The Passions of Bronwyn (8 page)

CHAPTER TEN

The next morning Mrs Brompton’s sister Abigail turned up to take Catherine home with her.  She was a very stout woman with hair tightly pulled back into a bun and a naturally stern expression but she smiled kindly at Catherine when she came down the stairs. 

‘Don’t look so worried’ she told her.  ‘You are not going to a prison.   We have a lot of parties planned.  I know you are supposed to still be in mourning, but your mother and I have decided that you are too young to worry about that and you should be having some fun.  You never know, you might meet a suitor.  Your cousins have plenty of eligible friends.’ She turned to William, ‘can you take Miss Catherine’s chests out to the carriage please,’ she asked.  She then turned to Catherine and told her to say goodbye to her mother. Catherine walked up to her mother and kissed her on the cheek but didn’t look at her.  Mrs Brompton put her hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at her, ‘don’t worry about anything, it’s going to be alright,’ she said, ‘just have some fun and try to forget everything that’s happened, it’s all in the past.’  Catherine gave a little sob and hugged her mother tightly.  ‘Go along now,’ Mrs Brompton said.  ‘I will come and see you soon.’ She followed them out of the house to wave goodbye.  When she came back in, she ran up the stairs sobbing.  Mrs Danvers followed her up shaking her head sadly.  Wyn, Betty, William and Ned walked slowly down to the kitchen.  ‘That was so sad,’ exclaimed Wyn, ‘I do feel sorry for Miss Catherine.’ 

‘And Mrs Brompton,’ Betty quickly added. 

‘Come on, we’ve got work to do,’ said Ned.

While Ned went back down to the garage to see the new motor car, Wyn, Betty and William were told by Mr Carter that they were to go round the house looking for anything that may be of value to sell.  ‘Mrs Brompton needs all the money she can get hold of to pay off Mr Brompton’s gambling debts.  The sugar plantation isn’t doing too well and she doesn’t want to have to sell this house too.  Look absolutely everywhere, your jobs here may depend on it,’ he told them. ‘It will take you a few days but take your time, don’t miss anything.’

Just then the bell from the drawing room rang. 

‘I’ll leave it in your hands,’ he told them as he left the room to answer the bell.

‘Let’s start in the attics and work down the house,’ suggested William.

They went up the stairs to the attics.  Wyn and Betty’s bedroom was up there too.  ‘I don’t think we need to search in that room, Betty told him.  ‘There’s nothing of value in there.’  William looked at Wyn, ‘yes there is,’ he replied.  Wyn just blushed and didn’t reply. Either side of their room were the attic rooms.  There were no windows in there and it was very dark. 

‘I think we need a couple of lanterns, I’ll go and get them,’ said Betty. 

‘Alright but don’t be long,’ William told her.  When Betty had gone William grabbed Wyn and kissed her passionately.  ‘Ooh I’ve missed this,’ he groaned as he rubbed himself against her.  Wyn moaned as she felt his hard erection push against her. 

‘When can we be together again?’ he asked her. 

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, ‘we’ve got a lot of work to do now but we must get some time off soon, I’ll ask Mrs Davis and let you know.’ 

William jumped back as he heard Betty coming back. 

‘I’ve got them,’ she said as she came up the last set of stairs. She was breathing hard, ‘oh them stairs,’ she moaned, ‘give me a minute to get my breath back.’  When she had recovered they went into the first room which was full of all kinds of stuff. 

‘How on earth are we going to look through this lot?’ Wyn grumbled.  ‘There’s loads of it.’  There was old furniture, kitchen equipment and general rubbish.  They did find a few paintings they thought may be of value so they put them to one side.  Wyn came across an old wooden box and opened it.  Inside were a lot of necklaces, bracelets and earrings that sparkled when the light hit them. 

‘Come and see this,’ she told the others. 

‘Oh my,’ exclaimed Betty, ‘look at this lot.’ 

‘What do you think?’ Wyn asked William, ‘do these look like they are valuable?’ 

‘Oh yes,’ replied William, ‘they look like real stones, we’ll let Mr Carter have a look.  Come on, we’ll do it now, it’ll give us a break.’ 

