Audrey shuddered as she forced a smile. “That would be very kind of you.”
“It will be our secret. Now, I’ll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone.”
Audrey tried to recall the ritual Eve had taught her. She placed her hand over her heart and said, “Cross my heart and hope to die. I swear by my very life not to tell.”
Eve leaned close and said, “I’m learning to drive an automobile! Williams, your driver, is teaching me.”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“Because I don’t have people to drive me everywhere like you do, and there’s someplace I want to go.”
“Where?”
“To London. I want to put flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. He might be my father, you know.”
Audrey couldn’t imagine such a thing. But Eve was her best friend and she could see this was important to her. “I have an idea,” Audrey said. “We always close up Wellingford Hall and go to our London town house for the Season from April until June, and—”
“I know. My mum has to go with yours and I don’t see her for three whole months. Mrs. Smith says the rest of us have to scrub Wellingford Hall from top to bottom while you’re away.”
Audrey waved her hand to erase Eve’s words. “No, listen. I’ll ask Mrs. Smith if you can work at the town house. Then we could visit the tomb together.”
“Do you think they’ll let me?”
“Maybe . . . if I ask . . .” Audrey didn’t know where she would get the courage—but the longing on her friend’s face made her determined to try.
After that first tea date, Audrey made sure Eve was invited upstairs for tea at least once a week. Little by little, Audrey’s courage grew, especially after Eve delivered two dead beetles for Audrey to hold. Eve paged through the schoolbooks after they’d taken tea and Audrey explained Miss Blake’s lessons. Sometimes Eve took a book downstairs to read. Spending time with Eve made Audrey happier than she’d felt in her life. At last, she knew the joy of having a best friend.
“I’m not the scullery maid anymore,” Eve announced one afternoon, her voice high-pitched with excitement. “They hired a new one and made me the kitchen maid instead.”
“That sounds nice. What does a kitchen maid do?”
“I help Tildy all day, washing and chopping vegetables, peeling potatoes, and running to the storeroom whenever she needs something. I also get to stir things on the stove when she’s doing something else. It gets very busy down there, especially when your mother invites guests for dinner. Tildy yells at me and everyone else!”
“But no more cold, dark scullery?”
Eve laughed. “No. Now I get to work in a boiling-hot kitchen. I don’t know which is worse!”
Audrey didn’t understand how Eve could laugh at such terrible conditions. It made her ashamed to complain about anything.
“I have more good news,” Eve continued. “Tildy says she’ll need me to help her in London during the Season. Maybe I really will get to visit the Unknown Warrior’s tomb.”
“You will. I’ll take you there myself. I promise I will!”
Eve leaped up from her chair and surprised Audrey with a fervent hug.
4
LONDON, 1932
Audrey had barely arrived in London from Wellingford Hall when Mother summoned her to the town house’s morning room. The windows were closed against the drumming rain, and smoke from Mother’s cigarette hung heavy in the cramped room, stinging Audrey’s eyes and making them water. Mother lounged on her chaise near the window, as beautiful as a movie idol with her hair bobbed in the latest style. She was gorgeous, no doubt. Yet Audrey often wished for an ordinary mum with a worn dress and warm, welcoming arms. Like Eve’s mum.
“I trust Miss Blake has coached you on how to conduct yourself in social situations while we’re here in London?” Mother asked.
“Yes, Mother. I’m prepared.”
“You’ve outgrown your childish hysterics?”
“Yes, Mother.” Audrey’s heart thumped faster with each question, aware of the new situations she would soon face and her own awkward shyness. Yet her well of courage felt full, thanks to Eve. Her friend would arrive by train with the other servants later today. Audrey couldn’t wait to hear how Eve had enjoyed her first train trip.
“You will be attending several teas and socials while we’re here in London,” Mother continued. “You’ll need to make a good first impression at these events and do what’s expected of young ladies from your station in life.”
“I believe I’m ready, Mother. Miss Blake says I am.” But she couldn’t deny the slippery-sick feeling that washed through her stomach at the prospect of meeting strangers and being examined, judged.
A flash of lightning lit the room, but the grumbling thunder sounded far away. Clouds made the morning room dark and dismal. Their London town house was a narrow building five stories tall and attached to town houses on either side. With windows only in front and back, the rooms always seemed dreary to Audrey—especially today, when rain erased the small park across the street. The rooms were tastefully decorated, opulent even, but Audrey never understood why Mother preferred living here instead of stately Wellingford Hall with its spacious rooms, plentiful windows, and views of trees and rolling hills.
Mother drew a breath through her ever-present cigarette holder, a green one to match her emerald silk dress and jacket. “You’re still too young to think about finding a husband, but I expect you to watch the older girls and learn from them for the future. The Season is all about making the right connections. You’ll be joining a sorority of sorts, and I want you to be received into the very best coterie, right from the start. Then all the proper doors will open for you.” Mother seemed talkative for once, not in a hurry to run off somewhere, as she chatted on about the purpose of the Season and the social interactions that would eventually lead to marriages among London’s prominent people. Mother wouldn’t venture out until after the rain let up, so Audrey sat down in a wing chair across from her to listen, aware that their moments together were as rare as rubies.
“Did you meet Father here in London during the Season?” she found the courage to ask.
Mother gave a mirthless laugh as she crushed out her cigarette. “Certainly not! Your father didn’t become part of the London scene until after we married.”
“How did you meet him?”
Mother narrowed her eyes as if considering how much to reveal. “He pursued me with the help of a mutual friend.”
“And you fell in love with him?”
Mother’s brow puckered in a frown. “Why all these questions, Audrey?”
“I’ve been reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, and she makes falling in love sound wonderful.” Even now the poet’s words echoed through Audrey’s mind and warmed her heart: “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.”
“What else would one expect from a poet?” Mother sounded irritated. “You’ll soon learn that love isn’t the only reason people marry.”