‘Nice try, but according to Maisie her mother is on her way to China. It’ll be tomorrow at the earliest before she’ll be picking up her messages.’
‘Oh…’ She let slip a word that no self-respecting nanny would ever use, not even in the privacy of her own room.
‘What’s the matter, Vickie? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?’
‘I swear I didn’t know where she was going. This was just a simple delivery job.’ Then, ‘China?’
‘Where the silk comes from,’ Jacqui replied, just a touch acerbically. ‘She’s going to drape herself over the Great Wall dressed in the kind of clothes that neither of us will ever be able to afford, even in our wildest dreams. You must have an emergency contact.’
‘Of course I do.’ She cleared her throat. ‘It’s her grandmother. At High Tops.’
‘Oh, come on…’
‘Honestly!’ Then, ‘Look, I really want you back on my books, you were born to take care of children, but I’m not stupid enough to think that I could trick you into it.’
‘Excuse me? So why am I here?’
‘OK, I’ll put my hands up to being a little underhand getting you to deliver Maisie. I simply wanted to remind you what you were put on this earth for before you went off to lie on a beach to contemplate your future career path. And I admit I hung on to that package until I had the right job to tempt you—’
She wished the woman had stuffed it in a drawer and forgotten all about it.
‘I could probably sue you,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry but I was desperate. I didn’t know how else to make you see that this is what you’re made for, but I’m not a fool. The last thing I want is for you to be so ticked off that you’ll never even talk to me again, let alone work for the agency.’
‘Then you’re not doing very well, are you?’
‘I can see how it must look, but you have to believe me…’
She’d think about it, but not now. This was just wasting time.
‘So what’s gone wrong? While the perfect mother-and-daughter spreads in the lifestyle mags might be a touch over-the-top, I can’t believe that Selina Talbot is this casual about Maisie. She must have spoken to her mother before despatching the child to stay with her.’
‘Frankly? I haven’t a clue. Maybe her secretary or agent or one of an absolute host of minions she employs to deal with the boring details was supposed to have made the arrangements and the wires got crossed somewhere. So who’s at the house now?’
‘Selina’s cousin and leaving her with him is not an option. I haven’t seen anyone else although Maisie assures me that there’s a woman who comes in every day to cook and clean.’
‘And you have a plane to catch.’
‘And I have a plane to catch. So where are you? I assume you’re well on your way by now?’ she prompted, without any real confidence. The signal was too steady, too clear to be via a hands-free car phone.
‘Jacqui, please, try and understand. If I could have got away of course I would have, but I’ve already had to put back a vital meeting while I try and sort this out. I won’t be able to get away from the office before six at the earliest and…’
She stopped abruptly.
‘And?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Oh, right. How big a “nothing”?’
‘I’ve been given tickets for the Covent Garden Opera by a grateful client, if you must know. It’s a gala, but honestly if I could have got away in time to make any difference I would have sacrificed…’
‘Stop! Please don’t perjure yourself on my account. The fact of the matter is that unless the real Mary Poppins puts in an appearance in the next half an hour, I can forget two weeks with my toes up by a swimming pool. Yes?’ she prompted, when there was no immediate answer.
‘I’m sorry. Really. Of course Selina Talbot will reimburse you for the cost of your holiday—’
‘You’re very free with her money.’
‘If she ever wants domestic help from this agency again, she’ll pay up with a smile.’
‘Yes, well, since this particular circumstance isn’t likely to be covered by my holiday insurance she’s going to have to, but my missed flight is the least of our problems right now, wouldn’t you say? There’s a little girl here and no one to take care of her.’
‘You’re there. And since your holiday has been wrecked, you could do worse than see the job through.’
Well, surprise, surprise.
She didn’t even offer to try and find a replacement. Not that it mattered, because she’d promised Maisie that she’d stay.
‘And how long is that going to be?’
‘I don’t actually know. I told you, this was just a delivery job, but I’ll speak to Selina tomorrow. Until then, I’m in your hands, Jacqui.’
‘The giant is not going to like it,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t like company.’
‘Giant? This is the man you wouldn’t leave Maisie with? Are you going to be all right there? Maybe you should take Maisie to the nearest hotel until I can check him out with Selina.’
‘Maisie wants to stay even though she doesn’t like him, which suggests he’s grouchy rather than dangerous…’ Her voice petered out as she remembered his eyes, his hands, the touch of his shirt against her cheek and swallowed. There was dangerous, she thought. And then again there was dangerous…‘We’ll stay out of his way as much as possible while you sort something out with Selina.’
‘You’re a star, Jacqui. I’ll make sure your worth is reflected in the hourly rate.’
‘Oh, no, you don’t get me that way. I’m on holiday. I told you six months ago that I would never do this for money ever again and I meant it.’
‘But—’
‘But nothing. Just concentrate on getting hold of Selina Talbot and find out what in the world she was thinking, what she’s going to do about her daughter and, even more important, when she’s going to be home. In the meantime I have to go and break the good news to Harry Talbot that he has house guests.’
‘I owe you, Jacqui.’
Yes, you do, she thought as she clicked off the phone and looked up to find Maisie standing in the doorway, her face alight with joy as she held up a wriggling bundle of black Labrador puppy for her to see.
‘Look, Jacqui! He’s so cute!’
‘And beautiful,’ she said, crouching down beside the child and stroking his silky head with her finger. ‘You match.’ Her reward, as she let the puppy snuffle at her fingers, was to have Maisie lean trustingly against her. Her arm, of its own volition, reached out to encompass both child and puppy. ‘What’s his name?’
‘I don’t think he has one.’
‘Well, maybe you should give some thought to that,’ carefully unfurling her arm and standing up, to put a little distance between them. ‘But he’ll be missing his brothers and sisters.’ And there was no point in putting off giving Harry Talbot the bad news. ‘Meantime, I have to speak to Mr Talbot.’
‘He’s gone back down the cellar.’ She carried the pup back to the kitchen and placed him in a basket containing a number of wiggling look-alikes. ‘He’s fixing the boiler, I expect.’
‘Is