They took the paintings they had found as well as the jewellery and went to find Mr Carter.  ‘Look what we’ve found,’ they said.  Mr Carter looked in the box and said, ‘well done, this looks like it could be worth some money.  Keep looking there may be more of it.  Go and have a cup of tea first, you look like you need it.’  When they got to the kitchen they found Ned sitting at the table with a cup of tea.  He was covered in oil and muck. 

‘How’s it going?’ William asked him. 

‘I’ve finally found how to start it,’ Ned told him.  ‘It’s pretty scary though.  I’m going to try and drive it when I’ve finished my tea.’ 

‘Do you know what kind of motor vehicle it is?’ asked Betty. 

‘It’s an Alldays & Onions Traveller,’ Ned told them.  ‘It’s brand new.  There aren’t many of them available.  I don’t know how Mr Brompton got hold of one.’ 

‘He won it at cards, Mr Carter told me,’ William told him.  ‘Mrs Brompton doesn’t know, he told her he bought it.’ 

‘That explains a lot,’ said Ned.  ‘I wondered why he would have bought it.  Oh well, better go and see if I can drive it.’  Good luck they told him. 

‘Right come on,’ William said, ‘let’s go back and see what else we can find.  We’ll try the other attic room.’

They walked back up the stairs to the top floor and tried to open the other attic room door.  William pushed it but it wouldn’t budge.  He got Wyn and Betty to help him.  They all pushed but it still wouldn’t open.  ‘What can be stopping it do you think?’ Betty asked him. 

‘I don’t know,’ replied William.  ‘Keep pushing, it has to give in the end.’ 

They kept really pushing the door and eventually it started moving.  It took them another hour to get the door open fully. 

‘Grab the lanterns.’  William told Wyn, ‘let’s have a look at what was holding the door.’  They walked in with the lanterns to find a large safe had fallen against the door. 

‘This looks like it might hold something valuable,’ remarked Betty as she tried to open it.  ‘It’s locked,’ she said. 

‘Look around, there may be a key somewhere here,’ William told them.  They moved everything around the safe but couldn’t find the key.  ‘Keep looking,’ William said, ‘it’s got to be here somewhere.’  Betty was looking in a drawer of an old desk when she found a small bag.  Looking inside she saw a large key. 

‘I think I’ve found it,’ she said excitedly.  She took it over to William who tried it in the keyhole.  It was a bit stiff but eventually the door opened.  Inside they found a bunch of share certificates. 

‘Put these outside the door,’ he told Wyn, ‘I think this is the sort of stuff Mrs Brompton wants.’  They also found a bundle of what looked like legal documents.  ‘We better take these too,’ said William.  He looked inside again but as there was nothing else in there, he shut the door.  As they went further into the room Betty suddenly gave a little scream,

‘Urgh I’ve just walked through a huge cobweb,’ she told them, ‘hurry up I don’t like spiders.’  The only other things they found were a few more old paintings. 

‘We’ll take these downstairs now, it’s beginning to get dark and the lanterns are fading.  I don’t think there is anything else up here anyway,’ he said.  ‘Come on I’m starving.’ 

He let Betty and then Wyn go out first, managing to squeeze Wyn’s behind as she went in from of him.  Wyn jumped but gave a little giggle. 

‘What’s up?’ Betty asked her.

‘Nothing,’ replied Wyn, ‘just thought I felt something.’ 

Betty just looked at her and shuddered as she starting picking bits of cobweb out of her hair.

When they got down to the kitchen Mrs Davis was stirring a big pot of stew on the stove.  ‘Good you’ve finished,’ she said, ‘go wash your hands and sit down at the table.  William go down to the garage and call Ned, your supper is ready. ‘

Wyn and Betty walked into the scullery to wash their hands.  William went out of the back door and walked down to the garage.  He could hear an engine revving and a lot of swearing coming from inside.  When he walked in he saw a very dirty and oily Ned kicking the tires of the car.  He laughed at the sight and asked Ned what he was doing. 

‘This blooming car,’ Ned shouted, ‘I’m never going to get the hang of it.  I can get it started and can even get it moving but how it works, I don’t know and I’ve got to fix it if it goes wrong, so I have to know what makes it work.’ 

‘I wouldn’t worry about that until it does go wrong,’ William told him, ‘as long as you can make it move, I think that’s enough for now.  It’s only been a day, don’t be so hard on yourself.  Anyway leave it for now, it’s getting dark and supper’s ready.  Mrs Davis told me to come and get you.’ 

