THE COOK In stark contrast to the other servants at Thornthwaite Manor, Mrs Bagshaw, the cook was one of the most naturally and relentlessly cheerful people in the world. She always had a smile for the twins, and reserved all her strict words for Hazel. A number of years ago, the twins had become interested in how she had come to adopt Hazel, but Mrs Bagshaw had not been forthcoming with an answer. In the end, it was Tom Paine, the gardener, who had told them the story. ‘Mrs Bagshaw didn’t always live at Thornthwaite Manor,’ Tom had told them. ‘She used to rent a cottage in the village from your father. Bagshaw’s End, she called it. This was before you were born, before Nurse Griddle joined us even. Mrs B. lived there with her husband, Hedley Bagshaw. He worked at the printing press in the village, where they print the Hexford Express. In his spare time he was a local historian. The paper published his articles sometimes. ‘Mrs Bagshaw only took a job here to earn a little extra money until she began a family of her own, but things don’t always go the way you expect them, particularly not when planning families.
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