on his land and is connected to the bombing of a munitions factory. At first it's all terribly thrilling, investigating by creeping about at night and finding secret passageways, but soon everything takes a deadly turn. Sidney's brother goes missing over France and the war hits home with a terrible reality. The Earl and his evil plotters must be stopped, or nothing will ever be the same again...

Leseprobe

For my father, Robert, who grew up during the Second World War, and my mother, Ruth, who was born in the middle of it.

CHAPTER ONE

Right in the Middle of the Chaos

Nancy gaped at the enormous mansion in the distance. Oh my giddy aunt, she thought. That’s not a house. It’s a palace.

Her stomach squirmed as she stood at the bend in the drive, clutching her little cardboard suitcase. How would she ever fit in here?

She took a deep breath. You’ll be fine, she told herself. Mother did it. Granny did it. And it’s not asif you’ve never cleaned a house before.

But this house?

Nancy had an overwhelming urge to run back to the station and catch the next train home. But she made herself keep walking.

As she rounded the bend, she saw that the house formed three sides of a massive square, set around a huge courtyard. And every inch of the courtyard was littered with school desks, chairs, pianos, mattresses, music stands, bed frames, easels, tables, boxes and packing cases. It looked as though a mischievous god had picked up a school building, dangled it above the house and emptied its contents on to the grass.

As she stared at the scene, a boy about her own age, in a flat cap several sizes too big for him, swaggered out of the main entrance. He grinned at Nancy.

“Hey, redhead! Watch out, your hair’s on fire!”

She rolled her eyes. “Very funny. Never heard that one before.”

“Nancy!” said a voice behind her.

She turned and saw a man in a chauffeur’s uniform carrying a packing case. What a relief to see a familiar face.

“Oh, hello, Mr Burford,” she said.

“Hello, Nancy. How was your journey?” he asked, setting down the case and wiping his sweaty brow with a handkerchief.

“Not too bad, thank you. The train was packed with soldiers and evacuees, though.”

“Seems like the whole country’s on the move since Hitler reached the French coast,” Mr Burford said. He beckoned to the boy to come and join them. “This is Albert. He helps out in the gardens and stables. Nancy’s the new housemaid, Albert.”

The boy nodded to Nancy and she raised her eyebrows with a look that said, Not so cheeky nowyour boss is here, are you? She noticed that he only had one arm. His right shirtsleeve was tucked into his belt.

“I’m afraid you’ve arrived right in the middle of the chaos, Nancy,” Mr Burford said.

“Yes, what’s going on?”

“Girls’ school, moving from the Sussex coast in case Hitler invades. We only found out on Friday.”

Nancy’s eyes widened. “A whole school? Will I have to clean for them too?”

Mr Burford laughed. “No, they’re bringing all their own staff.”

Thank goodness for that, Nancy thought. If she had to skivvy for a school too, she’d pretty soon be looking for another job.

“The removal men were meant to take the furniture indoors,” Mr Burford said, “but they had to go and evacuate another school. You’ll have to pitch in straight away, I’m afraid. Lucky you came in uniform.”

“Yes, thank you for sending it. And for getting me the job.”

“Well, they wanted a good strong country girl, and I thought you’d be ideal. Your mum said you won a scholarship to the grammar school, but it’s better to be out at work, eh? Not much point getting a fancy education with the world as it is at the moment.”

“No,” said Nancy. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted to travel.”

He laughed. “Stanbrook’s not exactly Timbuktu. You’ve only moved twenty miles.”

“It’s the furthest I’ve ever been. And one day I’ll go further.”

Nobody knew how disappointed Nancy was that she’d had to leave school on her fourteenth birthday. She had told her parents she didn’t mind, because what was the point in being upset? The scholarship didn’t include the expensive uniform or the books, so that was that.

“How’s your dad these days?” Mr Burford asked.

“Not so bad, thank you.” She tried not to think about Dad’s terrible coughing fit this morning. His lungs had never been right since he had been gassed in the last war.

An older girl in a green dress like Nancy’s walked up a stone staircase from the basement and picked her way through the furniture towards them.

