Emily by Valerie Wood Page A

had commented after an afternoon when Mrs Purnell had entertained six ladies for tea, ‘you wait till Mr Hugo comes home. It’s all parties and dancing, and you should hear ’racket they make. Sometimes even ’neighbours complain.’
    ‘Who’s Mr Hugo?’ Mr Purnell had died some years before. That much Emily knew when Mrs Purnell had described herself as a poor widow. ‘Is he a son?’
    Dolly nodded. ‘He’s gone abroad.’ She’d glanced towards Mrs Anderson and lowered her voice. ‘We don’t know why, but we can guess!’
    ‘Door, Emily!’ The bell on the wall jangled one morning and Emily straightened her cap, smoothed her apron and hurried up the stairs to the door. In the month she had been here, MrsAnderson now said she preferred Emily to answer the door, as she was more likely to look presentable to visitors than either of the other maids, which Emily accepted as a compliment and Dolly and Susan sanctioned as one less chore to be endured.
    She unfastened the latch and opened the door, expecting to greet Mrs Purnell’s usual group of ladies. A tall, slim young man dressed in naval uniform, with thick dark hair and his hat in his hand, stood on the doorstep. ‘Good morning, sir.’ She bobbed her knee.
    ‘Good morning. Is Mr Hugo Purnell at home?’
    ‘I’m sorry, sir. Mr Hugo is away at present. May I say who called?’
    He rubbed his hand across his chin, where a dark stubble was about to grow into a beard. ‘Philip Linton. I had hoped to see him,’ he murmured. ‘When will he be back, do you know?’
    She shook her head. He seemed rather perplexed, she thought. ‘Mrs Purnell is at home, sir. Would you like me to ask?’
    ‘I would. Thank you.’ He gave her a sudden smile, which changed his sombre expression to a merry one. ‘If Mrs Purnell is not too busy, would you give her my compliments and ask if I might see her?’
    She invited him in and scurried to find Mrs Purnell, who was having coffee alone in her sitting room. ‘Fetch him in,’ she exclaimed. ‘He’s just the man to brighten my morning! He’s so handsome! Didn’t you think he was handsome, Emily?’
    Emily smiled. She was getting used to MrsPurnell’s odd ways and knew when not to overstep the mark by becoming too familiar.
    ‘Well? Do you think he’s handsome or not? Don’t tell me that you’re still a child and didn’t notice!’
    ‘He is very handsome, ma’am. Very – upright in his bearing.’
    Mrs Purnell chortled. ‘Very upright! Well yes, I suppose he is. That’s because he’s a Trinity House man. Hmph.’ Her mouth turned down. ‘A navy man, just as my Hugo should have been. Go on then, send him in!’
    ‘Mrs Purnell will see you now, sir, if you would like to come through.’ She put out her hand for his hat and her fingers brushed against his. He smiled at her and she gave him a shy smile in return.
    ‘Have you been here long?’ he asked. ‘I don’t remember seeing you before.’
    ‘Just over a month, sir.’ She put his hat on the hall stand and led him to the sitting room. He was handsome, she thought. He’s the first handsome man that I’ve noticed. She felt a prickle on the back of her neck and her cheeks flushed as she felt that his eyes were on her as he walked behind her.
    She opened the door to the sitting room. ‘Mr Philip Linton, ma’am.’

Chapter Nine
    ‘How nice to see you, Philip, and how very handsome in your uniform, but you’ve missed my boy, I’m afraid.’ Mrs Purnell smiled coquettishly at her visitor. ‘He just upped and went a couple of months ago, said he was tired of the dull life here and was going abroad. Italy, I think he said.’
    ‘Oh!’ Philip Linton mouthed his regrets at missing Hugo, but privately he was very annoyed. Hugo owed him money and had vowed he would let him have it by March at the latest. Here they were almost in May and the blackguard had gone. He doubted that he would get it back. Others had lent him money too, he had heard, but they’d