Ned threw the tool he had in his hand down, took off the new overalls that he had been given to wear, wiped his hands on a rag and followed William out of the door locking it as he left.  When they got back to the kitchen Wyn and Betty looked round at them and laughed at the sight of Ned. 

‘Look at the mess you are in,’ exclaimed Mrs Davis, ‘you’re not sitting down at this table in that state, go and clean yourself up.’ 

When Ned came back looking a lot cleaner Mrs Davis put large bowls of delicious smelling stew in front of each of them.  There was also newly baked bread on the table. 

‘This is lovely,’ they all told her as they started eating. There was silence for a while as they all ate until they were completely full.  ‘Ooh that was smashing,’ Wyn said, ‘thank you Mrs Davis.’ 

‘I hope you’ve left room for apple pie,’ Mrs Davis said.  ‘There’s some custard to go with it.  Do you all want some?’  ‘Oh yes please,’ they all responded.  When they had finished eating Wyn and Betty carried their empty plates into the scullery and washed them and the pots and pans up.  When they had finished and went back into the kitchen, Wyn made a big pot of tea for them all and they sat at the table and drank it chatting generally.  It was getting quite late when the bell from the drawing room suddenly rang.  William jumped up, I had better go and see what is wanted.  He grabbed his jacket that was hanging from a coat rack, put it on and ran up the stairs.  ‘I wonder what Mrs Brompton wants at this time of night,’ Wyn said.  William was soon back down. 

‘I had to get Mrs Danvers,’ he told them, ‘Mrs Brompton was in a real state.  There was something in that bundle of legal papers we found that shocked and upset her.  I don’t know what it was but she wants you, Ned, to take her in the motor car to see her solicitor tomorrow.  Something is definitely up.’ 

Ned looked worried.  ‘It’s the first time I’ve taken the car out on the highway,’ he said, ‘having Mrs Brompton in there with me is quite scary.’ 

‘You’ll be fine I’m sure,’ William told him.  ‘She said to be outside the house at ten o’clock.  You are to see Mr Carter before then so he can give you suitable clothes to wear.’ 

It was getting late so Mrs Davis told them all to get to bed as tomorrow was likely to be a busy day.

Wyn and Betty went up to their room.  As Wyn reached up to take the pins out of her hair, Betty slipped her hands round her and started caressing her breasts.  ‘Ooh that feels nice,’ Wyn said.  She moved her own hands down her body until she came to the nub of her sex.  She started moving her finger round and round and could feel the pleasure mounting.  She turned round and kissed Betty hard, pushing her tongue into her mouth.  Her hand then left her own body and she moved it down Betty’s body until she reached the heart of her sex.  Betty moaned as she touched her. ‘Oh that’s it,’ she whispered as Wyn started moving her fingers around her.  She felt Betty shudder as she moved her finger faster, ‘don’t stop,’ said Betty, ‘oh please don’t stop.’ Wyn felt Betty give one more shudder as she reached the peak of pleasure.  ‘Ooh,’ she moaned, ‘that was so nice.  I like what we do so much.  Lie down on the bed,’ she told Wyn, ‘I want to try something new.’  Wyn lay down and Betty stripped off her clothes completely so she was naked.  She started kissing Wyn all down her body stopping at her breasts.  She took each nipple into her mouth and sucked hard.  Wyn moaned.  Betty then started kissing further down her body until she came to her sex.  She tentatively put her tongue out and started licking.  Wyn arched her back in total pleasure.  ‘Oh that’s so good,’ she said, ‘I didn’t know it could feel that nice.’  Betty kept moving her tongue faster and harder.  Wyn was writhing in pleasure now until her body suddenly went still and a wave of pleasure she had never felt before washed over her.  When she had recovered slightly she told Betty it was the best ever.  ‘I’ll have to do the same to you soon so that you know how nice it is,’ she said.  They snuggled up together and fell into a contented sleep.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next day Ned was outside in the car waiting for Mrs Brompton. Wyn caught a glimpse of him through the drawing room window. He was dressed very smartly in a grey jacket and trousers but looked very worried.  She saw Mrs Brompton come out of the front door and get into the car.  Ned had already started it so he just drove off very slowly. Wyn thought it looked like he was doing alright.    She turned away from the window and went back to cleaning the drawing room.  It was the first time she’d had to clean it by herself as Betty was doing the bedrooms.  They had drawn up a rota for which rooms were to be done on what day by whom and it was working quite well.  The house was still clean and tidy even though there was less staff.  William was being taught how to do more duties by Mr Carter.  Even Mrs Davis had more things to do than just cooking.  She was to be a ladies maid if Mrs Brompton ever needed one and Mrs Danvers was showing her what to do.   There wasn’t much time left until Mr Carter and Mrs Danvers got married and Mrs Davis was trying to organise the food and had started the wedding cake, she needed Wyn and Betty’s help so there wasn’t a lot of time off for anyone yet.  They were getting married in a small church near the house in a weeks’ time.  Mrs Brompton was letting them have the wedding breakfast in the drawing room before they left for a honeymoon in Brighton.  They would then be starting their new lives in the hotel they would be working at in Kensington.  The wedding would be the last time the staff would see them.

