In Distant Fields Read Free Page B

hand held out to her, which in so many ways she knew it was.
    By the time she allowed herself to return home, her father had left for Biddlethorpe Hall, and her mother had hastily written to accept Lady Partita’s invitation to catch the Thursday afternoon train to Bauders Castle.
    â€˜Have you ever seen so much money, Kitty? Have you ever, ever seen so much money?’
    Kitty shook her head.
    â€˜And now all we have to do is spend it!’
    Half an hour later the two women, dressed for the winter weather, umbrellas over their arms, expressions as bright as the sky above them was grey, left for the shops, where they spent the rest of the day, not to mention the following morning too, buying everything that Kitty would need for her visit.
    At last Thursday dawned, and the little household was up at dawn, packing and preparing for the journey ahead.
    â€˜I have told Bridie to attend to your every need,’ Violet informed Kitty. ‘But don’t be surprised if she appears a little over-excited. She says she has never seen a castle, let alone visited one.’
    â€˜I keep feeling so guilty, Mamma. How will you manage on your own here, without Bridie?’ Kitty paused. ‘I keep wondering what you will do if Papa comes home.’
    Violet shook her head. ‘Stop wondering, Kitty. It is not your place to worry about me. Even should I need Bridie, which I will make sure that I don’t, I have told you, you cannot possibly visit a place such as Bauders without a maid. It would not be understood.’
    â€˜Yes, but, Mamma, what will Bridie do when we are there?’
    Violet paused in her folding of one of Kitty’s new blouses.
    â€˜She will do as the other maids do for their young mistresses, Kitty. She will help dress you, and generally tend to your needs.’
    â€˜But then how will you cope, without anyone but young Mary coming in to clean?’
    â€˜I will cope, dearest, really I will.’ Violet smiled suddenly at Kitty. ‘Now don’t forget to remind Bridie to hand the keys for your luggage to the butler on your arrival – that is de rigueur . She will not want to look like a hayseed to the other servants, for they will make quite open fun of her if she does, believe me.’
    Kitty smiled. ‘We will both try to be a credit to you, I promise.’
    Mother and daughter stared into each other’s eyes for a second, each knowing as she did that this invitation to Bauders could well change Kitty’s life, and for so much the better.
    â€˜Take heart, Kitty, really. You will be everything that I could wish. I know that.’
    Later Violet watched Kitty, followed by Bridie, climbing into the waiting hackney carriage in her new travelling outfit. She looked a picture in her feathered hat and fur muffler, her new blue coat as elegant as anything either of them could wish. Bridie, of course, was dressed in her customary black since she always seemed to be in perpetual mourning. Her mind and spirit appeared to reside permanently in or around the churchyard.
    â€˜Pray to the Lord our God to keep us safe on this journey,’ the maid muttered as the cab took them across the park to the railway station. ‘And may He keep us and preserve us from the attentions of strangers and free from all pestilences on our journey – because you would do well to remember, Miss Kitty,’ she said more loudly as she focused on her mistress, ‘that one soul’s careless sneeze may be another’s early demise. Wasn’t my poor Uncle Fergus just such a victim, God rest his soul indeed, for didn’t he take a train journey to Cork for a Nationalist meeting on the one day, and wasn’t he dying in hospital on the next, and wasn’t it all due to travelling in a train and being proximous to the afflictions of others? May God preserve us on this journey, Miss Kitty, for He will surely need to.’
    They had barely settled themselves and their luggage