An Unlikely Countess: Lily Budge and the 13th Earl of Galloway. Louise Carpenter

a father or any semblance of family security. But beyond these unconscious motivations, Lily had discerned from her own childhood that children needed affection.

      If anything could have driven Sis and Lily even further apart, it was the issue of Brebner’s education. Sis could not imagine him remaining at school beyond an age when it was compulsory. Did Lily not understand he had a duty to contribute to the household? Was she quite mad? Lily saw red on this issue – in fact she possessed no more powers of diplomacy or tact than her mother. Her boy would not face the same indignities as she had. She was going to provide him with a proper education. During the rows that followed, Jock and Jim were monosyllabic and unfriendly, and the boys continued to fight like tomcats, biting and pinching after dark and bloodying each other’s noses.

      Life became intolerable. Lily decided to return to Edinburgh, this time for good. She had earnt her keep in Duns by housekeeping and by now had occupied a string of positions. These enabled her to secure a good post before she left. In 1951, she packed her bags and Brebner’s – but not Andrew’s – and boarded the train for Waverley Station. This time, the circumstances of her arrival were more ordered. She stood outside 42 Blacket Place, a large Georgian house in a sweeping crescent south of Princes Street, and pinched herself. She was to become housekeeper for the McIntosh family. Professor Angus McIntosh was Chair of English Language and General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. Lily’s service flat was once again in the basement.