But she bore the whispers without complaint, her head held high, although inside her heart would be aching.
Sometimes at night when she arrived home, she would collapse into Molly’s arms and sob inconsolably and Molly’s heart would go out to her beloved girl’s plight.
‘They’ll never accept me, Gran, never,’ Amy would cry, and Molly would hold her close, stroking the auburn curls and muttering words of comfort.
‘Oh yes they will lass. Rome weren’t built in a day. You’ll see! Things will get easier; just bide yer time and remember that everythin’ comes to those that wait.’
And sure enough, by the time November came round, things had eased a little. It had long been a tradition in the factories to celebrate St Clement’s Day on 23 November. Clement had been adopted as the Patron Saint of Hatters. Legend had it that in the first century, a foot-sore St Clement had placed a pad of wool in his sandal and found that it had turned to felt during his pilgrimages. The special day was celebrated at the factory with a tea-party in the workrooms. Great jugs of ale would be brought in and Mr Forrester and his son would always call in and supply the food. It was during the festivities that the older Mr Forrester noticed Amy sitting slightly apart from the rest of the workers, seemingly no part of the labourers nor yet the designers, and he had a hasty word with Adam, who had been an invaluable help to Amy during the preceding months, always at hand to offer help and encouragement.
When the party was over, Mr Forrester mounted the staircase to his office and standing halfway up, he addressed the workforce from there as he usually did when giving his annual speech.
Everyone was in fine spirits, chatting and laughing in small groups. However, as they noticed him the laughter and the chatter died away and within seconds silence reigned as the workers stared up at their master.
‘Well!’ His voice echoed across the factory. ‘I think we’ll all agree that all in all it’s been a good year.’ A ripple of agreement flowed through his audience. ‘As you know, the coming of the railway has allowed much faster communication between here and London, hence the growing orders and the rise in your pay packets.’ Again the workforce nodded and Mr Forrester went on, ‘Now that we are able to transport the hats more quickly I envisage another good year ahead. Down at our hat shop in London, the gentry there are showing great interest in our designs.’ He stared about the upturned faces before continuing, ‘Which brings me to the next thing I wish to speak to you all about. As I am sure you are now all aware, some time ago I moved Miss Amy Ernshaw into the design department as an apprentice designer. It is some of her designs that my London connections are showing great interest in. However, we all know that there is much more to hatting than just designing them.’
Amy squirmed uncomfortably as sullen eyes glared her way, but the moment Mr Forrester continued, all eyes returned to him.
‘Miss Ernshaw has expressed a wish to learn everything there is to know about our business, from the raw products that are used to the finished products – and that is where you can all help her. Each and every one of you does an invaluable job. We work as a team, each reliant on the other, and I would like all of you to show her the part you play. The more she knows of hatting, the better her designs will become. And the better the designs we produce, the more hats we will sell, so we will all benefit from her talent.’
He paused to smile at some of the guilty, uncomfortable faces that were watching him. They had never looked at it this way before and they were now seeing Amy in a slightly different light.
Mr Forrester then continued with more mundane matters that needed to be addressed and finally bade them all farewell. The following day, as was usual, he was going to his townhouse in London where he would spend Christmas and the New Year with his wife as he did each year.
As he and Adam left the factory Mr Forrester happened to catch Amy’s eye and to her amazement he gave her a crafty wink. There was something about this young woman that