Gertie Golden Girl

Chapter 5 THE MANOR

Gertie spends the weekend with the Lord and Lady of the Manor

It was one of the earliest heavy frosts of the winter she had ever experienced, although she was over a hundred miles north of her home latitude in East London, and Gertie mentally shivered as she looked across the endless lawn that seemed to disappear into the mist gently rising up from the edge of the woodland a couple of hundred yards away. She didn't actually shiver, as she was warmly wrapped in a comfortable woollen dressing gown and she sighed in contentment.

This was her first weekend visit at Standhope Manor, the magnificent country seat of the noble and wealthy Winter family in Derbyshire. She had been warned before leaving home by both Johnnie and Evie, that locals called the Queen Anne-style manor house "the Palace". It was a large and elegant house by any measure you care to make, with more than a hundred bedrooms, three ballrooms and its own gothic chapel. There were half a dozen various-sized dining rooms, the smaller informal family ones being rotated in use according to the season and the number of extended family members present. Gertie needed a map to find her way around and a thoughtful member of the lady's maid staff quietly provided one for her on her dressing table.

Her bedroom was within the 'close family' area of the house, which so squarely constructed that it didn't have 'wings' as such, just an enclosed courtyard within. This bedroom was large, light and airy and conveniently next door to Johnnie's bedroom, so looking out at this view across the lawn, a short patch of woodland and beyond that, she had been told, was a view of the lake that had been installed when the grounds were lavishly landscaped in the 1820s. Today, or at least early this morning, the mist hovered above the trees after a heavy overnight frost and completely blocked the view she understood would be memorable.

They had driven up from London quite late last night after a banking problem at the Standhope Winter merchant bank that had held Johnnie back by at least a couple of hours, so they arrived late, in the dark, had missed dinner and made do with a delicious round of sandwiches that the house chef had put together for them despite their protestations of not being hungry or wanting to put the staff to any trouble.

Apparently the problem at the bank wasn't just an ordinary customer in the form of a company, but the finances of a country. The State of Hungary needed to raise what to Gertie sounded an eye-watering number of millions of Swiss Francs (even though she had no idea how much even a single Swiss Franc was worth) in order to refit a factory to enable it to construct fairly modest motor cars to an Italian design for marketing in Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe. However, there emerged during negotiations a difficulty over what security the State of Hungary could provide investors by way of guarantee for the bank's large investments. The State had offered the guarantee of income from their State-owned coal mining collective but the Standhope Winter merchant bank had just discovered that the income from those very same mines had already been promised to an American bank consortium who were loaning the State money to upgrade the railway system which was desperately needed to get their coal in the bulk required to their customers, electricity power stations and heavy industry. The motor car factory deal had eventually collapsed late on Friday and they were going to restart negotiations on Monday, based on the State of Hungary coming up with an alternative form of security that hadn't already been committed elsewhere. Johnnie privately disclosed to Gertie in his frustration that he doubted they had any securities at all.

Johnnie was exhausted having decided to give his driver the weekend off and driven them up himself, and she was sure he would not rise early this morning. Being a passenger for the three hour drive, through a bewildering number of towns and villages, Gertie had not been as tired on arrival as Johnnie had admitted to being. Gertie resolved to learn how to drive a motor car herself when she got back to London, so that she could share the driving with Johnnie in future emergencies.

Johnnie and Gertie had been a couple, in the form of boyfriend and girlfriend, for five weeks now and she was more certain, now that he had brought her to his ancestral home to meet his parents, Lord and Lady Standhope, that their futures were to be forever entwined.

A light knock on the bedroom door woke her from her reverie and prompted her to turn from the window and call out softly, "Come in."

A petite housemaid came through the door wearing a black short-sleeved dress with a white lace pinafore and a white lace hat perched on the top of her head, who Gertie thought looked even younger than herself. She entered two steps into the room, carefully closed the door behind her, curtsied and asked,

"Good morning, Ma'am, can I help you get dressed this morning? Breakfast will be served at eight, in about twenty minutes' time."

