Hotel du Barry by Lesley Truffle Read Free Book Online Page B

heard scuffling and laughter on the servants’ stairs. Someone got slapped and a male voice whined, ‘Don’t be like that, Deidre. I was just trying to stroke your quim. You must want it or you wouldn’t have let me get inside your knickers.’
    â€˜Get your grubby paws off me. I’m not that kind of girl.’
    Bertha went to the door and yelled up the stairs, ‘Clear off, you two. I’m having an important meeting down here.’
    â€˜Gosh, real sorry, Mrs Brown.’
    â€˜Sorry, Ma’am. It won’t happen again.’
    â€˜Damn right it won’t. And you’d better start treating my girls with respect or I’ll be onto you like a ton of bricks. I’m going to be keeping a very close eye on you, Alfred.’
    â€˜Yes, Ma’am. I’ll do my very best, Ma’am.’
    Daniel grinned and poured himself another sherry.
    Bertha came back, sat down and picked up her knitting. ‘All right, Daniel. I reckon the nannies you employ threaten Eddie in some way.’
    â€˜Christ. What am I supposed to do? I can’t hire dullards just to please my wife. I want my daughter to be raised by strong, intelligent, capable women.’
    Bertha smiled. ‘You mean like Mary Maguire.’
    â€˜Precisely. Did you know Mary’s now finished her night schooling and is taking elocution lessons with Harold Stein? I just hope that pretentious fucker doesn’t smooth away her uniqueness. Frankly, I don’t know what I’d do without her. When things get grim, Mary always makes me laugh.’
    They both fell silent. Knit one, purl one, dropped stitch. Damn.
    From the pantry came the high-pitched squeals of mice being slaughtered by the kitchen cats. Bertha shuddered.
    Daniel drained his glass. ‘What should I do, Bertha? I want Cat to grow up in a stable family.’
    â€˜Even if it’s a fabrication?’
    â€˜Well, yes.’
    Bertha put down her knitting, leant forward and looked him in the eye. ‘Why not let me pick your nannies from my staff? There’s only one Mary Maguire, but we’ve got other bright young women who’d kill for the chance to improve their station in life and become a nanny.’
    â€˜I didn’t think of that.’
    â€˜Because of the war we’ve got a shortage of young men. Many of my girls will never find a husband and be in the position to give up work. No woman wants to be an old chambermaid with dodgy hips and aching legs.’
    Daniel’s face lit up. ‘We can train them, then roster them on two weeks at a time so Eddie doesn’t have a chance to wear them down. Later, when they’re experienced and armed with a great reference, they’ll be able to secure nanny work with moneyed folk.’ He raised his glass and saluted Bertha. She nodded graciously and clinked his glass with hers.
    So it came about that Cat was nurtured and loved by a regular rotating shift of Bertha’s best girls. It also meant that she got to spend a lot of time down in the labyrinth. Daniel took great pride in his daughter’s quickening intelligence, for at nearly five years of age she was obviously more mature than her peers. As for Edwina, she felt infinitely superior to the working-class girls who regularly appeared on the ninth floor. Subsequently Daniel experienced bouts of domestic harmony.
    Bertha, however, was having nightmares about the future. She couldn’t quite put her finger on the problem but something was seriously amiss. Wisely she held her tongue. In her experience Daniel du Barry tended to ignore unsolicited advice. It was better to wait until he sought her opinion.
    Mary liked spending time with Cat and in doing so helped fill the gap left by Edwina. One of their favourite pastimes was people watching in Hyde Park. Mary would point out a dog walking past with its owner. ‘I choose, let’s see . . . that scruffy mongrel over there pissing on the roses. What’s