The Windsor Girl Read Free

was only a girl, so it couldn’t be that.
    ‘I never talk to the boys Mam.  Never’, she said, her head still bent over her chore.
    ‘Well, just think about what I’ve said.  Mark my words Ellie, you'll never get better advice’, and, with that, she scrubbed the hearth with renewed vigour.
    The family had only the one room downstairs, in which they cooked, ate, washed and entertained.  If indeed you could call it ‘entertaining’.  The odd neighbour and Aunt Dora of course.
    It was a big room, with a sash cord window, in front of which Ellie was now working.  In daylight hours the window was always open, a little, no matter what the weather.  Today was no exception.  Ellie’s hands were cold, in spite of the warm water she was using. 
    When she had cleared all the pots and pans’ away, she ladled the remaining soapy water into a bucket and proceeded to wash the flagged floor.  She hated this part of her job as the water had become cool and, every so often, her hands came into contact with particles of food from the washing up.  She tried to ignore this, but found it offensive and shivered at each repulsive touch.
    ‘The queen could eat her tea off my fireplace’, said Maggie standing back and surveying the shining fireplace with satisfaction. 
    She immediately went over to the window and took down the piece of muslin, which passed for a curtain. 
    ‘They can say what they like about me but no-one can ever say I don’t keep a clean house’.
    They worked on until midday and were just about to place their dinner, of bread and cheese, on the bleached white table, when Aunt Dora entered, clutching a large jug of stout.
    ‘ Eh! Maggie, you house looks a treat.  It always does, every time I come here.  I don’t know how you manage to keep it so spic and span, with all you have on you mind, I don't really’.
    ‘We do the best we can Dora’, replied Maggie, throwing a knowing look at her daughter.  Ellie held her head down in order to stifle the laugh, which, threatened to burst out.
    ‘Well I must say it’s a sight cleaner than mine and no mistake’, exclaimed Dora, looking first one way then another.
    ‘Aye Dora, but yours is a sight richer than mine, so I expect that makes us even’.
    Dora smiled, hesitantly, never knowing for certain when her sister was joking. 
    Ellie took two mugs down from the shelf, for the stout, and placed them on the table.  ‘Do you want me to go out for a while, Mam?’
    She knew that her mother would want to talk to Aunt Dora about the job at the big house and Ellie didn’t want to think about it, let alone, listen to all the details.
    Her mother patted her hand and said, ‘Nay lass, I want you to stay.  If you old enough to go out to work, you old enough to join the ‘grown ups’.  
    She turned around just in time to see her sister's brows rise and her eyes widen.
    ‘What do you mean Maggie?  There isn’t a job around here for anyone at the moment, let alone you’re Ellie’.
    ‘She’s going into service’, said Maggie.  The words sent a shiver of anxiety down Ellie’s spine.
    ‘Eh never!  You said, all along, you wouldn’t let her work until she could get a good job.  What’s happened to change you mind?’ Dora spluttered, in disbelief.
    ‘It can't be helped Dora, we'll not hold together much longer if someone doesn't bring some real money in soon, an d that’s a fact’.
    Dora was flabbergasted.
    ‘Well I never!’ she said, ‘b ut I expect you have no choice, otherwise, you wouldn’t let her go, would you?’  
    Maggie looked down at her hands.  ‘ You know how much I want for Ellie, don't you?  She's a bonny lass and I don't want to see her go the way a lot of them do around here’.
    ‘ You mean ‘the family way’?’ whispered Dora, ‘your Ellie would never do that , and you know it.  Eh! whatever are you thinking of Maggie?’
    ‘Well, it has been known Dora, it’s not only the flighty girls that ‘fall on’ you