be suitable for the hat coverings. Rabbit-hair felt would be perfect, but we could also make them in tweed or wool.’
Quickly withdrawing the materials from a drawer, she laid them out side by side next to the sketch. Samuel nodded slowly, his mind racing. The lass had a very valid point. The working-class men of the town were very restricted as to their choice of headgear and it would be nice to offer them an inexpensive option to the customary flat caps, particularly as hats were luckily becoming more and more of a status symbol.
Amy held her breath as she waited for his reaction and when it finally came she let out a sigh of relief.
‘I like it.’ He turned his head this way and that as he studied the sketches from different angles. ‘In fact, I think you may have come up with an excellent idea. As you know, Adam tends to deal with the men’s design side of the business but I’m sure he would be interested in this.’
She blushed at his praise, delighted.
‘I’d like you to bring this sketch and the samples of material to Forrester’s Folly to show to Adam and Mrs Forrester senior, and of course bring the other sketches you’ve done whilst I’ve been away and we’ll spend some time looking at those too. Be there in the morning at, say … eleven o’clock?’
Amy beamed, and nodding, Samuel Forrester turned on his heel and strode from the room.
Before leaving the factory he spent a further half-hour closeted in his office with Mrs Barradell, the head of the design department. Mrs Barradell had been in his employ for many, many years now. She herself was responsible for most of their more popular designs and he valued her opinion highly. She, like him, knew everything there was to know about their trade and now he asked her bluntly, ‘So – how is Amy doing?’
Without hesitation she answered, ‘She’s doing extremely well. To tell you the truth, sir, some of her designs far outshine the other designers’. She’s young and not afraid to try out different styles. On top of that, she seems to have a flair for choosing the right material for the right design. I’ve trained many a designer in my time, as well you know, but I’ll tell you now I would have to say that Amy is better than the lot of ’em. She soaks up everything you tell her like a sponge, and added to that she’s a hard worker. She often stays behind unasked, long after I’ve gone home, not content to finish a piece of work until she feels it’s just right.’
Samuel nodded. The woman before him, now beginning to stoop with age, had become almost his right hand over the years, and he was pleased that she felt about Amy as he did.
‘Thank you, Meg.’
She smiled and left him and Samuel sat for some time longer at his desk, quietly contemplating an idea that was forming in his mind.
That evening, Amy paced restlessly up and down the stone-flagged kitchen floor as Molly grinned at Toby who was seated at the table.
‘Will yer please sit down an’ take the weight off yer legs, lass?’ she implored. ‘You’re struttin’ up an’ down like a caged animal an’ wearin’ out me good floor.’
Amy’s face was animated. ‘I can’t help it, Gran, I’m just so excited! Mr Forrester really liked my new design, I’m sure he did. I’m going to talk to Adam about it tomorrow because he has more to do with the men’s designs than Mr Forrester.’
Toby looked at her fondly. She had grown into a beautiful young woman and he knew that she could have had her pick of almost any young man she wanted from the cottages hereabouts. But luckily up to now, Amy seemed totally disinterested in anything but her career.
It was getting harder lately to keep the love he felt for her from showing in his eyes when he looked at her. Unknown to him though, both Molly and Bessie were more than aware of his feelings and had been for some time.
Often, her tired old bones aching, Molly would lie in bed at night praying that Amy would open her eyes and see him for the fine young man he had become. But up until now her prayers had gone unanswered and more and more, Molly worried about what would become of her precious girl, should anything happen to her.