Page 38 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

As she stared down at a lumpen, crusty mess in her hands Lily realised that she had been totally wrong.

‘I don’t know what happened,’ she said, feeling absolutely mortified. ‘I was sure that the tumble dryer setting wasn’t on. And yet…’ Her voice trailed away. There was no excuse. She had totally ruined a very expensive piece of designer fashion.

Rose took what used to be the silk top from her and stared down at the crumpled blue ball. ‘Well, sweetie, I was never sure the colour was quite me, anyway. But look at that stitching. Yves Saint Laurent in the early seventies. The workmanship is extraordinary.’ She took a deep breath. ‘As I said, don’t worry. But perhaps I shall take charge of my laundry from here on in. After all, I don’t think anyone should be exposed to all my fabulous lace lingerie.’

She gave Lily a wink but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

As Rose walked away, Lily gave herself a strict talking to. It would be fine. Just one minor mistake, that was all. She just needed to take more care with everything.

Lauren had begun to work on cleaning the house, and that had turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as well. Not only had she cleaned the windows in the drawing room with some kind of cream detergent that meant they were totally smeary, she had dropped a priceless plate off a shelf whilst dusting, and dropped the hoover down the stairs, causing the full plastic cylinder of dust and waste to scatter all over the entrance hall floor. It had taken an hour to put the hoover back together and clean up the mess.

Lily was sure that the new cleaner would come good in the end, though. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.

At lunchtime, Arthur had walked into the kitchen to give Dylan the dog a treat. Dylan had then run around the kitchen before leaping up at Lily.

‘Perhaps we could leave Dylan outside in future?’ asked Lily, looking down at the dusty paw prints all over her shorts and the just-cleaned floor.

‘Well, I suppose so,’ said Arthur, looking a little downcast. ‘But he does so like to go halves with my sandwich.’

Arthur was so sweet, thought Lily. But she was liable to lose her job at this rate if nothing was ever clean for very long.

‘Perhaps it’s for the best if we’re to keep on top of the housework,’ said Lily, trying to reassure him. ‘After all, Lauren has worked so hard to keep everywhere clean.’

‘Of course,’ said Arthur, nodding. ‘You’re quite right. By the way, do you happen to know what happened to the last jar of pickle that was in the fridge?’

‘I threw it out,’ Lily told him. ‘It didn’t have a use-by date on it.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Arthur. ‘One of my lovely tenants made it for me.’

‘Gosh, I’m sorry,’ said Lily, grimacing.

‘Not to worry,’ he told her. ‘I’ll have my cheese plain.’

As he went outside, Lily began to clean the floor once more, but Annie wandered back in.

‘I feel so sick again,’ she said, slumping down at the table, clutching a piece of paper.

‘What can I get you?’ asked Lily. ‘Ginger biscuit? Tea?’

Annie shook her head and waved the paper. ‘I must keep going. I promised Sam I’d send these out for him.’

‘What is it?’ asked Lily.

‘We thought we’d save money by sending out the album launch venue and date ourselves. This is the draft email. Sam’s been so busy with the estate that he hasn’t had time to send it, so I said I would.’ Annie gulped. ‘Trouble is, every time I look at the screen I feel ill again.’

‘Leave it with me,’ said Lily.

Annie shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. I should do it. It’s not your job.’

Lily felt a surge of optimism in her work. If she could take on some extra work then she might even be able to keep her job for longer than the summer.

‘I can handle it,’ said Lily, taking the piece of paper from her. ‘Is this the list of email addresses? That’s OK. I’ll just send out a general invitation on your behalf. Give me your phone and I can do it from your email address.’

Annie still looked unsure. ‘I don’t know,’ she began.

‘I do,’ said Lily, taking the phone from her. ‘Leave it with me so that you can go and rest.’

Once more, her actual to-do list was barely half finished by teatime, such were the levels of constant disruption. Lily was getting so behind with her chores that she was hoping to work late before heading upstairs to enjoy the luxury of having a whole bathroom to herself in the servants’ quarters and sleeping in the peaceful attic.