"No, that's fine, I can dress myself. But as you are here, you can come and tell me about the house and people who live here. It's my first visit."

"Oh, er, yes, I know, er, yes of course I am here to help but I'm pretty new here too," the housemaid replied nervously.

"Come on in, I won't bite, honest," Gertie smiled, "I'm Gertie, I'm pleased to meet you and glad you're here to help me, and you are...?"

"Mary, Ma'am," the girl said, "Only they already have three Marys here, so in private the staff have started calling me Maisie."

"What name do you prefer?"

"I think it's nice to be called something a bit different, Miss, so I've sort of grown to like Maisie, but the Standhope family call me Young Mary, to distinguish me from the older ones."

"Then between you and me, Maisie it shall be. And so, you are assigned to me while I'm staying here?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I'm the Under House Maid, and I am directed to set out your clothes, help you get dressed and undressed, make your bed, take any clothes, linens and towels that need washing, pressing or mending and this morning I'm to direct you to the present breakfast room."

"And you are how old, Maisie?" Gertie asked,

"I'm fifteen, Ma'am, I joined the staff straight from school in the summer."

"Well, Maisie, if you are going to be looking after me for the weekend, you can please stop calling me 'Ma'am', at least when we are alone together. I'm only two years older than you and still a Miss, a spinster. I won't be eighteen until 5 June next year, and another four years before I'm no longer regarded as a child, so please call me Gertie."

"All right, Miss, er Gertie. Shall I at least lay out the clothes what you are going to be wearing today for you?"

"Well I only brought a couple of changes of day clothes and something to wear tonight at dinner. We should be driving back to London on Sunday night, tomorrow night. My clothes are in the top drawer over there."

"Thank you Miss Gertie, I will lay them out and if you do decide you need a hand... well, I'll be here." Maisie said and enthusiastically opened the drawer and started getting things out and carefully laying her selection out on the side of the bed and putting the rest back in the drawer. As she did so Maisie spoke about the house.

"Well, as for the house here, since the war there's been a reduced staff of fifteen in the house, Miss Gertie."

"Fifteen? Why so many?"

"According to Betty Weaver, she's the Upstairs Family Housemaid, there was over thirty regular staff before the war and in the heyday of the house in the nineteen-twenties and thirties, when there were lots of parties and weekend guests, they'd have retired staff and other help in to cover the work on a day by day basis. Now there's just Lord and Lady Standhope living here permanently and they live very quietly compared to the old days. Lord Standhope was quite poorly last winter and has stayed here, although he walks around the grounds every day and quite briskly I think, despite having to use a walking stick, so he must be getting his strength back. Lady Standhope had spent several weeks in the London house during the late summer and early autumn, because of meetings with her charities and attending the theatre, which she loves, but has come back home in the last two weeks and is expected to stay and celebrate Christmas here. I'm so looking forward to Christmas, Miss Gertie, apparently they go all out in decorating the house with Christmas trees, ornaments and lights.

"As for the children of their Lord and Ladyship, the eldest Miss Mildred I've never seen at the house, although as a young girl I saw her a couple of times, I think she lives in Paris nowadays. Mr John rarely comes up from London, I understand, this is only his second visit since the early summer. Lady Dorset used to come up every other weekend, spending the other week in Hertfordshire, but recently we've not seen her here at all."

"Ah, my friend Evie's been busy with me for the last five weeks. She said she was coming up today and will probably stay until Wednesday. Mr John has to go back to London on Sunday night and I have been given a choice of going back with him or stay with Lady Dorset and go back with her on Wednesday."

Gertie looked out of the window, noticing that the trees looked darker, meaning that the mist must be getting thinner. The window faced east and she could see the sun trying to break through the mist.

"If you are thinking of staying for a few days, Miss Gertie, there's plenty of things to see here. The gardens are not so good at this time of year, of course, but in the walled garden there will still be roses and chrysanths and michaelmas daisies, with many more flowers in the heated greenhouses and the orangery. The woods are great places to walk through, with lots of the trees still holding onto their golden leaves and there are mushrooms and toadstools everywhere. There's plenty to see, the lakes are always beautiful and so crystal clear that you can see the trout and the other fish."

