Free Beggars and Choosers by Catrin Collier Page B

which considering his profession, was an incongruous, cheerful crimson.
    â€˜If that was Llinos crying, she has been having nightmares ever since Father was killed,’ Geraint explained.
    â€˜That still doesn’t give her the right to wake the entire house. Geraint, return to your room. Sali, go down to the kitchens and make tea. A weak cup with plenty of sugar and milk for your mother, a stronger one for me.’
    â€˜Let Miss Sali see to Miss Llinos, Mr Davies, sir. I will make the tea.’ Mari, her long, grey hair plaited over one shoulder, a shawl thrown over her nightdress and robe, was standing in the arched doorway that connected the servants’ passageways with the main house.
    â€˜Llinos is to be left alone. Any more mollycoddling and she’ll never learn to sleep through the night.’ Morgan glared at the housekeeper. ‘And you, Mrs Williams, will not venture on to the family floor again except to check that the maid has done her work, or to clean the rooms yourself and never at night. Is that clear?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜I will expect you alert and prepared to assume your duties at the usual hour.’
    â€˜Sir.’ Mari bobbed a curtsy and retreated along the landing, closing the connecting door behind her.
    â€˜Tea, Sali,’ Morgan reminded.
    â€˜I’ll get my slippers, it’s cold in the kitchens.’
    â€˜I am disappointed to see that you left your room in bare feet and risked picking up a splinter. If your foot becomes infected you will be absolutely no use to your mother. It is time you started thinking of others, girl.’
    â€˜Llinos was crying.’ Sali fought a tide of misery that threatened to engulf her. Her father had always been the first to leave his bed if any of them woke in the night. She recalled the smell of his cologne, the feel of his arms around her, warm, comforting and reassuring, as she sipped the cocoa Mari made whenever one of them had a nightmare, and the serious look on his face as he had listened to stories of bogey monsters that had disturbed their sleep. She remembered the grave attitude he had adopted when he searched their wardrobes and the spaces beneath their beds to make sure that the beasts had been well and truly chased away.
    Her sister might be too old for bogey monsters, but she sensed Llinos’s imagination, like her own, was all too adept at picturing the burial ground behind Penuel Chapel and the tomb where her father lay.
    â€˜Are you being deliberately obdurate, girl?’
    Sali set aside her memories. ‘No, Uncle. I’ll get my slippers now.’

Chapter Four
    The hotplate had been opened on the range and a milk pan and copper kettle were already gently steaming when Sali reached the kitchen.
    â€˜Uncle Morgan told you not to come down, Mari.’
    Mari held her finger to her lips. ‘Then we’d best whisper in case he followed you.’
    â€˜He could sack you, and Llinos and I and the boys couldn’t cope without you,’ Sali pleaded.
    â€˜I have been making tea for the mistress every time she’s had one of her funny turns in the night for the last twenty-one years and I’m not about to stop now. If your uncle asks, he and the mistress are not the only ones who can’t sleep, and as housekeeper I’m entitled to a cup of tea to help me rest.’ Mari set an embroidered cloth on a japanned tray and laid out a Coalport porcelain breakfast set of teapot, cups, saucers, jug and sugar bowl. ‘I had a few minutes’ start on you, so he won’t be expecting you yet. Make the most of it.’ She poured warm milk into a cup and stirred it. ‘Cocoa, just the way you like it.’ She handed it to Sali together with a tin of Huntley and Palmer biscuits.
    â€˜I am sorry about the maids, footmen and stable boys being given notice, especially Robert,’ Sali added. ‘He must hate us. He’s been with us since he was twelve years