It was lunch time when Ned got back. After dropping Mrs Brompton off at the front door, he put the car away and then came back to the kitchen.  When Wyn, Betty and William came in for lunch he was already sitting at the table waiting for them.  Once they had all settled down, he said ‘you will never believe where we’ve been.’ 

‘Where?’ they all asked him, even Mrs Davis who didn’t normally listen to gossip. 

‘I drove Mrs Brompton to the solicitor first, she was in there for quite a while.  I assumed she was looking at Mr Brompton’s Will when she came running out of there quite distressed, but she told me to drive to an apartment block in Chelsea.  When we got there she asked me to go with her up to an apartment.  She seemed very, very angry at something.  She knocked on the door and a very attractive woman answered it.  She was quite young with long blonde hair which was hanging loose.  She was dressed in the height of fashion and had a very slender figure.  Mrs Brompton said something very quietly to her that I couldn’t hear but it made her go white and she invited us in.  The apartment was large and was very tastefully furnished.  There was a painting of her with Mr Charles on the wall above the fireplace.’  As he told them this they all sighed knowingly.  Ned continued, ‘Mrs Brompton spotted it and started shouting at the woman.  Her name turned out to be Lillian and she had been Mr Charles’s mistress for three years.  Mrs Brompton told her that Mr Charles was dead and she collapsed on the floor in tears.  She was sobbing that she really loved him and she thought he loved her.  Mrs Brompton told her she didn’t think so, he only ever loved himself and gambling.  Mrs Brompton ended up feeling sorry for her and told her that she would have to leave the apartment but she would give her one month to do it.  She would even make sure she had some money so that she could find somewhere else to live but it wouldn’t be as expensive as this apartment’. 

‘So that’s what was in the bundle of legal documents,’ William said.  ‘There must have been deeds to the apartment in there.  That’s how Mrs Brompton found her.’ 

‘That’s not all’ Ned told them.  ‘We’re going to another apartment block tomorrow.’

‘Oh my’ exclaimed Wyn,’ how many mistresses did he have?’ 

‘We’ll soon find out,’ replied Ned. 

After lunch Ned went back to the garage to clean the car while Wyn and Betty helped Mrs Davis with the food for the wedding on Saturday.  She was icing the wedding cake when Mrs Danvers walked in. 

‘Oh that looks lovely,’ she exclaimed. 

‘You’re not supposed to see it yet’ she was told, ‘it’s meant to be a surprise.’ 

‘What else are you doing’? Mrs Danvers asked her. 

‘Just wait and see’ was the reply. 

‘Now get out of the kitchen so I can get on’

Mrs Danvers did as she was told and left smiling.  Wyn came out of the scullery with a basket of iced roses. 

‘That was lucky,’ she told Mrs Davis,’ just as well I heard her so at least she didn’t see these.’  The cake was going to be covered in white icing with iced roses of pink, red and yellow set around it plus figures of the bride and groom in the middle. 

‘This is going to look wonderful’ Wyn told Mrs Davis. 

‘I hope so,’ was the reply.  ‘Now go and help Betty with the pies.’ 

Before Wyn went to join Betty in the scullery she asked Mrs Davis if she thought Mrs Danvers’s brother was likely to be at the wedding.

‘I don’t know’ replied Mrs Davis, ‘why are you so interested in him’?

‘He’s the priest from our church in Wales’ Wyn replied.  ‘He might have some news of my family so I hope he is.’

