The Downstairs Maid

by Rosie Clarke

  Emily ignored him and dropped to her knees beside her father who remained doubled over. ‘Are you all right, Pa? Did he hurt you bad?’

  ‘Be all right in a minute …’ Pa said but when he tried to rise he swayed and if Harry Standen hadn’t arrived in time to catch him Emily couldn’t have saved him from falling. His skin was ashen, his dark hair damp where the sweat trickled down his forehead and into his eyes. He wiped it with the sleeve of his coat. ‘Feeling a bit sick …’

  Pa turned away and vomited a mixture of blood and some vile-smelling bile. Emily gave him her handkerchief and he wiped the mess from his mouth.

  ‘I should have gone after him,’ Harry said. ‘Who was the bastard? I heard you screaming as I got out of the car, Emily, but your Pa was here before me.’

  ‘It was …’ she stopped and looked at her father. ‘He’s tried before, Pa – but not like this. The first time it was just a joke or so he said …’

  ‘Your mother will have to know,’ Pa said and looked at Harry. ‘Derek Black – my wife’s brother. I’ve seen him looking at Em before and wondered, but I didn’t dream he would try anything like this … filthy bastard! I’ve a good mind to go to the police.’

  ‘Be careful, Pa,’ Emily said. ‘Are you sure you want people to know about this? Ma will be so upset.’

  ‘I won’t have the bugger here again,’ her father said and turned to Harry. ‘Thanks for coming to help us. I’m not the man I was and he had the advantage.’

  ‘You’re not well,’ Harry said looking grave. ‘Naturally, I shan’t speak of this to anyone else. It’s up to you whether you report it or not – but if he tries it on again let me know. I’ll take a couple of my men to his place and we’ll teach him some manners.’

  ‘Please don’t do anything foolish,’ Emily said, and then, without thinking, ‘I’m probably going to work in the kitchens at Priorsfield Manor so I shan’t be here. Derek will think twice about attacking me there. I’d go to the police myself but it would break Ma’s heart. I don’t think we should tell her, Pa.’

  ‘You’re wrong there, Em love. She should know what her brother is. He’s helped me out on the farm a few times, I’ll admit, but now I’m going to do what your Ma wants and get a man in full time. It will be a lot easier if you’re bringing in a wage.’

  Emily saw the pleased look in her father’s eyes and knew there was no going back.

  ‘I’ll take you through to the doctor,’ Harry said. ‘I’ve got the car.’

  ‘I’ll be all right …’

  ‘No, Pa,’ Emily said. ‘Let Harry take you in now. I’ll go and change my dress and then I’ll be off to the manor. I probably shan’t be the only one to apply.’

  ‘Harry could take you as far as Witchford, if he wouldn’t mind? You’ll still have a couple of miles to walk even then, because the house is a bit off the beaten track.’

  ‘Are you in pain?’

  ‘Yes, just a bit, but I can wait while you change your dress – if Harry can?’ Harry nodded. ‘Hurry and change. Leave it to me to tell your ma when I get back later – she might not believe you.’

  Emily had been thinking the same thing. Besides, she didn’t want to throw something like this at her mother, despite their disagreements.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, looking at Harry. ‘You don’t mind waiting?’

  ‘It’s the least I can do. I came to have a word with your pa.’

  ‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ Emily said. ‘Thank you for coming to our rescue.’

  ‘I was glad to help.’

  Emily could see the relief in his face and knew he felt he’d made it up to her a little. Her insides were churning, because she was too aware of what might have happened if Pa and then Harry hadn’t come along. Emily would always be grateful to Harry. He’d been embarrassed because of letting her down with Christine, but he was still Pa’s friend and she could never thank him enough for saving her from her uncle. She brushed at her face as she walked back to the house, wiping away a tear. Her cheek felt sore where Derek had hit her hard a couple of times. She would put a little powder over her cheek; she just hoped the bruise wouldn’t come out until the next day or her mother was going to ask questions she didn’t want to answer.

  ‘What experience have you had?’ the housekeeper at the manor asked her later that day. ‘I prefer girls with some training behind them.’

  ‘I’ve helped my mother at home,’ Emily replied, her heart sinking as she looked at the woman’s stern face. Her grey hair was scraped back into a bun and held in place with tortoiseshell combs. Dressed in black with a neat lace collar and a silver brooch, she looked very like the pictures of Victorian housekeepers Emily had seen in illustrated gothic tales. From what she’d seen of the manor so far, it was as if the whole house was stuck in the mid-nineteenth century!

  The room they were sitting in was dark, its windows small, and the heavy oak furniture solid and probably worth a few bob in her father’s shop. It was the housekeeper’s sitting room, but there were no personal bits, flowers or photographs, or anything to make it homely. At that moment she wished she’d never thought about applying for the job, but she was here now and she didn’t like losing. The woman was waiting for her to go on, so she tried to make an impression. She explained that she was a good plain cook, could iron, wash and clean stoves, scrub floors – and had helped her father in the yard, making it clear she didn’t mind hard work.

