Page 27 of The Sapphire Child
‘I find that astonishing,’ Lydia cried.
Minnie intervened. ‘Best not to open up that can of worms, dear.’
Lydia gave her mother a sharp look and seemed to bite back a retort. She tapped Andrew on the knee. ‘Come on, let me show you around your new home.’
Stella had to make an effort not to gawp in wonder at the interior of Templeton Hall. The light streamed in from stained-glass windows and threw vivid colours across the tiled hall floor and up the curving wrought-iron staircase. At the base of the bannisters, life-size statues of half-naked nymphs held aloft electric lights. She caught Andrew looking transfixed at the bare metal breasts and hid a smile.
‘Lily!’ Lydia called out, and a stout woman in a black uniform and starched white cap came bustling through a swing door.
‘Ma’am.’ She bobbed.
‘This is my son, Andrew.’
Lily gave another bob and smiled, showing crooked teeth. ‘Welcome tae Templeton Hall, Master Andrew.’
‘And this is Stella, Andrew’s nanny – or sort-of nanny. She knows all about running a large establishment, so will be a great help.’
Stella looked in confusion at Andrew and saw him raise his eyebrows.
‘Fetch the luggage in, please, Lily,’ Lydia ordered. She turned to Stella. ‘Perhaps you could help her with the trunk? We used to have a butler for these sorts of things but staff are much harder to find these days. I hope you don’t mind?’
Stella hid her astonishment. At home it would have been the job of male servants to fetch and carry – she would certainly never have been expected to haul a trunk around – a fact Lydia must haveknown. But she didn’t want to embarrass Lily by mentioning this. ‘No, of course not.’
‘Then Lily can show you to your room.’
‘I’ll go and talk to Cook about lunch,’ said Minnie. ‘It’s nice enough to sit out on the terrace.’
Stella put down her handbag and followed the maid back outside.
‘Old MrBaxter used to do all the carrying,’ muttered Lily. ‘It’s me does everything the now.’
‘You can’t be the only servant?’ Stella was astonished. In India, a house that size would have had a dozen servants at the very least.
‘Aye, since old Baxter went tae his maker. There’s Hector comes in tae dee the garden twice a week – and there’s Miss MacAlpine, the cook. But it’s me does everything else. Aye, I’ve been here twenty year – since I was fourteen.’
Stella thought she looked much older than thirty-four, but nodded. ‘The Templetons must be grateful for your loyalty.’
Lily let out a burst of laughter. ‘I dinnae have much choice. Ma family’s all gone and I’m too ugly tae marry!’
‘No, you’re not,’ said Stella. ‘You have very pretty eyes.’
Lily laughed again. ‘Well, maybe you and me can gae on the hunt together, eh?’
They struggled inside with the heavy trunk, Lily puffing and wheezing.
‘Would you like to rest for a minute?’ Stella asked her as they re-entered the hallway.
Lily glanced up the stairs where they could hear Lydia talking excitedly to Andrew. ‘Better no,’ she said.
They laboured on, pausing on the turn of the stairs and then again on the landing. Finally, they reached the far end of the corridor and entered a large airy bedroom.
‘Put it on there.’ Lydia pointed at a toy chest.
Lily gave a grunt of relief. Stella looked around. It was still a nursery for a small boy, with a fireguard over a tiled fireplace and an array of pristine teddy bears on a single bed. Andrew was standing at a table in the window peering awkwardly at neat rows of toy soldiers.
‘Stella, these belonged to my grandfather Archibald,’ he said with a guarded look.
‘You’re allowed to touch them,’ Lydia said brusquely.
