Chapter 15 NEW GENERATIONS
Gertie's family expands
On Tuesday, after returning to her London home, Gertie called a meeting of the staff, there being only five of them based at the house, a housekeeper, chef, kitchen maid/apprentice cook, housemaid and her lady's maid. Her driver was only part-time on an as-and-when-requirement basis and was supplied by Jake's firm, as she rarely needed her own driver in recent years. So, at the age of 85 Gertie had decided several years earlier that she no longer needed to drive herself or maintain her own motor car.
She announced to the assembled staff as they expected that she would close down the household sometime within the next twelve months, when there would be a new Lady Standhope who didn't need the London house. The housekeeper announced that she would probably retire, she was of an appropriate age and she was prepared for this probability; Seanpierre had already started to prepare for opening his new restaurant; the apprentice cook was offered and accepted an attractive position at Sean's restaurant and the two maids would follow Gertie to the Manor where they felt their futures lay.
As far as the London house was concerned, it was owned by one of the many family trusts set up years before, a trust that specifically managed large and particularly fine family-sized properties and the house was likely to be redecorated throughout, the furniture refurbished and stored or repurposed elsewhere, and the property leased out to some wealthy, probably foreign, family until the house was needed by the Standhope Winter family again at some point in the future. Barrington would look after the transfer details until Gertie moved out entirely. Gertie had no doubt at all that the house would be earning money for the family trusts as soon as any necessary repairs, cleaning and modernising of appliances was completed. The Standhope Winters may be very wealthy but they have always abhorred waste.
After another discussion over the phone with Mrs O'Reilly, the housekeeper of the Manor, and therefore a powerful figure in the service provided for the household of the family, Gertie summonsed Charlotte Wellborough to high tea at the London house on Wednesday afternoon and had her driver collect the young woman from the Standhope Winter Merchant Bank where she had been working for several weeks as an unpaid intern.
Gertie had known the girl almost from birth, of course, as she was another of her many god children and she tried to keep tabs on them all. Charlotte was a bright girl and had been in service ever since she started working after leaving school, except for her three years' reading for a degree at London University and Gertie was well aware that even as a small girl she had often worked in the gardens helping her father and grandfather, Billy Junior and Billy Senior respectively, the latter having been Head Gardener at the Manor ever since his father Old Bill Wellborough retired as Head Gardener. Old Bill had made his name nationally known as a rose breeder since his Wellborough Red Rose was chosen by Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) as the flower of the Coronation of her husband as King George VI in 1937. Milly Winter, then Lady Standhope, had insisted that as Old Bill had skilfully bred the distinctive rose, which scored top marks for colour, brilliance and outstanding fragrance, that it should be named after him rather than just the place where it was first grown; hundreds of cuttings of the rose had to be grafted onto root stocks to provide the many thousands of flowers that were needed on the day... and it was still a favourite in millions of gardens around the globe.
As Charlotte was shown into the small sitting room, Gertie noted that the young woman was very smartly dressed in a tailored pin-striped trouser suit, her long blonde hair tied into a neat bun on the top of her head and looked perfectly presentable as a young banker keen to make her way in the world. She was a pretty girl, Gertie had always thought, and had a healthy tanned face against which her even white teeth stood out as she saw her godmother and smiled warmly in response.
"Hello, Charlotte, my dear, do come in and sit here next to me."
Charlotte curtsied and, as she neared her godmother, leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "You look well, Gran Gertie," the term that Gertie had long ago asked her to use rather than anything more formal between godmother and goddaughter. Originally it was 'Granny Gertie' but Charlotte was too grown-up for that now. "I heard a rumour at the bank that you were seriously ill and Uncle Gerry was briefly worried about you, but then he returned very quickly from the hospital full of bonhomie and immediately moved his offices, while Gill Moorhouse was confirmed as joint CEO and moved into the main office, but other than being confirmed as manager at today's board meeting there has been no announcement of any impending wedding bells."