  ‘Your standards will hardly be up to ours.’ Mrs Marsh looked down her thin nose. ‘However, I dare say you can learn.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ Emily counted to ten in her head before speaking again. ‘I am sure I can learn whatever you require of me. My mother was in service as a lady’s maid for a while when she was a girl. I’m good at washing and ironing silk or lace – and I can cook most things.’

  ‘Cook will decide whether that is true,’ the housekeeper said. ‘However, I think we shall give you a trial of one month. If you are not satisfactory you will have your wage and go at the end of that period.’

  ‘I hope I shall give satisfaction, ma’am.’

  ‘Call me Mrs Marsh if you please. Her ladyship is ma’am and the young ladies are miss to you. Your wage is fifteen shillings a week to start but if your work is satisfactory you will be given more in six months’ time.’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Marsh.’ Emily hesitated, then, ‘What do I wear for work please?’

  ‘Your uniforms will be provided. Report to the kitchen by seven, tomorrow morning. You will of course live in and you will have one day off a month. Once in two weeks you may have an evening off, but you must arrange it with me at least three days previously.’

  ‘Thank you. Am I allowed to go to church on Sunday?’

  ‘We have a service here in the chapel. Lord Barton reads the lesson and leads prayers unless the curate comes to take the service. If you want to go to church you will have to ask for a Sunday off.’

  ‘I see …’ Emily smothered a sigh. It sounded as if she would be living a very different life to the one she was used to, but she would be better off here. Once her mother knew what had happened with Derek, she would blame Emily. ‘Thank you for giving me a chance, Mrs Marsh.’

  A slight smile appeared on the housekeeper’s lips. ‘As a matter of fact no one else has applied. Few girls are interested in service now I fear. Many of them prefer working in a shop or the jam factory these days.’

  Emily murmured something appropriate and stood up. She was taken through a dark passage to a side door and left the way she’d come, walking back through the kitchen courtyard and past the glasshouses over gravel paths that were free of weeds, down to the stables and out into the lane that led eventually to the village. She hadn’t even seen the front of the house yet, though she could see that it was huge, parts of it dating back to the sixteenth century, so a helpful passer-by had told her when she’d enquired the way in the village.

  At the back of the house, which appeared to be very old, the faded yellow bri
ckwork was crumbling, though it looked strong enough to last another few centuries. The woodwork surrounding some of the windows was rotting and in need of paint but the glass itself was spotless, as was the kitchen she’d been shown. Mrs Hattersley was the cook here and Emily had known at once that she’d want everything just so. She hadn’t said much, but she’d looked Emily up and down and then nodded to the housekeeper, as if to say that she’d do.

  A part of Emily felt elated to have found a new job for herself, though she suspected it was going to be a lot harder work than she was used to at home. She walked briskly until she left the estate, then more slowly across the fields. The hedges were blooming with white blossom and dog roses, and wild flowers had sprung up beneath them. She could hear birdsong and see birds flitting from branch to branch. It was such a lovely day – just the sort of day she would like to spend sitting on a rug in the paddock with a book and a biscuit to munch. However, it seemed those days were gone for her.

  Emily had been lucky, because despite helping both her mother and father, she’d always managed some free time every day, but now everything would be different. It wouldn’t be as easy working at the manor. Yet she’d had to leave home, because she couldn’t face seeing Derek again. Her stomach was just beginning to lurch, because her father would be home by now and if he’d told her mother about Derek there would be hell to pay …

  ‘I know Derek,’ Ma said as Pa went out to check on the stock, leaving her alone with Emily for the first time that evening. The oil lamps were lit, casting a yellow glow over the room. Outside it was pitch black, clouds obscuring the moon. ‘He would never have done anything like that unless you provoked him to it. You were always a troublemaker. You’ve had it in for him for ages.’

  ‘That isn’t fair.’ Emily felt as if her mother had slapped her. ‘I didn’t do anything to encourage him. He tried to touch me once before but when I slapped him he said it was a joke.’

  Ma’s dark eyes narrowed with temper, her pale lips thin and disbelieving. ‘Why didn’t you tell me then?’

  ‘I didn’t think you would believe me.’

  ‘Are you sure you aren’t making this up just to cause trouble?’

  ‘Pa saw him trying … he knocked me down and tried … well, you know. Pa has told you. They fought and Derek punched Pa in the stomach twice. He would have done more if Harry hadn’t arrived.’

  ‘It was good of Mr Standen to take your father to the doctor. The doctor has given him some medicine and he’s going to do some tests. He has been told to rest more and he’s asked Mr Baker’s son Ted to come and work for him.’

  ‘I knew he was going to ask. At least now he won’t have to do everything himself.’ Emily looked at her mother’s face. ‘I’m sorry, Ma. I know you care about Derek. I didn’t do anything to provoke him, honestly. He seemed strange …’

  ‘He has seemed a bit odd recently,’ her mother agreed. She’d been folding dried washing into the big rush basket, ready for Emily to iron. ‘I think I’ll visit him in the morning. Hear his side of it – he may have been drunk.’

