Mrs Whitling hurried to the door and Sara hastened to follow her. The Master was a forbidding looking man, tall and well built with a frown on his handsome face. He greeted his wife with a grunt of "Hullo Beatrice" and not even a kiss. Sara was astonished at his indifference, especially as his wife was so obviously besotted. She followed him around, rang for all three servants to attend to him and chattering like a schoolgirl to him. She introduced Sara in the quickest way possible and then continued chattering like crazy.

Sara stood nearby, feeling painfully embarrassed for the young woman – who was only about fifteen. Prudence looked rather pained. She was at least years older than the Mistress, and was obviously biting her tongue, desperate to shout "Shut up! Can't you see you're making a fool of yourself?!" Sara understood how she was feeling – Sara was feeling EXACTLY the same way at that moment. Suddenly the Mistress snapped.

"Oh, Thomas! How could I have forgotten??? I shall go and get you some tea NOW! And biscuits, and bread and..."She walked out of the room. Sara was amazed that she was going herself, rather than asking the servants. She swallowed down a gasp.

"You can get out and all." The Master grunted at the servants. Sara made to leave, but the Master caught her by the arm. "You, Sara...wait. "He put his hand on her shoulder. "You're a really pretty young girl aren't you?"

Sara went red. "Excuse me Sir," she said, slightly scared, "I need to attend to the children."

"Never mind the children," The Master whispered. "Let's talk about me...and you."

Sara was terrified. "I really...need to...go."

"No you don't." purred the Master. "We've got all the time in the world."

"Your...wife-" Sara began, but could not finish as the Master kissed her, hard. She pulled away. "SIR!" She exclaimed, "Please!" She was in hysterics and had to escape.

She ran upstairs to the children. Luckily they were still asleep. Sara washed her face and calmed down a little. She was so ashamed of herself. Not only had she let the Master kiss her – she had LIKED it. She had WANTED it. She couldn't believe herself.

"Now look here, Sara Crewe." She said to herself firmly. "No more of this. The Master is married, about double your age and you could lose your job. NO MORE FLIRTING."

Then the children woke up, and her life went back to normal.