"Well, my dear, regarding the bank what are your plans for the future?" Gertie asked, "as you look completely like the promising future merchant banking high flyer. Is that where your career is taking you, Charlotte?"
"No, no, Gran Gertie, I was born to personally serve the Winter family and, ever since Mrs O'Reilly approached me many years ago to serve my apprenticeship as a maid, I'm determined to make this service my career. After all, my college fees were paid by the family trusts and although the bank regards me as 'unpaid', Imam on the staff pay of the Manor. A lot of people still think that to serve a family as a servant, possibly for the whole of a working life, is somehow degrading, and yet these same people serve drinks to rude obnoxious people in bars for minimum wage, or wait tables or slave way in a factory or office for a thoughtless ungrateful boss all their working lives without experiencing a life in personal service. It is not servitude if the people you are working for are respectful, honest and grateful. Life in service can be rewarding and satisfying. My family have been in service with the same family for at least five generations and we have all found it rewarding being part of the greater family that is the Standhope family."
"Excellent, Charlotte. Do you feel ready to be the Lady's Maid of the next Lady Standhope?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, Gran Gertie," came the confident reply.
"I obviously know part of your story, but since you finished your apprenticeship at the Manor some four years ago, tell me about what you have been doing since and why."
"The maid apprenticeship at the Manor is pretty comprehensive, as you know, starting with the basic cleaning and polishing, washing, pressing and repair of clothes, packing and unpacking, anticipating what is required before being asked, accounting for petty cash, keeping dual calendars to cover the lady and her family's commitments, recording events and reminding the lady of such events. Keeping ears and eyes open for any problems, keeping secrets and confidences. I did my Uni degree in art appreciation, which included studies of art forms, materials, trends and values, paid for by the family trust. Everything in my training up to recently has been general, not having anyone in mind to serve, but I always hoped to be in the running to serve a future wife of Jake's. Following Mrs O'Reilly's specific instructions six weeks ago, I have researched Gill Moorhouse and her family and used the bank's intern service to provide physical access to Miss Moorhouse and learn about her working environment and as much as possible about who she is and how she is regarded."
"So, you have met Gill?" Gertie asked.
"I have, briefly," Charlotte replied, "but only as an intern called 'Lotty'. HR at the bank are used to Standhope servants coming and going, getting work experience, and I have worked as an intern there before during between-terms time, using my previous times to get to know more about Jake himself. I don't think he ever recognised me because he was rarely at the Manor during my apprenticeship and prior to that I usually only worked in the grounds with my father. But as interns get sent everywhere, I have spoken to Mister Jake many times, and been known as Lotty rather than Charlie."
"Don't underestimate Jake, I'm sure he knows who you are. Well, I can confirm here that Jake and Gill are engaged and will hopefully marry later this year, with a meeting at the Manor in two weeks to tie down most of the details; you will be there at that initial wedding meeting, taking notes for Gill's benefit," Gertie said, "So, what do you think of Gill?"
"I like her, Gran Gertie, I like her a lot. She's a brilliant manager, her New Business Department absolutely love her and are confident that her promotion to CEO is also a reflection on them and can only be good for the bank's future, which is also great for promoting women in business," Charlotte smiled. "No-one was surprised by the promotion, not surprised in the slightest. To her credit, I get the impression that Gill was the only one surprised. She looked stunned for a moment when she returned to the bank from the hospital but then she was being informed of what other departments were up to and she got into her stride. What did get everyone talking, though, was Jake's takeover as CEO at Winstone's which was only announced this morning. Of course, no-one outside the family knows who Jake is or that Jake and Gill are actually a loving couple. But everyone at Standhope Winter loves Jake. I've constantly been told all day that Jake is the go-to guy who knew everything about the banking business and pretty well everything else under the sun but they are still shocked that he was able to take control of a very respectable merchant bank that is second only in the Square Mile to the Standhope Winter Merchant Bank. I think when they find out that Jake and Gill are getting married... well, that is going to set the cat among the pigeons!" She laughed, "oh, I love being part of this... organisation."
