Once again, Ruth thought the woman would walk away, and once again, Miss Wells did the opposite. Ruth figured she might as well put the offer out there as it stood while her luck went on.

She helped clean up and poured herself a cup of tea, more carefully this time. When she put the pot down, she spoke with a thicker Whitby accent: "Look, this won't do. Ye've probably figured out by now that I'm rather new to all this. The thing is, I want somebody to look after my children and keep 'em out of sight. Someone who can raise 'em well, so that they stand a better chance when they grow up and people will like 'em and they know what to say and all that. But it's not a live-in position. Like I said, out of sight. Ye can say yer lookin' after them for Miss Walker, and I will come and see them as often as I can, but ye cannot come to me with them or about them when there's other people present. If ye don't like that, I'd rather ye say it straight away."