The Best of Daughters by Dilly Court

but why are you here?’
    â€˜I got fired from me job in the vinegar works, and I thought I’d scarper before me dad discovered that I’d been up before the beak. Very strict about that sort of thing he is. So the long and the short of it is that I come to offer me services to your family. I can cook and clean and I don’t eat much.’
    â€˜Oh, Ruby, I’m sorry. But it’s not a good time,’ Daisy said gently. ‘As a matter of fact we’ll be leaving for the country at the end of the week. We won’t be able to take you on.’
    â€˜We can’t even afford to pay Mrs Myers and Betsy,’ Beatrice said, nodding in agreement. ‘We’re going to have to look after ourselves and grow our own food. We’re going to be really poor.’
    Ruby folded her arms across her chest. ‘Then I’ll work for nothing, just me bed and board. I got no home, so anything is a step up from the gutter. Now where do I begin?’
    Faced with such determination, Daisy was at a loss. ‘Well, perhaps you could help out just for today. It’s notup to me, Ruby. My mother will have something to say, and I don’t hold out much hope that she’ll take you on.’
    â€˜Then I’ll do what you need me to do today, and tomorrow I’ll start looking for another job. Where do I start?’
    â€˜She can help you get the cabin trunks down from the attic,’ Beatrice said hopefully. ‘She doesn’t look the sort who would mind spiders and ghosts.’
    â€˜That’s right, miss.’ Taking her straw hat off and setting it down on top of her bag, Ruby rolled up her sleeves. ‘Lead on. I ain’t afraid of nothing, except me dad when he’s had a drop or two over the odds.’
    Daisy led the way. She was certain that her mother would object to Ruby’s presence in the house, but when Gwendoline eventually emerged from her room she was too preoccupied with the forthcoming party to make any objections. She seemed to be in a state of denial and astounded Daisy by agreeing that extra help was needed. ‘The girl can stay and help us with the move to the country. We need another pair of hands and I’m far too busy with last minute preparations for the party to think about anything else.’ She shot a searing look at Daisy. ‘Yes, young lady. As usual your father is determined to spoil you. I would cancel the party but he insists that it should go ahead as planned. Think yourself very lucky.’
    Daisy could not help wishing that the party had been called off as she stood between her parents, ready to receive her guests. She smiled until her face ached but very few of the people on her mother’s guest list, with the exception of Rupert, would have been her personalchoice. She had lost touch with most of the friends she had made at the expensive girls’ boarding school she had attended. They were either married or lived in different parts of the country too far away to consider travelling to London for a party. The young persons present were all sons and daughters of people whom her mother cultivated for their wealth and position. They were bright young things with very little thought in their heads other than the next social event. As Daisy shook their hands or kissed their cheeks, she was suddenly aware how shallow and brittle these acquaintanceships really were. She suspected that most of these so-called friends would vanish like morning mist if her father were declared bankrupt. The world that her mother had created so lovingly would burst like a soap bubble.
    â€˜Daisy, you look positively ravishing.’ A genuinely friendly face beamed at her. ‘Happy birthday, my dear.’ Lady Pendleton squeezed her fingers gently and kissed her on both cheeks, before moving on to speak to Gwendoline.
    Rupert followed in her wake. ‘You do look splendid, Daisy Bell.’ He raised her hand to his lips and brushed it