Heartwarming and emotional story of one girl's courage in WW2 Fenella Miller (best books for 8th graders txt) 📖

Adam – can’t see why he wouldn’t be just as rude. I’ll give it a go. Whilst I’m talking to them you can let the housekeeper in and get her to put the kettle on.’

They watched from the window until Mrs B came into view and then Jimmy nipped out smartish. Jack saw him speak to the housekeeper and point in the direction of the front door which meant she didn’t have to walk past the Bentley.

Jack had the door open when she arrived, red-faced and puffing after her long walk. ‘Sorry about this, Mrs B, it’s to do with Mrs Simpson. If you’d make us some tea and a bit of that fruitcake would go down a treat too.’ He took one of the large suitcases from her hand and dashed through the house and dumped it in her new lodgings. She followed with the other one. ‘No rush with the tea and things – get yourself sorted out first.’

‘Thank you, sir, I’ll do that. I’ll be along with a tray in half an hour.’

He closed the door firmly behind him in the hope that she wouldn’t hear if there was further shouting from Ellie’s grandfather.

Sir Reginald burst into the house via the front door closely followed by his chauffeur. The man’s appearance matched his temperament and politics. He was about the same height as Ellie, had brown hair like her, but there the resemblance ended. He had small, beady eyes set behind metal-rimmed spectacles, and red veins on his cheeks – the tell-tale sign of a heavy drinker.

‘I don’t appreciate being kept outside like a lackey. When Charlotte told me what she’d had to endure over the past twenty years she failed to mention that her husband had taken in unsavoury lodgers.’

Jimmy peered around the man’s shoulder and pulled a face. Jack couldn’t prevent his smile. This further enraged the unpleasant visitor. He seemed to swell and his face turned an interesting shade of beetroot.

‘Don’t you smirk at me, you oaf. My man will not stand for such insolence.’

The chauffeur surged forward with clenched fists but Jack moved more quickly and shot into the sitting room. His friend stepped around the spluttering idiot and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

‘Sir Reginald, this will not do. Servants do not enter through the front door, but by the back. Kindly send him on his way.’ Jimmy’s cut-glass accent was sufficient to stop the chauffeur in his tracks. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced at his employer.

‘Go, Johnson, but remain within call.’

The man slunk off. ‘I am a house guest here, Sir Reginald, a personal friend of the family. Doctor Hunt is my personal physician and also a friend of the family. In the absence of either Ellie or Mr Simpson you have no option but to be entertained by us.’ Jack couldn’t quite match Jimmy’s accent but thought he sounded posh enough to impress.

He moved to one side and gestured towards the sitting room. ‘Would you care to come in and sit down? The housekeeper will be bringing tea and cake in a while.’

As soon as he said this he realised the chauffeur would be banging on the door and expect to spend the next hour or so in the kitchen. She wasn’t going to like that one bit.

The baronet marched past him, ramrod straight, bristling with annoyance. He reckoned the man was ex-military to have a bearing like that. He spoke quietly to Jimmy. ‘I’d better warn Mrs B to expect company. She won’t be pleased and I don’t blame her.’

Fortunately, he was able to speak to her in her rooms before the chauffeur arrived and was able to explain the situation. ‘I’ll not leave him in here with you any longer than necessary, Mrs B. I need to speak to Sir Reginald without him being present.’

‘Very well, sir, I’ll give him a cup of tea. But I’ve got to get on with my work and if he gets in the way he’ll have to go outside. I’m not having him in there without me present so he’ll have to kick his heels outside until I’m done here.’

‘Keep him hanging about as long as you want, Mrs B.’

Jack hurried back to the sitting room hoping that Jimmy would have been able to smooth things over, but the atmosphere was frigid.

Humphrey was standing in the centre of the room and looked ready for a fight.

*

‘It’s quiet enough at the moment, Greg, I hope this is a good sign. I’m not looking forward to this at all. I hate arguments and loud voices.’

‘There’s four of us and only two of them – that’s if you count his chauffeur – so you’ve nothing to worry about. I can assure you we can eject both them if we have to, and without recourse to the shotguns in case you were wondering.’

She hesitated outside the door. Then, taking a deep breath, she pushed it open with rather more force than she’d intended. It slammed against the wall and the four occupants reacted as one would expect.

Jack laughed, Jimmy shook his head, the uniformed man, standing to attention by the window, jumped as if stuck with a hatpin. The elderly man shot to his feet and glared at her. She glared right back.

He was about to rip into her but she was having none of that – not from him – and not in her own house. ‘I apologise if I startled you. Would someone mind explaining what that person is doing in my sitting room?’ She pointed an accusing finger at the chauffeur. She drew herself to her full height and stared down her nose at her aristocratic relative. For the first time glad she was so tall.

‘I don’t know how things are arranged in your home, Sir Reginald, but here the servants know their place and it isn’t in this part of the house.’ She pointed at his driver. ‘You – go back to your car. You won’t have long to wait.’

The man