shut the door and asked, “How do you take your tea, ma’am? Let me prepare it for you.”
“Cream, no sugar, thank you.”
Olivia served her the tea, offered her the pastry tray, and served herself before sitting back down. “Have you always been the housekeeper at Wilson Academy, ma’am?”
“I was an earl’s housekeeper in Leeds before I married. In fact, I met the spymaster when he visited there before the war. When Wilson Academy was completed to his satisfaction, he wrote to me and offered me this position. I jumped at the chance, for the challenge of being an instructor as well as housekeeper intrigued me. My employer did not stand in my way. And here I am.
“I feel as though the trainees have become my children and the instructors my family. We all live on the grounds, you see. We meet for cocktails in the drawing room before dinner, so we’ve grown to know one another quite well. I’m a widow and it’s less lonely for me here among such congenial company.”
“Are none of the instructors married?”
“Aaron Foster is a widower. He came out of retirement at Viscount Sidmouth’s urging. He’s well-known in his field. He has a son in the army, I believe. The others are unmarried, except for Tom Deff. He has a wife, three grown sons and two daughters in Ireland. They rely on his financial support. There’s not much honest work to be had there. He owns a horse breeding farm that his sons tend in his absence. He returns to see them all when we take our holiday in the fall, after your training is done.”
“Do you enjoy your role here?”
“Oh yes. It’s important work and I take it seriously. Most gratifying, my dear. And not in the least bit difficult. I’ve managed to earn enough to see me in comfort when I retire. And having no family I can call my own, I dearly love to mother all you young ones.”
Olivia smiled. “You are like a mother to all of us, ma’am.”
“Do you have a mother?”
“Oh, yes. And a father. And four sisters and one brother. I miss them all.”
“I expect you do.” She glanced at the clock on the mantel. “Oh dear. Just look at the hour. Time to make ready for dinner, my dear.”
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