Fenella Miller by To Love Again Read Free Book Online Page A

It's far too long since you and Mary spent time with your books."
    "We don't have any books, do we, Mama? I'm glad about that, I'd much rather be playing."
    "Quiet now, Jack. I must organise these new helpers, they have been waiting for too long already."
    William, who seemed a natural leader, soon had the goods unloaded and brought into the kitchen. Betty, who must now be known as Mrs Turner although she was a spinster, took little time to discover where the items would be best placed. This left Emma to conduct the remaining women to the attics. She prayed, as she ascended the narrow wooden staircase, that the accommodation would be usable.
    She emerged into a spacious landing, quite big enough to be used as a recreational area with the addition of a few sticks of furniture and some rag rugs. "I have not had the time to come up and examine these chambers. It does not seem too bad so far."
    Tilly turned to the others. "It's grand, madam. Better than sharing a bed with three of my sisters, I can tell you."
    "In which case I shall leave you to sort things out for yourselves. It is only three years since this house was fully staffed, there must be not only linen and bedding, but also aprons and caps, at the very least." Emma smiled at the group and they all curtsied. "Kindly return downstairs as soon as you are done here. I believe that male servants sleep elsewhere, I shall send William in search of those rooms later."
    Foster was waiting for her when she emerged into the passageway that connected the various rooms in the basement. "Madam, Dr Andrews has repaired the gash in the master's head. He has given him laudanum to help him rest; I had to put it in the master's wine or he would not have taken it."
    "I have brought back a young man who is experienced as a gentleman's valet. He will take care of Mr Bucknall now. Where is the master? I take it he is not in the study."
    The old man shook his head vigorously. "He's in my bed chamber, Mrs Reed. I have moved upstairs for the present. We couldn't carry him up the stairs safely."
    A flicker of apprehension ran through her at the thought that this formidable gentleman was but two doors down from her bed chamber. "That will make it far simpler to take care of him. However, I shall get the master suite cleaned and made ready. Mr Bucknall will, I am sure, not wish to remain in his study now we have sufficient staff to take care of him upstairs."
    The butler muttered to himself; she did not catch the whole of it, but was certain he was saying her employer would do as he pleased regardless of her best efforts. He shuffled off leaving her to return to the kitchen and see how matters progressed there.
    At dusk Emma eventually had a few moments to herself. The children were sound asleep, the staff eating their own supper in the kitchen and Mr Bucknall also sleeping peacefully. William had volunteered to spend the night at his side but she had refused his offer. On checking for herself she had discovered her employer to have no sign of fever, no fresh blood seeping through the clean bandage around his head. He was obviously well on the way to recovery.
    Her first task today had been to set the staff to cleaning the study, it had been a herculean effort, but the job was done. When Mr Bucknall returned to his lair he would find it greatly improved. The filthy drapes had been removed and replaced with clean ones found in a well-stocked linen cupboard on the first floor. The room had been scrubbed from top to bottom, the windows left wide open; he would scarcely recognize it as the place where he had wallowed in self pity these past years.
    Tilly had suggested the girls cleaned the private parlour and dressing room that made up the apartment given to the housekeeper. These had been cluttered with debris, but were now fresh and smelling of beeswax. A narrow bed had been carried down from the nursery floor and put in the dressing room. Emma now had her own bed chamber, albeit a third of the size