been trapped in its door but, when she’d tried to tidy it up, she’d realised that the door was locked and that the key was nowhere to be seen. She’d looked around for it for a few minutes, but soon realised that she probably wasn’t meant to be able to find it and so she left the cupboard alone, wondering what was hidden behind its secretive door.
After the briefest of lunch breaks, followed by another hour of tidying, Nina looked up from a sample of Dudley’s scribble on the top of a particularly large mound of papers. Something had caught her eye from beyond the patio doors and, looking closer, she noticed a young woman out in the garden with dark wavy hair and a pretty face.
Nina walked across to the doors, which she’d opened earlier in the hope of alleviating some of the mustiness of the room. The young woman was half hidden in one of the borders behind a plant with leaves the size of an elephant’s foot, and was wielding a large silver spade. However, she’d stopped her work and was watching something, her gaze unwavering. Nina followed the girl’s gaze and saw the object of her fascination: Dominic.
He was walking across the lawn, his head inclined towards the ground, completely unaware of his female audience. And the girl was mesmerized. Nina hadn’t seen anything like it outside of a movie. Her vision was one of perfect softness, as if she was looking at a divine painting; she wasn’t aware of anything else around her, least of all Nina.
As Nina watched, she felt a strange tickle in her nose. It wasn’t really surprising, with the amount of dust that had been trapped amongst the paperwork in Dudley’s study, and her nose twitched, her face stretching and contorting. She was going to sneeze.
‘Aaaachooooo!’
The dark-haired girl behind the plant almost left the ground in shock.
‘Good heavens!’ she cried from across the garden. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Nina Elliot, the new secretary,’ Nina said, sniffing loudly as she approached her across the lawn.
‘Oh,’ the girl said, swallowing hard.
‘And you are?’ Nina smiled gently as she reached for a tissue from her pocket.
‘Faye,’ the girl said, her voice a little croaky until she cleared her throat. ‘Darnley.’
‘Hello, Faye,’ Nina reached the border to shake hands and was offered a warm, dust-encrusted one.
‘I was just looking—’ Faye started, but bit her lip and didn’t finish her sentence.
‘I’m sorry I startled you,’ Nina said quickly.
Faye nodded. ‘It’s okay. I was miles away, that’s all – planning a new herbaceous border for Olivia.’
Nina nodded, not quite sure what that sort of work entailed. ‘Sounds interesting,’ she said.
‘Oh, it is,’ Faye said. ‘Olivia’s given me a very generous budget and it’s a dream being able to plant exactly what I want, but it’s quite a lot of pressure, too. This garden’s so beautiful and I want to do it justice.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Nina said, noticing the beautiful green lawns, the neatly clipped hedges and the arch that led to the walled garden, which was smothered with a vigorous white rose, perfuming the air with its delicious scent. When she’d babysat, much of her time had been spent indoors and she hadn’t really got to know the gardens; a great shame, as they were so lovely. Perhaps she’d be able to explore them now though, she thought, imagining being able to take her tea breaks on a bench surrounded by lavender and birdsong.
‘New secretary, you say?’ the girl asked.
‘Yes.’
‘You must be brave to take Dudley on,’ Faye said, tucking a dark curl behind her ear and leaving a streak of dirt across her rosy cheek.
‘Oh, I don’t know about that. You should have seen my last boss,’ Nina grinned.
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