Chapter 18

Bidston, Wirral, December 1869

‘Isn’t it about time you got round to making your Christmas puddings?’ Nanny Banks asked, her tone redolent with disapproval. ‘You’ve only got a couple of weeks.’

Patty felt a sudden wave of panic. Of course, the puddings should have been made already, but the weekly lectures and her afternoons at Yewtree Farm had taken so much of her free time that she had simply forgotten how late in the season it was. Added to that, she had only the vaguest idea how to make them. She had seen them being made when she worked at Freeman’s but she had never actually been involved and now she had to wrack her memory for the necessary ingredients.

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ she said airily, ‘they’ll be ready in plenty of time.’

That afternoon she persuaded Barney to harness the trap and drive her into Birkenhead to visit the library. She returned with a hastily copied list and the extra items it required. She stayed up until midnight, while the steam from the kitchen range condensed on the windows in a steady stream.

Next day Lady Helena informed her that Sir Basil’s sister and her husband and three children would be spending Christmas at Avalon and her own mother and father had been invited to join them for Christmas dinner. Sitting at the kitchen table she outlined the menus she wanted for each day from Christmas Eve through to two days after Boxing Day. When she had gone, Patty put her head in her hands and almost gave way to tears.

Vera, finding her in that state, wanted to know what was wrong. Patty showed her the list.

‘I’ll never manage all that. I don’t even know what some of those things are. What’s a vol au vent, for a start?’

‘But I thought you had cooked in a great house,’ Vera said. ‘Didn’t they have food like this?’

‘Maybe they did, but I was only the scullery maid. The only things I’m really good at are cakes and pastries, and that’s because the pastry chef was kind to me. I’ve managed so far because Sir Basil likes simple food and Lady Helena doesn’t seem to mind what she eats. But now there are going to be all these guests and I don’t know how I’m going to cope.’

Vera sat beside her and they went through the menus together. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to help,’ she promised. ‘We’ll manage somehow.’

This time it was Vera who went into town and came back with a copy of Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery for Private Families, borrowed from the library. There followed a frantic two weeks of advance preparation and trial attempts. Patty had just about decided that she would, after all, be able to produce the various dishes as required when Lady Helena looked into the kitchen to remark,

‘Oh, Patty, I’ve invited some of the neighbours in for drinks and mince pies on the morning of Christmas Eve. I think two dozen mince pies should be enough.’

When Iris said she would like to take Christmas Day off to spend with her family, Patty finally broke down. Seeing her sobbing into her apron Iris hastened to fetch her mother and as result the two of them volunteered to help out. The festive season passed in a blur, but somehow all the dishes arrived at table more or less at the required time and were apparently eaten with pleasure – or at least without complaint – and the rest of the household dined well on the leftovers.

Patty was feeling quite pleased with herself when, passing the drawing room with empty plates on the way to the kitchen, she heard Sir Basil’s sister in conversation with Helena’s mother.

‘Wherever does Helena find her staff? That boy, who drove us up from the ferry, for example. He’s a nice enough lad, but … well, a bit of a rough diamond, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Oh,’ said Helena’s mother, ‘he’ll be one of Helena’s lame ducks. She has this passion for finding people who are down on their luck and trying to give them a leg up.’

‘Well, I’m sure it’s very creditable,’ the other woman replied, ‘but it does seem to make for a rather haphazard household. I mean, it’s not just that boy …’

Sir Basil appeared from the library at that moment and Patty hastened away without hearing any more.

‘Is that it?’ she asked herself. ‘Am I one of her “lame ducks”? Am I only here as an act of charity?’

These gloomy thoughts were put out of her head, at least temporarily, by anticipation of an event to come. Mr Vyner, who was the Lord of the Manor, had invited the whole village to Bidston Hall for a ball on New Year’s Eve. In fact, there would be two balls: one for the ladies and gentlemen, and a second for the servants and farm workers. It was a very long time since either Patty or Vera had been to a party, and they were looking forward to the opportunity to dress up for once.

Since starting work at Avalon they had not had any reason to spend much of their salaries and they had both been saving towards their ultimate goal of opening their own shop, but they agreed that they deserved a new dress for the occasion. Vera had chosen a silver-grey brocade, elegant but not too showy, fitting, she felt, her position as housekeeper. Patty had thought long and hard. She wanted nothing reminiscent of the yellow silk that had been her downfall. In the end she had chosen a dark-green velvet with silk ruffles in a lighter a shade. When they came downstairs, ready to leave, they were rewarded by a whistle of appreciation from Barney and a comment from Jackson to the effect that they would outshine all the fine ladies.

The servants’ hall had been decorated with swags of holly and ivy and was lit by dozens of candles. The women’s dresses made a kaleidoscope of colour, set off by the more sober tones of the men’s Sunday best suits. A small band, consisting of fiddles and an accordion, was playing. For a moment Patty was taken back to the first such occasion she had been to, soon after she’d taken up her job at Speke Hall. It was not a happy memory and she pushed it to the back of her mind. She and Vera moved round the room, greeting acquaintances, many of whom had been at Helena’s ill-fated lectures; all of them now ready for a break from the daily drudgery of their normal lives. The band struck up the Roger de Coverley and someone touched Patty on the shoulder. She turned to find Gregory Armitage, shaved and spruce in a grey suit with an embroidered waistcoat.

‘May I have the honour?’ he asked.

‘Thank you,’ she replied.

He offered her his arm and led her into the dance.

From then on he never left her side, and they danced every dance.

A good supper was laid out for them halfway through the evening, with cider cup in a huge bowl. It looked very tempting but Patty remembered the effects of the gimlet Percy had given her and stuck to lemonade.

As midnight approached the hall grew very hot and her feet started to ache. When Gregory suggested a breath of fresh air she agreed willingly. He led her out into a wide courtyard with a well in the middle. They wandered over to it and perched on the edge.

He said, ‘I’m so glad you are here. I was afraid you might not come.’

‘Why not?’

‘You might think a servants’ ball a bit beneath you.’

‘Why should I think that?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. You’re a city girl. I expect you’ve seen much more exciting gatherings than a lot of rustics like us.’

‘I don’t think of you as rustics,’ she said with a laugh. ‘And I like the people here much better than a lot of the people I knew in the city.’

‘I’m glad to hear you say that,’ he murmured. ‘Because I like you, Patty Jenkins. Very much indeed.’

He put his arm round her and pulled her towards him. She knew he was going to kiss her and some instinct made her duck out of his grasp and stand up.

‘It must be nearly midnight. Let’s go back in.’

As they re-entered the hall, the church clock struck the hour. A cheer went up and then everyone joined hands for ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

Shouts of ‘Happy New Year’ rang out, and a banner was unfurled from the rafters: ‘BEST WISHES TO ONE AND ALL FOR 1870’.

Gregory wanted to walk her home, but she was relieved to see Barney in the pony trap ready to drive them back.

‘Thank you, Gregory, but there’s no need,’ she said, indicating the trap. There was an awkward pause, then she went on, ‘I’ve enjoyed this evening so much. Thank you for dancing with me.’

‘I should thank you, not the other way about,’ he said. ‘You made the evening for me.’

To Patty’s relief Vera appeared out of the crowd and took her arm. ‘Come on, Patty. Barney’s waiting for us.’

‘Yes, coming,’ she responded, and offered her hand to Gregory. ‘Happy New Year, to you and all the family.’

‘And to both of you,’ he replied. She could see that he would like to have said more but she turned away quickly to mount the trap.