“Rosa, this is Nancy,” said Mr Burford. “Nancy, this is Rosa, the head housemaid. She’s an evacuee of sorts. Came over from Austria two years ago.”

Rosa smiled at Nancy. “Pleased to meet you,” she said. She had a slight accent, and her pale, anxious-looking face was framed by long dark plaits pinned up on her head. Nancy tried not to stare as she said hello, but she wondered why Rosa had left Austria and where the rest of her family were.

“You two take the dining tables in,” Mr Burford said. “Albert and I will make a start on the beds.”

As Nancy followed Rosa to a cluster of tables, a gleaming green sports car came speeding up the drive.

“Oh!” breathed Nancy. “Look at that!”

“That’s Lord Evesham’s car,” said Rosa. “I’m sure he wasn’t expected today.”

“Albert, fetch Mr Armitage,” called the chauffeur, straightening his cap and heading down the steps to the forecourt. “Rosa, Nancy, stand by the main entrance to greet his lordship.”

From their position by the front steps, Nancy watched, entranced, as the car came to a screeching halt. “A BMW 328. Oh, my goodness! It’s even more beautiful than in the photographs.”

Mr Burford opened the driver’s door and saluted. A tall, immaculately dressed man in a trilby sprang out of the car and glared at the furniture-strewn courtyard.

“Armitage!” he barked.

A smartly suited man appeared as if by magic, gliding across the courtyard so elegantly that you could almost have imagined the furniture was parting to make way for him.

“That’s the butler,” Rosa murmured.

“Welcome back, my lord,” said the butler with a bow.

“What the devil is all this junk, Armitage?” said the earl. “It looks like a Boy Scouts’ jumble sale.”

“It is unfortunate, my lord, that you should have arrived at a time of some upheaval, but, rest assured, it will all be cleared by nightfall.”

“Nightfall’s no bally good to me, Armitage. I’ve got several vanloads of priceless porcelain arriving any minute. Get the servants to clear a path, and look sharp about it.”

“Curtsy as his lordship passes,” Rosa whispered.

Lord Evesham completely ignored the maids, but Mr Armitage, following him, stopped and said, “Move those tables inside quickly, then start on the chairs. The headmistress will show you where to place them.” He glanced at Nancy. “You must be the new housemaid. Good.”

Some welcome, thought Nancy. Still, you couldn’t blame him for being a bit tense. Lord Evesham didn’t seem like the most easy-going employer.

As she and Rosa headed back to the tables, a fabulous red sports car pulled up on the forecourt. Nancy’s mouth dropped open. A Jaguar SS100! This place really was a whole new world.

She gazed in admiration as Mr Burford opened the door. The driver got out and removed her cap, goggles and gloves.

Nancy gasped. It couldn’t really be her, could it?

“What is it?” asked Rosa, grasping one end of a table.

Nancy stared at the trouser-suited woman. “Oh my giddy aunt, it’s Dorothy Taylor.”

“Do you know Miss Taylor?” asked Rosa.

“Of course I do,” said Nancy. “I mean, I don’t know her, but I know everything about her. Is she a friend of Lord Evesham’s?”

“Yes,” said Rosa. “I think she is a racing-car driver?”

“She’s an incredible racing-car driver,” said Nancy. “She beat all the men at Brooklands last year in that Jaguar. She races motorcycles and flies planes too. She’s amazing. Oh, wait until I tell Jack!”

“Jack?”

“My brother. He’s with the British Expeditionary Force,” Nancy said with that mixture of pride and fear she always felt when she thought of Jack fighting in Europe. “He loves racing too – we used to read all the race reports together, and he’s going to take me to Brooklands one day.”

They heaved the table into a marble-floored entrance hall that was quite a lot bigger than Nancy’s entire house. A woman who was surely the headmistress stood in the hall like a column of steel-grey tweed.

“Take that into the dining room and place it at the far end on the left,” she said.

They staggered into the grandest room Nancy had ever seen. Vast oil paintings in gilt frames hung on red-silk-covered walls. A huge crystal chandelier was suspended from the ornate ceiling.

“It took eight men to move out his lordship’s dining table yesterday,” Rosa said.

“Where is it now?” Nancy asked.

