A Season of Secrets by Margaret Pemberton Read Free Book Online Page A

to continue gardening for him?’
    Carrie, who had been shocked rigid by the revelation that Blanche intended offering Charlie employment at Gorton Hall, bit her lip, fervently hoping that Mrs Hardwick was going to say yes and
that Blanche’s offer – an offer that would surely terrify Violet out of her wits – wouldn’t need to be taken up.
    ‘No, m’lady Not now everything’s planted and blooming . . .’
    From the staircase a voice raw with bitterness cut across hers. ‘That’s not the reason, Ma, and well you know it.’ Still hidden from view, Charlie said, ‘It was the
vicar’s wife who put paid to me working on t’ garden – and I could ’ave worked, for it’s my face that’s been burned away, not my ’ands. He said she was
very sorry for me, but that I gave ’er a funny turn and that ’e couldn’t ’ave ’er being taken ill on account o’ me.’
    Blanche rose to her feet and, facing the stairs but making no move towards them, said, ‘I have Carrie Thornton with me, Charlie. She was in the post office this morning and told me what
happened there. From what she said, I gather you haven’t yet found work. If that is the case, I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider becoming an estate worker at Gorton Hall. The
gardens and parkland have been virtually untended since Gorton’s gardeners enlisted with the 7th Yorkshire Regiment. Mr Crosby –Jim Crosby – does his best, but he’s also
doing stable work and odd jobs, and a house as big as Gorton is never short of work needing doing to it.’
    For a tense moment there was still no response and then Charlie said in an odd, abrupt voice, ‘I’m very appreciative of your kindness, Lady Fenton, but you ’aven’t seen
me yet and might think twice when you do. I already scared Miss Violet ’alf to death this morning. I don’t want to do so again.’
    ‘Violet was scared because what has happened to you hadn’t been explained to her, and because the sight of you was so unexpected. That won’t be the case in the future, as it
won’t be the case with my other two daughters and with everyone else at Gorton, both household staff and nursing staff.’
    There was another silence and then came the moment Carrie had been dreading; the moment when Charlie walked down the last of the stair steps and entered the room.
    Despite her fierce determination to show no outward sign of horror, Blanche sucked in her breath, shaken to the depths of her being, as everything she had imagined paled in comparison to the
reality.
    Charlie stood perfectly still, his eyes holding hers.
    Carrie could hardly bear the tension as she watched and waited – and then Blanche dug kid-gloved fingers deep into her palms, saying in a voice that was only slightly unsteady,
‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Charlie. I do hope you will become one of Gorton Hall’s estate workers. A tied cottage goes with the position and, if you are agreeable, I will tell
both Mr Heaton and Jim Crosby that you will be arriving tomorrow morning to take over the care of the Hall’s gardens.’
    ‘Thank you, m’lady.’ There were tears in Charlie’s eyes. ‘I vow you’ll never regret the asking – and if it’s beautiful gardens Your Ladyship
wants, I’ll make gardens so beautiful they’ll be the talk o’ the county!’

Chapter Four

    NOVEMBER 1918
    On a misty day a little over a year after Blanche and Carrie’s visit to the Hardwicks, Blanche burst into Thea and Olivia’s schoolroom with news she had been
praying for every day for four long years.
    ‘The war is over!’ Her face was radiant with joy. ‘The Germans have signed an armistice!’
    Hermione Cumberbatch had been writing on the blackboard. Tall, thin and angular, she dropped the chalk, clapped a hand over her mouth and then, when she could trust herself to speak, put her
hands on either side of her pedestal desk, saying emotionally, ‘Dear Thea and Olivia – remember this moment, for you are living