I'd Wait Forever...

Chapter 2

5th January 1912

Father was being his usual, quite snobby self again today. I do wish he would allow going downstairs and talking to the servants; to me they are just normal people. I assume he does not want us mixing as he says never mix business with pleasure.

Today Amelia, Katrina, Jenna and I went to the village to pick up our new dresses for the ball that was not far off. Tom picked us up in the car, however I didn’t realise he would be starting today. I thought perhaps he would start next week. “Hello Tom” I said trying to be friendly as I could tell he was nervous, well it was his first day after all. “Hum….. Good Afternoon Milady...” he stuttered.

“Why on earth did you just talk to the Chauffeur chap Sybil?” whispering the girls with puzzled looks on the face.

“He is a person, you know!” Somehow a great rage came upon me while she was acting snobbish, how horrible it was to say. Although I did not say anything. I decided to bite my tongue however hard it was.

Tom was kind and considerate, I see no reason why I shouldn’t speak to him. After we had dropped the girls of at Amelia’s house, Tom took me home and as we were driving through the village he began to speak, without stuttering. “I am sorry Milady if I embarrassed you in front of your friends, truly I am!”

“Why would you say that, you could never embarrass me?” I felt like telling him everything. He was so easy to talk to. Much easier than Papa or Mama.

“Only… I heard them speaking of me after we had spoken”

“Oh no! Do not take any notice of them, they are very immature and do not understand the meaning of manners. So please do not get upset by their stupid remarks”

I could see him smiling as if he was happy that we had had talked again.

I looked in the rear side mirror and my hair was atrocious.

“Could you take me round the back, I should hate for Mama to see me like this?”

He nodded agreeing with me on the state of my hair.

Me and Tom talked very much for the whole car journey home, about the house and my family.

“You see I had to leave Ireland because there was no work for me out there, and once I had heard that there was work out here, I applied quick as a flash!”

“How difficult it must be for you though, being all alone out here with none of your family around you?”

“It is Milady, very hard. But I struggle through it because being out here is a new adventure and with every new adventure there is a new horizon!”