antique Persian tapestry for sale at a bargain price of two hundred pounds. The second page was devoted almost exclusively to educational positions in boys’ schools but on the third she came across the columns reserved for domestic situations. Most required skill in the kitchen and May’s culinary expertise was based on little more than watching Bertha preparing huge mounds of rice and peas for the plantation workers’ lunch back home.
May tucked the paper under her arm and went upstairs, passing Simon’s now closed door, climbing the complaining ladder to look through her skylight from where she gazed yet again at the memorial stone with its poignant message of sacrificing life for duty. She began to wonder what sort of occupations would have awaited those young men had they not lost their lives before life had barely begun. A man’s world had been on offer for those boys, but it had been replaced by one top-heavy with women.
A man’s world … snippets of a conversation with Nat the day before began to reform in her mind. Nat was proving quick to notice anything that interested her. On the morning after their arrival the Greenfelds, the Castors and the Thomases had gone for a brisk walk in nearby Victoria Park and as they crossed the road May had been conscious of Nat studying her face.
“Tell me, May,” he had asked, “am I mistaken or do you have a secret passion for these smelly machines?”
May blushed at his observation but nodded, admitting to being mesmerised by the sight of so many beautiful cars.
“Why not look for a job as a chauffeur?” Nat said. “Loads of women drove cars professionally in the Great War. Women wore the trousers in those days. And many still do,” he said, darting a look in Rachel’s direction. “Even though there is talk down at the workshop of another war,” Nat continued, his eyes meeting Sarah’s, who was nodding in agreement, “none of us think it will come. Even Mosley and his fascist thugs are losing power in this country and anyway, Baldwin will do everything in his power to prevent it.”
Nat did not sound optimistic.
“But whatever happens there is no reason for women drivers to wait for another war to give them a professional role. Especially if they have a real skill for it.”
“What sort of car would I drive?” May asked. “And who would be inside it?”
“Well, they say the test to drive a London taxi is a hard one. You have to know all the streets of London backwards as well as forwards. They call it ‘the Knowledge’ and it is said to be more difficult to pass than the exam to get into Oxford or Cambridge!”
“She’s a quick learner,” Sam interrupted with brotherly pride.
“I am sure she is,” replied Nat, “but it might be an idea to see if any private work is advertised in the paper. Perhaps a Times reader would be looking for her in the same way that she’d be seeking them?” he suggested.
May sat on her bed and opened the newspaper once more, beginning again with the third page. She ran her finger down the situations-vacant columns. With the cutting back of numbers of servants since the Depression, even the grandest houses were looking to double up on staff roles. That day the advertisements for “cook-generals” outnumbered all the others, a euphemism that according to Nat disguised something closer to general slave labour.
“You would never have found such a job advertised before the war,” he had said.
Even so, a parlour maid was required for a family in South Kensington and a head housemaid was needed to head a team of four other servants near Southampton, the advertisement assuring all applicants that the employers were a “titled family.” Neither position sounded at all what she was looking for. Further down the page, however, May drew in her breath a little. Her finger hovered for a moment and then, putting her hands in her lap, she read the few compact lines slowly.
Discretion is an essential qualification for the successful candidate who applies to work as chauffeuse, with additional general secretarial duties for a busy member of Parliament, based both in London and in Sussex.
Flexibility, a willingness to work hard, a head for bookkeeping, a smart appearance and an impeccable driving record are all requirements.
May circled the advertisement with a pencil, went downstairs and waited for Sam and Nat to come home. She planned to seek their advice even though her mind was