“In the library.” Rosa gestured to a door on the other side of the hall. “That will be the earl’s dining room while the school is here.”

As they walked back through the room, Nancy saw Lord Evesham and Dorothy Taylor in the entrance hall. Mr Armitage stood at a respectful distance.

Nancy gazed at the impossibly glamorous woman in her elegant trouser suit. She still couldn’t believe her heroine was actually here.

“Do you think I could ask her for her autograph?” she whispered to Rosa.

“Her what?”

“To write her name on a piece of paper for me.”

“No!” whispered Rosa, looking shocked. “You must never speak to the family or their guests unless they speak to you first.”

They couldn’t get out of the dining room, as the headmistress was hovering in the doorway while the butler introduced her to Lord Evesham. Nancy watched in amusement as she blushed and bobbed a curtsy.

Lord Evesham smiled graciously. “Delighted to meet you, Miss Hathersage. Welcome to Stanbrook.”

“Thank you so much, your lordship. I cannot express how much we appreciate your kindness.”

“Not at all, not at all. We must all do our bit for the war effort, eh?”

The headmistress gushed a reply, but he was already walking away, with Dorothy Taylor beside him. Miss Hathersage turned to the maids. “Fetch the classroom lists from the desk in my study,” she said to Rosa. “It’s the Green Drawing Room, on the first floor.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Rosa, and headed down the hall.

“Well, don’t idle about,” the headmistress said to Nancy. “Go and fetch some dining chairs.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Nancy. Bossy old bat, she thought.

On her way out, she glimpsed Lord Evesham and Miss Taylor turning off the main corridor. Her heartbeat sped up. What if she could get Dorothy Taylor’s autograph? Imagine sending it to Jack! Wouldn’t he be amazed!

Boxes sat piled up by the front door. On some impulse, Nancy picked one up and followed the pair at a distance. They walked into a room near the end of the corridor. Nancy slowed her pace as she approached.

The door was slightly ajar, and she heard Lord Evesham say in a low voice, “We can’t discuss this now. Too many people around, what with this dratted school turning up.”

“Well, I don’t know how else we can discuss it,” said Miss Taylor. “We can’t say anything on the telephone, and you might not be in London for weeks.”

“Keep your voice down,” he said. There was a pause, and the sound of a match being struck. “All this waiting is jarring my nerves.”

“Well, Saturday is all in hand,” said Miss Taylor. “So there’s no need to fret where that’s concerned.”

“I’m still not sure you should be doing it yourself,” said Lord Evesham. The smell of cigarette smoke drifted into the corridor.

“I’ve done far more dangerous things, Gerald. In any case, there’s no risk. I’ve had the place watched for weeks and there’s never any guard at the side gate.”

“Don’t take your own car,” he said. “It’s far too recognisable.”

“Of course I won’t. What sort of fool do you take me for?”

A door opened nearby and Nancy hurried on, her heart thumping and a queasy sensation in her stomach. She had no idea what they’d been talking about. But there was something about the tone and the secrecy of it that made her feel extremely uneasy.

Sidney to George

A train Somewhere between London and Stanbrook 27th May 1940

Dear Dordy,

Oh, goodness, your last letter was so hilare it made me snort milk through my nose at the breakfast table. I can’t believe Douglas said that to the wing commander – will he be court-martialled or don’t they do that in the Air Force?

Well, you will be surprised to get another letter so soon, but the fact is I’m stuck in a compartment with the vilest girl in the land, poor me, so I’m pretending to work on an English essay. Of course, now she thinks I’m the most terrific swot, but the good thing is she has absolutely no interest in what I’m writing. If Miss Verney finds out I’ve been using my English book for letter-writing, I’ll probably be expelled, so just think of the heroic risk I’m taking for your entertainment.

How are you? Are you being terribly brave, shooting enemy planes out of the sky and doing victory rolls all day long? Everybody here thinks I’m awfully lucky to have a brother in the RAF. Of course I don’t tell them you spend most of your time drinking whisky in the officers’ mess. It all sounds terrific fun, lucky you.