"You like it here, Maisie?"

"Oh yes, it is a lovely place. Obviously, there are problems with this building. It was used as a hospital during the war and quite a lot of damage was allowed to happen. I suppose their priority was the care of the patients, while we've cared for this building for many years. There are workmen in the north section that are dealing with dry rot in the attics and leaks in the roof from broken tiles, so there's a tarpaulin stretched over that part of the roof and the old tiles stacked up against the back wall. My grandfather worked here in the gardens before he retired and had a right go at them, cos where they stacked 'em is where there's a load of bulbs planted underneath."

"Will the roofers be gone by the spring?"

"Yes, they say they'd be done by the New Year or Janu'ry at the outside, but though the bulbs flower in the spring, they start growing in the autumn and by Christmas they are poking through the soil. Grandad told them straight, if those tiles are still there in Feb'ry, the bulbs might not flower but they'll still grow through and those bulbs have been there for two hundred years and they will come through, he said, 'come hell or high water' so powerful that they'll have more broken tiles to replace than they had bargained on."

"I know, I've seen ordinary weeds grow through concrete and break it up like it was green cheese. So, this place is two hundred old, eh?"

"It's a lot older'n that," smiled Maisie, "there's been Lord Standhopes here since before Queen Elizabeth's day, the very first Lord was an Admiral and served her dad, Old King Harry, when he was having spats with the King of France over something important enough to be given the honour of Earlship. This was his family home, just a small manor house then, but it is said he had a fleet of ships that were nothing more than legalised pirates and they brought in enough money that they bought up all the land around here, then they bought up a lot of land in America where they planted tobacco and cotton. That's when they built a few factories in the Dales for making cloth from the cotton, but found they weren't so economical, so they bought into some of the Lancashire mills as partners instead and they made a fortune, enough to build this 'palace' on the foundations of the old original farmhouse."

"Evie warned me that the locals call this house a palace," Gertie laughed as she started to dress with the clothes that Maisie had selected from the limited choice Gertie had brought with her and carefully laid them out ready.

"Compared to the tiny village, this has always been considered a palace. Mind you, you can't really see it from anywhere in the village as it is screened off by trees and hills, but anyone coming in through the gates can see the front of the house lit up by the setting sun and it looks amazing, just like a palace. It's not as big as where the King lives in London but here in Derbyshire it looks fit for a king and queen to live here."

"Ah, fit for a king and a queen, well, I suppose Mr John is wealthy enough to be a prince and in time, he will be the Lord of this Manor, isn't that right?"

"Oh, yes, Miss Gertie, and everyone thinks that Mr John would be a perfect Lord," Maisie said with a broad smile on her youthful face, "one of the best."

"So, what is the general opinion among the staff regarding his present girlfriend?" Gertie asked coyly. "I hope you will give me the honest answer."

Maisie stopped picking up and folding the nightwear clothing that Gertie was discarding as she was getting dressed and stared at the young woman she was supposed to be helping.

"Oh, Lor'," she said, chewing at her lower lip and looked down for a moment, a hank of her brown hair that had worked loose from the bun tied behind her head, drifted across her eyes. Then she raised her eyes and smiled at Gertie, mischievously.

"Well, Miss Gertie, Betty told me that you are unlike any other young lady, not at all like the friends of Miss Eveline or the female cousins of the family that stay here from time to time."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Oh, a good thing, yes, Miss Gertie, a really good thing."

"And why is that?"

"Because what the servants and staff want, what we all need, is a future that we are certain of, that the Manor will continue to be in good hands and will continue to be the family home where the family stays most of the time."

"And you think that I will help with that 'certain future'?"

"Oh yes. You see, both Mrs Bridger, she's the Housekeeper, and Mr Johnson, the Butler, say that having you in the family, alongside Mr John, will be a breath of fresh air that will be needed when the Lord and Ladyship changes, as it always must do eventually."

"Really?" Gertie was astounded, "why would they say that?"

