A secret place

AGNES climbed the sturdy limbs of the apple tree and reached the thick branch she could sit on.

All around her apples were beginning to form, in pairs or threes, where the blossom had fallen away.

Leaves, bright green in the sunlight, hid her from sight.

It was her secret hiding place, away from the demands of the household.

She swung her legs, rustling the leaves, enjoying the cool air on her legs.

She could spend the afternoon here and no-one would know.

“No, Edmund! Listen to me . . .”

Agnes went rigid as she heard the voice of her brother’s friend, Kit.

Although she had never shown Edmund her hiding place, he might have discovered it himself.

“Don’t be silly, Kit,” Edmund retorted.

Agnes pulled a face. The boys must be returning from their lessons.

It was so unfair that girls were not allowed to learn.

She was about to pick an apple to lob at the boys, to assuage her jealousy, when Kit’s next words made her halt.

“I mean it, Edmund. I want to marry your sister.”

“You’ll have your work cut out,” Edmund warned his friend. “She drives Mother to distraction and is always disappearing to climb trees or play in the stream when she should be in the house.

“But if you wish, you’ll have my blessing.”

Agnes clamped her lips together and glared through the greenery at the boys below.

She couldn’t see them, but she could hear their footsteps receding.

“Huh,” she muttered to herself. “It seems the men think they can make all the decisions.

“I shall marry who I please.”

But as she peered after Kit and Edmund, she saw the tall, blond boy beside her brother and couldn’t help wondering.

When they were out of sight, Agnes climbed back down the tree, scraping her knees and hands.

At the bottom she dusted off her hands and hurried back to the house to face whatever chore her mother had lined up for her.

“Agnes, I need help!” Agnes rolled her eyes. Five years on, Agnes was again hiding in the apple tree, listening to the wasps buzzing as they looked for fruit that was ripe.

Her sister-in-law needed a full-time lady’s maid and she appeared to have decided that Agnes was suited to the task.

Margaret did nothing on her own, and now she was huge with child it was worse.

She wouldn’t even lift a beaker and wanted her hands and feet massaged constan