We were early to the station, since Mother as usual was terrified of being late, so I beetled into an empty compartment and snaffled the corner seat. I was thinking how well I’d done, when – horrors!! – Lucinda and Ginny and Phyllis came waltzing along the corridor, and beastly Lucinda looked in and said, “Oh, good, an empty compartment.” Then she barged in and banged my shoulder with the corner of her bag as she swung it up on to the luggage rack, the little brute.

Ginny did actually say hello to me, and Phyllis looked as though she might have liked to, but she’s such a frightened rabbit, she never dares so much as breathe without Lucinda’s permission, so she didn’t say a word. Lucinda terrifies everyone with that vicious tongue of hers.

I do think it was terribly thoughtless of the parents to send me to a new school in the summer term, it’s practically impossible to make friends, everyone’s in their little gangs already, but that’s just typical of Pa – one word from the admiral about what a splendid place it is and how happy his daughters were at St Olave’s, and his mind’s made up. Did you loathe St Thomas’s at first? Do tell.

It was heaven having time at home while the teachers packed up the school – I managed to read five detective stories! I’ve brought The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to Stanbrook. Did you know we’re only allowed to bring one book – the utter cruelty of this place! Were they that barbaric at St Thomas’s?

I’m excited to see Stanbrook. Vanessa in the Upper Fifth has visited and says it’s heaven. The house is four hundred years old, so it’s bound to be absolutely heaving with ghosts. I shall be utterly crushed if I don’t bump into headless knights in suits of armour every time I turn a corner. Do you remember that story I wrote where all the portraits came alive and followed the children around, and you were too petrified to go into the drawing room for months in case Great-Grandfather Dashworth leaped out of his frame? Oh, I do miss you, Dordy. Take good care of yourself in that Spitfire, won’t you?

Must go now as mistresses in terrific panic about gathering belongings, etc. Will send regular updates on headless knights.

Best love from your little sis

CHAPTER TWO

In a Neat and Seemly Line

The coach turned off the lane and trundled up a long drive through a vast green park dotted with enormous trees. Girls in the aisle seats stood up and leaned over those in the window seats, desperate to see the house, but there wasn’t a building in sight.

Then they rounded a bend, and the coach erupted into gasps and shrieks of excitement.

Gosh, thought Sidney. The house was even grander than she had imagined. Its honey-coloured stone walls glowed golden in the afternoon heat, and the glass glittered in its huge mullioned windows. But the courtyard was full of furniture and packing cases, apart from a path that had been cleared from the terrace to the main entrance.

“Look, all our desks!” said Ginny. “Gosh, I hope they’re not going to make us carry them in.”

The coach stopped in front of the terrace. From the seat beside the driver, Miss Verney stood up and clapped her hands.

“Silence, girls! Sit down in your seats at once!”

Everybody sat down.

“When I instruct you to do so, and not before, you will file off the coach behind Miss Barnet. Gas masks are to be worn across the body, with the strap on the left shoulder. If you have removed your blazer for the journey, you must put it on when I ask you to – when I ask you to and not before, Amanda Chesham,” she said, with a steely glare at a girl in Sidney’s form. “I shall check your appearance as you leave the coach, and I shall expect to see all girls with straight stockings, blazers fully buttoned and hats at the correct angle. First impressions are vitally important, and the good name of St Olave’s depends on each and every one of you being properly turned out at all times. It is, of course, imperative that you remain in complete silence from this point until you are in your new dormitories.”

Sidney reached up to the luggage rack for her straw boater and gas mask. Trust Miss Verney to do her absolute best to crush the excitement. The rumour was that her fiancé had been killed in the Great War, but it was hard to feel much sympathy when she hid her broken heart beneath endless layers of withering scorn. Miss Verney, Sidney had quickly discovered, was the sort of teacher who had favourites. And Sidney was not one of them.

Fifty pairs of sensible school shoes crunched on the gravel as the girls lined up in silence on the drive, facing the house, hands loosely clasped in front of them in the approved posture. The other coach, with the girls whose surnames came in the second half of the alphabet, rumbled up the drive and stopped on the gravel.

“No turning round, girls,” ordered Miss Verney. “Amanda Chesham, stop fidgeting.”

Amanda was not a favourite either.

