rare old week of it, there was no mistake about it. And just before her birthday too! Her thoughts moved on to the other little velvet box that was now tucked beneath her mattress. Somehow it didn’t seem the right time now to give Amy her mother’s locket. It was bound to stir her emotions more than they already were, and Molly felt that the poor girl had far more than her fair share of them to deal with right now.
She had waited this long to give it to her, so happen it wouldn’t hurt to wait for just a while longer. And so with her mind made up, Molly sought in her head for what to buy her as an alternative.
As the carriage that would take her to the station rattled down the lane towards them, Molly pulled Amy into a warm hug and smiled at her tenderly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow night then, darlin’ – an’ don’t forget, keep your chin up. Every cloud has a silver linin’, you’ll see.’
Amy nodded as disentangling herself from her gran’s arms she lifted her small valise and pecked Molly on the cheek.
‘Take care, Gran,’ she said. ‘I’ll be home before you know it and then we can have a nice quiet Christmas together, eh?’
Molly stood in the cottage doorway, her shawl pulled tightly about her as she watched Amy climb into the coach and watched it rumble away.
Mr Forrester took her valise from her and as Amy settled back in her seat, she saw that Adam was accompanying them too. But at least there was no sign of Eugenie, which made her wonder if the rumours that Nancy had told her on her last visit to London were true. According to the maid, Adam was being forced to sell the smart townhouse in Holland Park because of his wife’s extravagant spending. Now that Amy came to think about it, he had certainly been staying at Mr Forrester’s London residence a lot lately, leaving Eugenie at Forrester’s Folly, not that his wife seemed at all happy with the arrangement. Still, Amy supposed that their domestic life was nothing to do with her at the end of the day and she stared through the carriage window, wondering what Mr Harvey had summoned her and the master for.
Heavy snow on the train lines delayed their journey by almost two hours, and by the time they arrived in London it was already well into the afternoon. The light was quickly fading from the day, so they headed straight for Josephine’s Millinery, instructing the coachman to wait for them outside.
As they entered the warm interior, Mr Harvey hurried forward and shook Mr Forrester’s hand as he offered his sincere condolences on the master’s bereavement.
‘Your mother was a most remarkable lady, sir,’ he told him solemnly and Mr Forrester’s face stiffened as he nodded in agreement, the pain of her loss still very raw.
‘You are quite right, George. She certainly was and I appreciate your kind words. But I have to tell you, Amy and I have just had an intolerably long journey due to the atrocious weather conditions and as I am sure you haven’t asked us to come all this way just to tell me that, perhaps you could inform me what was so important that you requested both our presences?’
Mr Harvey was instantly apologetic. ‘Of course, sir. But first let me put the Closed sign on the door and then we can speak without interruption.’ He bustled away to lock the door and turn the sign, then, crossing back to them he cleared his throat noisilly, wondering where to begin. Eventually he eyed them both nervously and wrung his hands together as he began, ‘As you are aware. I have long been interested in the Paris designs – and I have even been able to get some of our own designs in a couple of the smaller shops there. It is common knowledge that some of the most favoured hat designs in the world originate from the larger Paris fashion houses. That is why I always ensure that I have the very latest magazines available for my clients to browse through, should they so wish. Anyway, many months ago, our late mistress visited me and put to me an idea that had long been forming in her mind.’
Mr Harvey cleared his throat and went on: ‘As we are all aware, she had great faith in Amy’s designs and felt that in Amy we had