Kitty Neale 3 Book Bundle. Kitty Neale

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       Chapter Twenty-Six

      Phyllis looked around her living room, smiling, despite the cold and wet Thursday December morning. When Rose had moved into her new house, she’d insisted on some new furniture, and as always Samuel had given in to her.

      To save her the hassle of getting rid of it, Rose had begged her to take some of the furniture from the Bethnal Green house off her hands and Phyllis had been happy to oblige. The suite may be old, but to Phyllis it was beautiful, the fabric a plush rose brocade that showed hardly any signs of wear. It was a bit large for her small living room, but Phyllis didn’t care, and though she’d only been able to make use of one pair of the matching, pinch pleat curtains, they made the room look warm and inviting, if a little crowded. The Christmas tree didn’t help; though only a small one it took up one side of the hearth, one of the chairs in front of it hiding the lower branches. She’d forgone any other decorations, just putting ornaments on the tree, and it did look rather nice, Phyllis thought, smiling at the very old, homemade angel on the top.

      Of course Phyllis knew her home was still nothing in comparison to her cousin’s, but she didn’t envy or begrudge Rose her change of fortunes. Instead she was growing ever closer to her cousin and looked forward to going to work every day. With that in mind, Phyllis put her coat on, grabbed her umbrella and hurried out. The scaffolding was still up outside the house, along with Mabel’s and the empty ones on either side of them, though in this weather Phyllis doubted the roofers would be working that day.

      Phyllis was glad she didn’t have to worry about the weather. It was lovely and warm in Rose’s house and any worries she’d had that her cousin would lord it over her had soon been dispelled. In fact, Rose insisted that they do the housework together, which meant it took a lot less than five hours, leaving them loads of time to spend in the kitchen, chatting over cups of tea.

      With the wind buffeting her umbrella, by the time Phyllis arrived she was soaked. Rose took one look at her and urged her to the kitchen where her coat was swiftly removed, a towel handed to her and dry slippers offered for her feet.

      ‘You should have stayed at home,’ Rose chided. ‘I could have managed without you.’

      ‘It’ll be Christmas soon and with saving for Amy’s wedding too, I didn’t want to lose five hours’ pay.’

      ‘You silly mare, I’d still have given you your full wage,’ Rose protested as she poured two hot drinks. ‘Here, get this down you and you can dry off before we start work.’

      ‘I feel guilty enough without letting you pay me when I don’t turn up,’ Phyllis said, voicing her feelings.

      ‘I don’t get it. What have you got to feel guilty about?’

      ‘Rose, even if I did it on my own, it wouldn’t take five hours a day to clean this house. Most of the bedrooms aren’t used, and with just you and Samuel living here the rest of the house is so tidy that it hardly needs one pair of hands, let alone two to keep it nice.’

      ‘Leave it out. There’s polishing, hoovering, along with the laundry and ironing.’

      ‘They’d still get done if you cut my hours.’

      ‘No, I don’t want to do that,’ Rose said, shaking her head emphatically.

      ‘You must,’ Phyllis insisted. ‘I’m not daft and though I really appreciate what you’re doing, it’s making me feel like a charity case.’

      ‘Now hold on, you’ve got it all wrong. Our last cleaner did the same hours as you, and this house is about the same size.’

      ‘Yes, but did you help her to clean it?’

      ‘Well, no, but I enjoy doing it with you,’ Rose answered. ‘We have a laugh, and if you must know I don’t want to cut your hours because I love having you here СКАЧАТЬ