Obediently facing forward, Sidney heard more crunching of gravel and the occasional order from Miss Newsom, the terrifyingly energetic games mistress in charge of the second coach. Amanda turned round to look and was immediately given an order mark.

Feeling very daring, because she wouldn’t have been at all surprised to be given an order mark for moving her eyes, Sidney gazed up at the house. A servant girl with bright red hair was looking out of a ground-floor window. She stared at the massed ranks of schoolgirls as though she didn’t much like what she saw.

There was a ripple of movement in the lines as Miss Hathersage walked out on to the terrace, a tall, imposing presence in an elegant tweed suit and low-heeled, side-buttoned shoes.

“Ooh, the Sage has new clothes,” whispered Lucy Cuthbert, who stood next to Sidney.

Behind Miss Hathersage scuttled her ever-present shadow, Miss Rutter.

“Rutty hasn’t,” whispered Moira, on Sidney’s right. “She’s worn that suit every day for two years.”

When Sidney looked back at the window, the red-haired servant had gone.

At a nod from Miss Hathersage, Miss Rutter stepped carefully across the courtyard and stood at the top of the steps that led to the drive, her bony hands clasped tightly together. “Welcome to St Olave’s at Stanbrook, girls,” she said in her reedy voice. “Please follow me to the terrace in a neat and seemly line. When Miss Hathersage has greeted you, you will proceed into the Great Hall, where you will be given your dormitory lists and instructions for the rest of the day.”

They processed across the courtyard, gazing at the contents of their classrooms spread out on either side of them.

“Welcome, Sidney,” said Miss Hathersage with a firm handshake.

“Thank you, madam,” Sidney replied, and she followed Lucy through the front door, across the shiny marble floor of the entrance hall. From a room on the left came thumping and bumping sounds, as though furniture was being moved.

The Great Hall looked far too grand for a school. Life-sized portraits in gilt frames stared disapprovingly from every wall. They were absolutely the type to come alive at night, Sidney thought, already planning her next letter to George.

Miss Hathersage walked to the front. “Please be seated,” she said.

There was a cacophony of shuffles, squeaks and thuds as the girls settled themselves cross-legged on the polished floor. As she sat down in the row behind Lucinda, Ginny and Phyllis, Sidney noticed a familiar object on the marble mantelpiece behind the headmistress. It was a varnished wooden board with the school motto printed in gold lettering.

Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low – an excellent thing in woman.

It was Shakespeare, apparently, and any girl caught shouting or laughing in an unladylike fashion would have to write it out a hundred times. Miss Hathersage prowled the corridors during lessons, and if she heard the faintest hint of a sound from inside a classroom, then the owner of the uncouth voice would be summoned to her study.

The headmistress waited for total silence, and then she said, “Good afternoon, girls.” She gave the pupils one of her rare smiles. “We will have our first proper assembly tomorrow morning. You have had a long journey, and I’m sure you are all looking forward to seeing your dormitories in this beautiful house, which has been so graciously lent to us by his lordship, the Earl of Stanbrook.”

No wonder she was smiling. She was a terrific snob, and she could rarely have had so much opportunity to pepper her sentences with the name of a peer of the realm.

“Certain areas of the house and grounds are out of bounds to girls, of course,” she continued. “These include the stable yard, the library and, naturally, the family’s private apartments. We must at all times remember that Stanbrook is a family home. We are extraordinarily privileged to be allowed to share it, and I know you will treat these boundaries with the utmost respect.

“As for the dormitory arrangements, your dormitories here do not have the space for a chest of drawers each, as you have been used to in Sussex. Instead, you will keep your possessions in your trunks, stored under your beds. You each have a chair beside your bed, on which you will keep your washing things. Your uniform is to be laid neatly over the back of your chair at night, and your shoes kept under your chair. There will be an air raid practice after supper, so that you will all know exactly what to do if the siren sounds. Now, when I ask you to stand, please wait for your housemistress to call your name and escort you to your room, where you will change into your indoor shoes and wash before supper.”

Sidney’s housemistress, Miss Welbeck, stepped forward and put on her glasses. She was dressed in brown, as usual, her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Sidney waited for what seemed like hours as she read out the dormitory lists.

