Soon as the holidays were over,the young family moved in to the great Groby estate. Christopher at first was a little concerned that his young mistress would feel uneasy about living in the same house that Christopher had lived with Sylvia.
A few days before they moved,the couple had talked about it. They had been sitting on the love seat in front of the fire had asked her as she sat in his arms. He looked at her in some concern." Are you sure darling? We don't have to move. We could rent a house ,a nice small cottage." Valentine smiled at her lover, kissed him reassuringly. " Christopher, both you and Michael both grew up at Groby. You both have good and bad memories . Let's make Groby our home and fill it with new happy memories. Ours and of course Michael's."Soon after they made the move to the great house.
The servants of Groby found the new lady of the house quite different from Sylvia who had ruled Groby with a iron fist. Where Sylvia would bark orders , Valentine had a different approach to running the household. Valentine would help the maids in their daily duties. This gained her the respect of the servants of Groby. Valentine also learned each one of their names, from the kitchen scullery maids to the head butler. These were things that the late former lady of the house would have never done.
Although Groby had a excellent cook and kitchen staff,Valentine insisted on assisting in the preparing of the evening meal.
During the first week,Christopher had found this out ,he had been very upset ,he had come home early from his floor managerial job at Selfridges department stores. Selfridges by name. It was owned by a old school chum of Christopher's, Harry Selfridges. Selfridges had offered Christopher the job when the young man had come home from the First World War. Christopher took the job, and actually found he enjoyed the work.
When Christopher came home that afternoon, he found to his dismay all the servants away for the day , and his young lover alone in the Groby kitchen preparing their meal.
Christopher watched her for a few minutes as Valentine moved around the kitchen tending to the contents of a huge cast iron frying pan on the stove. He watched as she then took a pan of freshly baked biscuits out over the oven and set them on the counter.
It was then that Valentine noticed him standing in the doorway. The young woman smiled brightly at him " Christopher, you're home early. How was your... " She noticed that his face wore a look of annotyance,which made her feel uneasy. Before she could say any thing, he spoke curtly to her.
" Miss Wannop what is the meaning of this.? Where are the servants? I will not have you , the lady of Groby ,working in this kitchen like a lowly scullery maid.. I
forbid you..."
Valentine glared back at him. "You FORBID me? You SIR are not my father. You will not tell me what I can or can not do. Do you understand." She paused" Christopher you have told me to make this house my own. This is how I am doing it. I will not sit around all day on my bottom while others wait on me hand and foot. I won't. That wasn't the way I was brought up. As for the servants Sir... It is Thursday and as you well know it is their night off." She then pointed over at the long table.
" Now please go to the table and wait for your dinner." Valentine then turned back to the stove and continued to stir the mixture in the frying pan with a wooden spoon.
Chuckling to him self Christopher went over to where his young lover stood he leaned over and softly kissed her cheek. " I love you."
Christopher then went over to the long table where he noticed it was set for a romantic dinner for two complete with candles. That first night, the 13th Tietjents heir sat at the long table normally reserved for the house hold staff of Groby to wait for his supper.
He watched contently as Valentine plated up their meal. She then placed one of the plates in front of him and sat down with her own.
Christopher then took a spoon full of the beef stew and found it was delicious to his tastes buds. Taking another spoonful,p he looked at his young mistress. " This stew is wonderful , my saucy little Kitchen wench. " Valentine laughed at this."Thank you master Teitjents." She teased as he ate another mouth full of the stew. The couple ate in a very comfortable silence,gazing lovingly at each other.
Once the meal was over ,the couple set about tiding up the kitchen. Despite his upbringing , While they had lived at Grey Inn ,Christopher had helped with the washing up after meals. It allowed him to spend time with Valentine in a domestic settting,as though they were a 'normal working class 'couple.
Once the last dish was put away,Christopher took hold of her hand and quietly lead her upstairs to their bedroom. Reverently, he undressed them both, and took his lover to the bed they shared. They
Soon they gave in to the affections they felt, with loving touches and gentle kisses. They fell in to a very deep yet contented sleep .

Ok finally got this chapt done. Not sure about it but here it is. Had it all typed up and ready to post but then I lost the whole thing. Had to re write the whole thing by memory. Lucky for me it was still fresh in my mind Palace. Aluka? Twice? What do you think?
And Harry Selfridge is from the bbc show Mr Selfridge.
Now Aluka , I know Christopher had a high class upbringing but I just could so see him working in a very high end Department store such as Selfridge's as a floor supervisor . Again hope you like it.