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says.
    “Reserved?” I says. “Reserved for who?”
    “For the people of Snatter and this burgh.”
    “Well in that case,” I says, you can give me 6 because I am bid to buy them for my mistress at Castle Haivers which I assume is in this burgh since it’s only a mile or thereabouts up the road.“
    This give him pause for thought. He examined me down the length of his nose. “And who might you be?” he says eventually.
    “I am the new maid at Castle Haivers,” I says. “Engaged yesterday.”
    At that he give a little sneering laugh. “The new maid,” he says. “Oh aye. And whit happened to the last one?”
    I did not want to admit that I didn’t know so I just says, “She left.”
    “Oh she did, did she?” he says then he says (and I thought this most strange), “Did she go on the train?” and he started hooting with laughter. Hooting, so he was. I just stood there while he ruptured himself. It wasn’t even funny, I thought he must be wanting. After several minutes he calmed down and wiped his eyes. Ah dearie me,“ he says. ”Did she go on the train, Oh boy.“ Then he leans over the counter and says confidentially, And how is the lovely Arabella?”
    “Who?” I says, very haughty.
    “Mrs.. Reid, your mistress,” he says. “Or do you not even ken her name?”
    “Oh yes,” I says. Arabella. I didn’t hear you properly. She is very well thank you.“
    “And what about himself?”
    I guessed that by this he meant the master so I says, “Himself is not at home just at the present moment.”
    “Aye-aye,” says Henderson. “Drumming up votes no doubt?”
    “No doubt,” I says, of course not a
clue
what he was on about.
    “Aye-aye?” he says again and raised an eyebrow. “She’s up there all on her own is she? Rattling aboot in that big hoose. She’s probably in need of a bit company, eh?”
    He licked the ends of his moustache hairs, no doubt who he was imagining in the role of companion. The very idea of him going anywhere
near
the missus filled me with revulsion.
    “Not at all,” I says. “Her house is full of guests.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yes, we have several people staying. Relatives of the missus, up from England. That is why we are needing more food, they have ate us out of house and home. Now if you please I’ll just take 6 scones and be on my way. I’m expected.”
    Well you could not have asked him for anything more troublesome, the way he sighed and dragged himself off his stool all the time shaking his head as if it was beyond him why anyone would want to buy scones, it was a desperate performance. Eventually he got the 6 scones in a bag and I laid out the money for him. He flicked it off the counter and caught it in his apron before throwing it in the till. The coins barely touched his lily-white mitts, make no mistake he did not wish to catch the germs off an Irish girl.
    Arabella.
    Arabella, Arabella, it was a lovely name. All the way up the road I kept thinking about a placard I had seen once outside the Theatre Royal with a picture of a ballerina on it, she had on a tremendous pale pink frock that stuck out all round and her skin was like milk, I don’t know why, but that is what the sound of Arabella made me think of, something fine and delicate and beautiful.
    Unlike Biscuit Meek. I was glad to see that he was no longer in the turnip field, no doubt he had went off to spit on somebody elses land.
    When I got back to Castle Haivers, my missus was in the kitchen.
    “You came back!” she says delighted, perhaps she’d expected me to make off with her tuppence. I give her the scones and straight away she showed me a pile of clothes that she had laid out for me on the table, there was aprons, petticoats, caps and two print cotton frocks, one striped, one dark grey both a little faded. I knew at once they was not new for she could not have got new clothes so quick. And being young and very particular about my appearance I was a bit disappointed at the thought of wearing