"Because, Mr Johnson told us, that history repeats itself, Miss Gertie. There have not always been Winters at Standhope, once, maybe over a hundred years ago, the male line of Standhopes actually died out. I think the old Lord had a couple of sons and a couple of daughters, but both the sons died without children, but one of the daughters had married a Winter, one of the banking Winters and they had a baby son. When the Lord died, rather suddenly, the Winter baby, being the only male in the family, inherited the title and lands and became Lord Standhope. The mother was a Standhope and had been born and brought up here but was estranged from her father for many years. She came home shortly after her father died, and her husband came with her too. They found the house in a state of disrepair, the old Lord had not been a good businessman, had lost the income from the cotton and tobacco plantations in the American Civil War and the factories in Lancashire kept running out of cotton and many had been closed down. The banker was rich and he was able to secure new sources of cotton for the mills and he repaired the house and restored the gardens. The staff were re-employed which made everyone happy and the new young Lord grew up here from a babe in arms up to an adult and he loved the Manor.

"So, even when he took over the ownership of the bank from his father and worked in London part of the time, he still looked upon here as his home. He raised his family here. We hope that you are like that first Winter banker, that you will like us here and set up your family home here, and have your babies here so we have a new generation of family at the Manor, that will invite their friends to come and stay, to have parties and dinners and balls and we servants can rotate between here and your London home. Yes, Miss Gertie, we look to you as holding our future in your hands. We want to support you and advise you and make you so happy here that you love this place just as much as we do."

"Mmm, 'oh Lor', indeed, 'oh Lor', indeed," Gertie mused almost to herself thoughtfully considering a future in such a lovely place as this. "I think I'm ready for breakfast now, Maisie, can you show me the way there?"

"Of course, Miss Gertie, please follow me."

***

Gertie was almost finished breakfast by the time Johnnie got to the breakfast room. Gertie thought he looked tired, but his face did appear to light up when he saw her sitting there.

"I looked into your bedroom in case you were still there, but your lady's maid told me you were in this room. Did you sleep well?"

"I did, thank you, but what about yourself? You were very tired by the time we arrived after your long working day and long drive and I didn't want to wake you until you awoke naturally."

"Yes, it was a long, frustratingly tedious day yesterday but I feel much more refreshed now. Thank you for letting me sleep in, Gertie. Weren't you bored on your own though?"

"No, Maisie is fascinating to chat with, she was telling me about the history of this place," Gertie then remembered something Johnnie had just said, "what did you mean, my Lady's maid?"

"Yes, little Mary Andrews is your lady's maid, she's been appointed to you as your personal maid whenever you are here and, she can accompany you wherever we stay, if you want her to, that is. She's a very sweet girl and as she's close in age to you, so we hoped you'd get on well together. She still has much to learn, but like you she's very quick minded and smart and we thought you'd support each other growing into your roles together. Did you like her?"

"Yes, I do like her, she is indeed a sweet girl and has a lively spark about her. Who do you mean by 'we' exactly when you talk of 'we thought'?"

"Well, mother and I basically, of course, but she had already spoken to Mrs Bridger the Housekeeper about how best to look after you. I knew Mary's father, Andrews, quite well; he was a fine gamekeeper, but unfortunately he died serving with the Sappers in North Africa in '42 I think it was. Mary was mostly brought up by her grandparents, who also worked here for many years. What did she say to you that was particularly interesting?"

"She told me about your family, the Winters. About how they came to live here about a hundred years ago, she said that it sort of helped liven up the Standhope bloodline."

"Ah, yes, and you think that my courting you now was part of a scheme, some sort of grandiose breeding programme to improve our human bloodstock?"

"No!" Gertie gasped in astonishment, then, softer, said, "No, Johnnie, not at all. I couldn't possibly think that, let alone believe it. One of the things that I liked about you when I worked in the theatre, was how gentlemanly you were, you were respectful to the people around you, patient while waiting your turn, even allowing older and less mobile ladies to go before you, so they had plenty of time to get to their seats before the doors closed. I noticed that and I imagined that you would be kind and a nice gentleman to know, although of course I never imagined...."