“Finally, in Dormitory Twelve,” said Miss Welbeck, “Lucinda Gore-Withers…”

Oh, please not with her, Sidney thought.

“Virginia Hamilton,” continued the housemistress. “Phyllis Lethbridge. Sidney Dashworth.”

Horrors!

She saw Lucinda turn to Ginny and whisper, “Who’s Sidney Dashworth?”

“You know, the new girl,” whispered Ginny. “In our compartment on the train.”

Lucinda looked blank. “It was just us three in the compartment.”

“No, she was sitting in the corner. Writing.” Ginny glanced back at Sidney with a brief apologetic smile.

“Oh, her,” said Lucinda, turning and giving Sidney a withering glance that took in every inch of her from her hat to her shoes. “What a dreadful bore.”

CHAPTER THREE

Absolutely Priceless

As the housemaids heaved the final table into place, a blonde-haired girl a bit older than Nancy walked into the dining room. She wore a similar uniform, except her dress was blue instead of green. Rosa introduced her as Florence, the kitchen maid.

“Hello, Nancy,” said Florence. “Welcome to the madhouse.”

Nancy liked the look of Florence. She had a round freckled face and a lively, good-humoured expression.

“Did you see the posh girls?” Florence said. “Funny-looking lot, aren’t they?”

“I thought it was your afternoon off,” Rosa said.

“So did I,” said Florence, “but Mr A just cancelled it with not so much as an apology. I tell you, the sooner I get out of here the better. No more bowing and scraping to the idle rich. I’m joining the ATS the moment I’m eighteen.”

“I’d like to join the ATS too,” said Nancy. She had seen pictures of girls working as mechanics in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, wearing overalls just like the men. “But the war will probably be over before I’m eighteen.”

“Looks like it’ll be over pretty soon,” said Florence. “They say Hitler’s boasting he’ll have his men in Britain by the end of June.”

Nancy felt cold inside. She tried to avoid the news these days. She didn’t want to think about what her brother might be going through.

“Bad luck, Nancy, arriving today,” said Florence, as they set the chairs round the tables. “I can’t believe they got you working without even showing you your room first.”

Her room! Surely she wouldn’t have a room to herself?

“Will I be sharing with you?” Nancy asked.

“No, you’ll have your own room,” said Florence. She laughed. “You can have three or four if you like. There’s barely any live-in servants any more. Everyone who’s not too old or too young has gone off to do war work. There’s a Spitfire factory nearby; it pays better and the hours are more regular.”

“Gosh, my own room!” said Nancy. She had never even had a bed to herself, let alone a room. She had always shared with her younger sisters.

“And there’s a servants’ bathroom at the end of the corridor,” said Florence. “With a bath and a basin, as well as a lavatory, all with running water. The last earl had it installed, God rest his soul.”

“Crikey,” said Nancy. “An indoor lavatory and my own room!”

“It might seem like a luxury now,” said Florence, “but when winter comes you’ll wish you were sharing a bed. It’s so cold you’ll need to sleep in every stitch of clothing you own. And it’s not just our attics either. The family’s rooms are freezing, even with the fires. Isn’t that right, Rosa?”

“I have never known such cold,” said Rosa, setting a chair down with a shudder.

“Really?” said Nancy, astonished. “Even in Austria?”

“Well, look at it,” said Florence, before Rosa had a chance to reply. “A couple of fires are never going to warm rooms the size of these. But you know what?” she said, as she set out chairs with impressive speed. “Albert showed me round the greenhouses one day, and, no word of a lie, there’s a special furnace and a whole network of heating pipes in there. So here’s one of the richest men in the country, with his house so cold we’re all in danger of pneumonia, but there’s underfloor heating for his pineapples. If that isn’t full-blown lunacy, you tell me what is.”

“Do you see the earl much?” Nancy asked, with a little lurch in her stomach as she remembered the disturbing conversation she’d overheard.

Florence shook her head. “His lordship talks to Mr Armitage. And the dowager duchess – that’s his lordship’s mother – has her lady’s maid. But the rest of us barely see them. As far as his lordship’s concerned, the female servants are invisible. The house stays clean all by itself, and his meals are made by magic.”

