The Royal Lacemaker Read Free Page A

needed repairing. Only the
     table in the corner on which she kept her bobbins and thread was free from dust; she
     wouldn’t be able to sell her work if it wasn’t spotless. She hung her
     head in embarrassment. Before the accident, her mother had taken pride in keeping
     their modest home clean and tidy.
    ‘I’ve been too busy with my
     orders for lace to do much around the cottage. Rob does his best but some days his
     legs pain him so bad he can hardly move. But he’s good with Beth and keeps her
     amused whilst I’m working.’
    The other woman put her head on one
     side, quizzically. ‘I’m sure you do your best. Forgive me for asking,
     Lily, but do you have any other money coming in?’
    ‘We’re managing,’ Lily
     retorted, her chin rising defensively. ‘Working from home means I can care for
     thefamily well enough, but I have to confess that jobbing pay is
     paltry and orders for pillow lace are dwindling.’
    ‘Rob said you’d been
     summoned to see Agent Pike?’
    ‘Yes, Mrs Bodney has offered me a
     position for six months but it will mean working from her cottage in Bransbeer along
     with the other lace makers. I’d have to be away from here all day, and with
     the family and cottage needing looking after that’s not possible. The money
     she offered is more than you’d believe, but we will only be paid at the end of
     each month. So you see, Aunt Elizabeth, with the family to feed, I can’t
     afford to take it anyway,’ Lily said, shaking her head.
    ‘Now let’s not be impulsive,
     Lily my dear,’ her aunt said quickly. ‘Mrs Bodney is a reputable
     businesswoman as well as an accomplished lace maker, so I’m guessing her order
     is for someone of renown. Am I right?’
    ‘Yes, it is. But you’ve been
     living in Exeter so how do you know about Mrs Bodney?’ Lily asked.
    ‘You’re forgetting that I
     too was brought up here in Coombe, where everybody knows everybody. It seems like
     only yesterday,’ her aunt said. ‘Your mother and I used to have such
     fun. She might have been the elder by a couple of years, but the japes she used to
     get into …’
    ‘Really?’ Lily asked, eyes
     widening at the thought of her staid, thirty-six-year-old mother misbehaving.
    ‘Oh, yes, I was always having to
     cover up for her. Of course, the tables were turned in the end …’ Her
     aunt’s voice petered out and she stared into the flames, seemingly lost in
     thought.
    ‘It sounds as if you were really
     close, Aunt Elizabeth, so why did you move away?’ Lily asked, her curiositygetting the better of her. Her aunt looked at her sharply.
     ‘Sorry, Aunt Elizabeth, I had no right to pry,’ she added gently.
    ‘No, dear, that’s all right,
     and when we have more time I will explain. It was always my wish to have more of a
     presence in your life. I kept in touch as much as I was able and, as you know,
     returned for visits when my duties permitted. Your mother was good at keeping me
     informed about family news so I was right puzzled when her communication ceased.
     Now, of course, I know it was because of the accident.’
    Lily nodded, remembering the excitement
     Aunt Elizabeth’s occasional visits had caused, and letters that came
     periodically by the stagecoach. Then her thoughts returned to the present and her
     own news. Despite her predicament, she felt excitement bubbling up inside.
    ‘Mrs Bodney said the work has to
     be done to a strict timetable and we need to work sunrise to sunset to have it
     completed in time.’
    As if tuning into her thoughts, her aunt
     brought the subject back to the present.
    ‘Regular work’s not easy to
     come by around here, is it?’ she asked.
    ‘No, and Tom says I won’t be
     able to walk the eight-mile round trip six days a week as well as look after
     everything at home.’
    Her aunt glanced down at Lily’s
     boots sitting beside the hearth with their scuffed toecaps and worn soles.
    ‘Your Tom sounds a caring man,
     Lily, but