A Loving Family by Dilly Court

respect, at least when his father or brother were present. She had his measure and she put him firmly in his place when one day he caught her unawares and slid his hands around her waist while she was kneading bread dough at the kitchen table. She turned quickly and caught him round the ear with a floury hand. He yelped and took a step backwards.
    â€˜That wasn’t very friendly, Stella.’
    â€˜It wasn’t meant to be, Bertie. Keep your hands to yourself.’
    â€˜Playing hard to get, are you?’
    â€˜I’m employed here to keep house and cook your food. It ends there.’
    He pulled a face. ‘I’m disappointed. I thought you had a bit of a spark in you, Stella, but you’re obviously aiming higher than me.’
    â€˜What are you talking about?’
    â€˜It’s plain to see that you’ve got your eye on my brother. He’ll inherit the farm and he’d be a good catch for a woman in your position.’
    â€˜That’s a foul thing to say. Such a thought never crossed my mind.’
    â€˜You can act the innocent, but I’ve seen the way you are with him. You flutter those long eyelashes and flash your eyes in a way that would drive most men to distraction.’
    Stella thumped the dough down on the tabletop and pounded it with her fists. ‘That’s a lie. I treat you all the same.’
    â€˜You don’t smile at me the way you smile at him.’ Bertie moved a little closer, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. ‘Be nice to me and I’ll look after you. Pa gives me an allowance and I could set you up in a cosy little room in town. You wouldn’t have to look after anyone but me.’
    She spun round to face him, recoiling at the smell of stale alcohol and tobacco on his breath. ‘Listen to what I’m saying, Albert Hendy. I would rather starve in the gutter than allow you to lay a hand on me. Now leave me alone or I’ll have to tell your father that you’ve been pestering me.’
    He glared at her and for a second she thought he was going to strike her, but suddenly his handsome features creased into a grin. ‘I said you’ve got spirit. You’ll change your mind when you find out what a boring fellow my brother is. You might wed him for security but you’ll want more out of life than slaving away in the kitchen and giving birth every year until you’re nothing but a dried-up husk of a creature.’ He ambled into the scullery and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the outer door shut with a click of the latch. She sighed. Life had been too easy and she had slipped into a false sense of security, but the time was coming when she must make a move. She had grown fond of Mr Hendy and Robert and she had a sneaking liking for Bertie when he was not under the influence of alcohol, but this had only ever been a temporary arrangement. She could not rest until she had discovered what had happened to her family.
    She put the dough in a large bowl and covered it with a damp cloth, placing it close to the range to prove before going into the scullery to wash her hands at the sink. Outside the sun was shining and she knew that spring was here at last. She plucked her shawl from its peg and wrapped it around her shoulders. Robert was harrowing in the ten-acre field and she had planned to take him his lunch of bread, cheese and pickled onions at midday. It was only eleven o’clock but she needed to talk to him. She picked up the wicker basket containing the food and a flagon of ale, and she went outside into the yard. What she had to say would not take long and she would be back in time to put the loaves in the oven.
    The sun was warm on her face and the hedgerows were alive with the twittering of birds and the rustling of small animals. Catkins fluttered in the breeze and clusters of yellow primroses created pools of sunshine beneath the hedgerow, and tightly furled buds of hawthorn were just