As I dress Lizzie’s hair, ready for her appointment at Devonshire Square, she snaps at me and snatches the comb, claiming that I am hurting her. ‘You are thinking of your outing, I suppose,’ she says, bottom lip pouting. ‘Thinking of your young man.’ ‘He is not my young man.’ She hands back the comb to me. ‘Be more careful.’ I brush her hair, then begin to plait it and pin it up, ready for her cap. ‘Pagan nonsense. No doubt you will wear your best dress, and tie ribbons in your hair, and go along with all the other simple country maids, hoping to come home with a husband.’ Her words wound. If she is so piqued, why has she bade me go? Joseph is waiting for me in the kitchen. Margaret clucks around him while she carves great hunks of cheese and bread to make a picnic. She has plied him with her best beer and he compliments the brew. She is pink-cheeked with pride. I notice her trying to hide her gnarled naked feet beneath her skirts.
What do You think about The Crimson Ribbon (2014)?