Rosa raised her eyebrows. “Not only earls. Many men in my family think the same.”

When they had set out all the chairs, Mr Armitage told them to bring the crates full of books into the Great Hall.

“Funny how he stands around directing everybody, and we do all the work,” muttered Florence.

The last of the schoolgirls were filing up the stairs to their dormitories as the maids walked through the hall. From the front steps, Nancy saw a procession of grey vans approaching the house.

“That must be his lordship’s art,” said Rosa.

“All those vans?” said Nancy. “He must have more art than the National Gallery.”

“His lordship collects antique Chinese porcelain. He has one of the greatest collections in the world.”

Nancy marvelled at Rosa’s English. Imagine knowing how to say “antique Chinese porcelain” in another language!

She picked up a crate, and a heap of exercise books slithered across the top. Nancy read the names. Lucy Cuthbert. Lucinda Gore-Withers. Sidney Dashworth.

Lucky little rich girls, she thought. And they probably didn’t even appreciate it. Why did they need a good education, when they would never have to earn their own living?

Lugging the crate into the entrance hall, she was surprised to see a tiny beautiful old lady walking slowly down the stairs. She wore an exquisite pale blue silk dress with matching shoes, and she leaned on the arm of a serious-looking woman in a brown-wool dress buttoned up to the chin.

The old lady looked at Nancy and gave a delighted gasp. “Margaret!” she exclaimed.

Nancy glanced behind her, but there was nobody there.

“That’s not Margaret, my lady,” said the other woman, looking at Nancy’s uniform. “I assume you are the new housemaid?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nancy replied. “I’m Nancy.”

The old lady didn’t seem to hear. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, she touched Nancy’s hair with trembling hands. Nancy was shocked at how thin and frail her fingers were. Her skin looked almost transparent.

“Come and have tea with me, Margaret. We have so much to talk about. Hilda, order extra tea for Margaret, please. And raspberry jam.”

She gave Nancy a smile of pure love. Nancy had never felt so awkward in her life. Mum had always said aristocrats were eccentric, but she hadn’t thought they’d be as odd as this.

“That’s not Margaret, my lady,” Hilda repeated. “She’s got similar red hair, but she’s not—”

She suddenly stopped and bobbed a curtsy. Nancy turned and saw Lord Evesham walking into the entrance hall. She took a few steps back, hoping to make herself invisible.

A strange fearful look came over the old lady’s face as she saw the earl. “Gerald!” she said. “Are you in trouble again?”

He gave a little laugh. “What are you talking about, Mother? Of course I’m not in trouble.”

Mother? So the old lady must be the Dowager Countess of Stanbrook. No wonder she was so beautifully dressed.

Lord Evesham was about to say something else when two removal men came into the hall, buckling under the weight of a long sausage-shaped bundle. Lord Evesham leaped towards them, clapping his hands to his head in horror. “Great Scott, don’t manhandle it like a dead pig!” he exclaimed through clenched teeth. “It’s an extremely delicate Flemish tapestry. You’re risking permanent damage to the stitching.”

“Yes, sir,” the men mumbled. “Sorry, sir.”

“Careful!” he shrieked, as they turned into the corridor. “You could have knocked the painting off the wall. Armitage, you’re supposed to be supervising these halfwits! Oh, get out of the way, man!” he said, shooing the butler away. “I can see I’ll have to do everything myself, as usual.”

Wow, thought Nancy. What a fusspot.

She carried her crate into the Great Hall, which was even bigger than the dining room. Albert was setting down a crate at the far end.

He winked at Nancy on his way out. “All right, carrot top?”

Nancy rolled her eyes, but she didn’t really mind. He seemed friendly enough.

Miss Rutter, the deputy headmistress, hurried towards Nancy, clutching the classroom lists. She looked like a smaller, dustier version of Miss Hathersage.

She inspected the label on the side of the crate. “Lower Fourth,” she said in a slightly breathless voice. “Over there, underneath the portrait of the third earl.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Nancy.

As she returned to the entrance hall, the dowager said, “Margaret, you will come for tea, won’t you? I have so much to tell you.”