‘Well I expect he will be,’ Mrs Davis told her, ‘he is her brother after all.’

The next day Ned took Mrs Brompton out in the car again.  This time they went to an apartment block in Fulham.  Wyn, Betty and William were waiting for him again at lunch time. 

‘Well?’ they asked, ‘what happened this time?’ 

‘We went to the apartment’ Ned told them ‘but it was empty.  The key had been given to the Concierge of the flats yesterday evening.  I think Lillian, who we saw yesterday must have known this mistress and warned her.  We were given a description of her and she sounds just like Lillian. Mr Charles must have a liking for young blonde women. There was nothing left in there, it had been stripped of everything.  I think Mrs Brompton is going to sell the apartment in Fulham but she is going to give the other one to Miss Catherine to live in either on her eighteenth birthday or if she marries.’

‘I wonder if that’s the last one pondered Wyn.’

‘It’s the last one of the Deeds anyway,’ replied Ned.  ‘One thing’s for sure, all this is helping Mrs Brompton get over Mr Charles’s death.  She’s even talking about not wearing mourning clothes anymore.’

‘No-one could blame her,’ said Wyn, ‘why would any wife mourn for a man like him.’  ‘Come on you lot, stop gossiping,' Mrs Davis put in, you all have work to do.  As the food is almost ready, Wyn and Betty you go and give the drawing room a good clean ready for the wedding, and remember all of you, there’s still the basement to search.’ 

‘How could I forget?’ muttered Betty, ‘all those spiders that are going to be down there, urgh.’ 

‘We’re going down there after the wedding,’ William told her. 

‘Well, as you have all worked so hard for so long Mrs Brompton has said that you all can have time off after the wedding until Monday so you’ll have Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday to do whatever you want.’

‘That’s great they all shouted!’

‘We can go out somewhere all four of us,’ said Wyn.

‘We could go to the music hall on Saturday afternoon,’ said Betty

‘And a nice riverside pub on Sunday’ Ned put in.

It was Mrs Danvers and Mr Carter’s wedding day.  The weather was cold but dry which they were thankful for as they had to walk to the Church.  As Mrs Danvers was a widow who was remarrying, she was wearing a salmon satin gown trimmed with ostrich feathers. She had no bridesmaids or attendants.  She wore a diamond necklace and carried a simple bunch of lilies. As she came down the stairs she was greeted by the rest of the household. 

‘You look beautiful,’ Mrs Brompton told her. 

Mr Carter was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her.  He was wearing a frock coat along with a double-breasted light grey waistcoat, dark grey tie and grey striped cashmere trousers.

‘You look very nice too,’ he was told. 

They all felt very happy as they walked out of the house behind the bride and groom because they were all dressed in their Sunday best and they weren’t working for a couple of days.  Wyn took William’s arm and Betty took Ned’s as they walked.  The church was full of flowers and looked lovely.  Wyn kept looking around her to see if Father John was there but was very disappointed as she couldn’t see him. After what seemed like a very quick service, it was all over and they were outside.  They all had rice which they threw at the bride and groom who were laughingly trying to duck out of the way.  Then they walked back to the house for the wedding breakfast.  When she saw the cake Mrs Davis had lovingly prepared for them, the now Mrs Emily Carter was overcome.  She thanked Mrs Davis with tears in her eye. 

‘I’m so grateful to all of you,’ she said.  ‘I wish my brother had been here to see me married but he’s not been very well, although I’m glad to say he’s getting better now’ 

Mr Carter joined her and put his arm around his new wife.  ‘I too would like to thank all of you for your help in making this a very special day but I’m afraid I have to steal my wife away now so that we can catch our honeymoon train.’

Everyone moved down to the front door where there was a carriage waiting for them.  It had been decorated with flowers and Mrs Carter nearly jumped for joy when she saw it.  As they were about to get in Mrs Brompton did something employers didn’t normally do, she hugged both of them.  They both looked a bit shocked but pleased.  Mrs Carter had a faint blush of pink in her cheeks. 

‘Have a good honeymoon,’ Mrs Brompton told them ‘and I hope you will be very happy in your marriage.’ 

‘Thank you’ Mrs Carter whispered tearfully. 

They both got in the carriage and it moved off with everyone waving and shouting goodbye, be happy.