The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa and when Yvonne Labuschagne inherited it from her cousin, the last remaining Clerembeax, she undertook the task of modernizing the Palace and opening a Hotel and Spa offering, fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, while also providing accommodation, meeting and function rooms, a superior restaurant and whatever temptation might attract potential visitors.
She was by
profession a masseuse and had worked for many years along with her late husband
at the Dancingdean Spa Hotel in Childean.
Staffing the Hotel and Spa was crucial, and Yvonne
used her contacts in the Spa world to find the right specialist people in her
field of expertise’s and employed Hannah Morgan to fill the remainder of the
roles, on the understanding that she employ from the village populous where
possible, and that was how the Ward girls came to work at the Palace.
The Ward family had a small holding on the North side
of the village, parents Jack and Olive, and daughters Donna, Felicity, Josephine, and Maxine.
It was a
profitable concern and gave them all a modest living but when the Palace
opened, it gave them a chance to supplement their incomes without having to
travel to Abbeyvale.
They were
all hard-working girls and didn’t care what work they did so Hannah Morgan
didn’t hesitate to offer them all housekeeping jobs.
Felicity was
the second oldest at twenty-three and the tallest at 5ft 8, but she was also
the least confident, and was oblivious to how attractive she was, with her
willowy figure and long brown hair.
Unlike her
siblings she was painfully shy, and was a quiet studious girl, who never went
out, preferring to immerse herself in books, in fact she only ever left the
farm for work and church, and she hadn’t left the village since she left
school.
but the one
thing that she shared with her sisters was her work ethic.
At the beginning of November Stephen Shepherd arrived as
Hospitality manager.
He was in his mid-twenties, tall, with a military
bearing, blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile that melted Felicity’s heart the
first time she saw it, and if that alone hadn’t been enough to catch her eye,
Stephen was also an immaculate dresser, Blazer, Slacks, collar and tie,
finished off with tie pin and cufflinks.
As the
Palace was doing so well, with the Spa, Hotel and hospitality out performing
expectations, Hannah Morgan was stretched to breaking point, so Yvonne decided
she should bring someone else in to share the burden, so at the beginning of
November Stephen Shepherd arrived as Hospitality manager.
He was in
his mid-twenties, tall, with a military bearing, blonde hair, blue eyes and a
smile that melted Felicity’s heart the first time she saw it, and if that alone
hadn’t been enough to catch her eye, Stephen was also an immaculate dresser,
Blazer, Slacks, collar and tie, finished off with tie pin and cufflinks.
Some of the
girls in housekeeping thought his “uniform” was odd and made fun of him behind
his back, but Flis liked it.
After about
a week in the job he asked Hannah if he could have the assistance of someone
from housekeeping to assist him with the linens, table cloths and napkins etc.
Hannah had
no problem with his request and was about to assign someone when much to hers,
and everyone else’s surprise, Felicity volunteered.
“Ok then off
you go” Hannah said with a smile.
“Hi, I’m Stephen” he said, rather pleased that his helper was the
attractive girl he’d seen busying around everywhere.
“Felicity” she said
“That’s a lovely name” he said, “Doesn’t it mean Happy or is it lucky?”
“” she replied
“Much more interesting than mine” he said “I’ve always thought Stephen was rather a dull name”
“Nonsense
it’s a great name, which means “””
she explained
“Really? I
didn’t know that” he responded and chastised himself for thinking that just because
she worked in housekeeping she wouldn’t be very bright, having spoken to her
for only a few minutes it was clear he was in error.
“I’ve seen you quite a lot, busying around the place” he said
“That’s right” Felicity said “There’s not much going on at the farm at present,
so my sisters and I have increased our hours up here”
Felicity worked with him on and off all that week and in the weeks that
followed whenever he needed help he asked for her, and every time they talked
she surprised him anew.
But although
it was clear to everyone that there was more to their relationship than
Hospitality Manager and Housekeeping girl, it didn’t become evident to the two
of them until
The Second
Sunday of Advent.
The Ward family
had always been churchgoers and not out of a sense of duty, the whole family
had very strong faiths, and they only missed in exceptional circumstances, and
the same was true of Olive Ward’s family Sunday Lunch.
The family
arrived at St Giles’ en masse and milled around at the back of the church
chatting to some of the other congregants, although Felicity tended to just
hover until it was time to take their seats.
But after
only a few minutes of shuffling around staring at her feet, she was
interrupted.
“Hello
Lucky” a voice said and when she looked up it was Stephen
“Oh hello”
she responded “I’ve never seen you here before”
“No, I
normally work on Sundays” he replied
“Yes, I
know, I thought that was because you didn’t do church” she said
“No, I do it
so people with family can get the most from the day” he explained “Then I come
to the evening service”
“Oh, I see”
Felicity said, “So why not this week?”
“I need to
go and do my Christmas shopping” he said “I’m going to Abbottsford straight
after the service”
“Oh”
“Why don’t you
come with me?” he asked
“Me?”
“Yes” he
said
“We always
have a big lunch on Sunday” she said
“I’ll buy
you lunch”
“Mum
wouldn’t like it” she said resignedly
“What
wouldn’t mum like?” Olive Ward asked, having seen her daughter with her head up
talking to a man, so she had to investigate.
“Stephen
just asked if I wanted to go Christmas Shopping in Abbottsford” Felicity
explained “But I said you didn’t like us to miss lunch”
“Nonsense”
Olive said “Of course you can go, as long as Stephen promises to feed and water
you”
“Absolutely”
he assured her and then Olive nodded and left them alone, and as she joined her
husband she was wearing a broad grin.
“So that’s
settled then” he said “You can go home and get what you need, and I’ll pick you
up from the Farm, agreed”
“That’s a
date then” she said and then got flustered
“I
mean…sorry… I didn’t mean date”
“Really?”
Stephen said “I did”
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