  Emily didn’t reply. If her mother preferred to think that her brother had been drunk she wasn’t going to contradict her. Ma would find it hard to believe that Derek was less than perfect.

  ‘At least you got the job.’

  ‘I was the only one to apply,’ Emily admitted. ‘I’m on trial for a month. If I’m not up to standard they’ll let me go at the end of the trial.’

  ‘You’d better make sure you are up to it then,’ her mother said. ‘If you lose this job you can look for another. It’s time you worked for your living, my girl.’

  Emily turned away. Her eyes stung with tears but she refused to let her mother see them. Why could she never do things right for her? She did all the chores she was given and often more.

  She left the room and went up to her bedroom. The floor was just stained boards with a small peg rug she’d made from rags. There were two lamps, one on the five-drawer chest that contained her clothes, and the other on a small chest beside the large double bed. The bed was covered with a white candlewick counterpane, which had a brown stain one side that wouldn’t come out no matter how often Emily scrubbed it, and above the bed hung a picture of a cottage with Home Sweet Home printed underneath.

  Sitting on her bed, Emily wondered what to take with her to the manor. All her treasures that Pa had given her over the years were packed into a small oak hutch. She obviously couldn’t take them with her just yet, but they would be safe here in her room. She was only going to work at the manor until things got better at home. Once her father had finished his treatment she could come back and help him again.

  She would take her best clothes, the compact Pa had given her at Christmas and the white satin shoes, but everything else would have to be left behind. Emily felt a pang at leaving all that was familiar to her to go to a stranger’s house. She would be living and working with people she didn’t know and she was going to miss seeing her father every day, but once he got his appointment for the sanatorium he wouldn’t be at home anyway.

  Raising her head, Emily fought her fears. She’d always wanted to make something of herself and that would involve leaving her home one day. Going into service wasn’t exactly what she’d planned, but she’d taken the job on and she was going to do her best to make a success of her life.

  Part Two

  Spring – Christmas 1914

  Chapter 14

  Emily could hear her mother talking to Jack as she picked up her bag and left the house. It was chilly in the early morning and she tucked her scarf tight about her neck. She’d said her goodbyes the previous night and she wanted to escape before her mother found her a job to do.

  She had a five-mile walk ahead of her, which was why she’d set out at half past five. The shortest route was to cut across the fields rather than going by the high road, but it had rained a little in the night, and after she’d been walking for some minutes, Emily knew that her boots were muddy and the hem of her skirt was getting wet. She stopped, hoisting it up a little so that it showed the top of her sturdy black boots. They were her best ones that she used for church but she wanted to make a good impression and wasn’t going to show up at the house in her old ones. She was wearing a dark blue coat, second-hand from the market but good quality, over a dress of light grey wool and a red muffler about her throat. Her hat was grey felt and trimmed with a red ribbon and a bunch of artificial cherries she’d sewn on herself.

  At least it wasn’t raining and the sky was clear. She would have found it a lot harder had the mist been hugging the land as it often did over the Fens. The droves all looked the same then and it was easy to lose your way or walk into one of the deep ditches that had been dug everywhere to drain the marshes centuries earlier. It was those ditches that had turned the Fens from a marshy wasteland into the rich farmland it was today.

  She’d been walking for more than an hour before it happened. Lost in her thoughts, Emily didn’t take much notice of what was going on behind her until the thud of hooves was so close that she jumped and whirled round to look at the horse and rider coming towards her at what seemed an impossible pace. He had the whole field to choose from but his course seemed to be headed straight for her. She was caught like a rabbit frightened by a stoat, unsure of which way to move, belatedly jumping to the right just as the horse brushed past her, knocking her to her knees. She heard a shout and a curse, and then horse and rider halted a little ahead of her. Emily struggled to her feet, brushing at the mud on her skirt as the rider circled his horse and came back to her. He was frowning as he glared down at her.

  ‘Why didn’t you get out of the way?’ he demanded. ‘This is private property, you know. Can you not read? There’s no right of way across this land for villagers.’

  She raised her head, annoyed that she had mud on her best clothes, and recognised the man as Jonathan Barton. ‘Is that why you deliberately knocked me down? I didn’t know it was forbidden to walk over the fiel
ds. I’m on my way to the manor and I wanted to be early.’

  ‘I was in a hurry.’ His grey eyes sparked with temper, his dark hair slicked close to his head and, she could see, because his hat had fallen off, parted down the middle.

  ‘I’ve been hired as a maid up at the house, sir. My name is Emily Carter.’

  ‘I know who you are,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I knocked you down – but you should have got out of the way sooner.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ She retrieved his hat, which had landed near her feet, holding it out to him. He took it and grunted his reluctant thanks.

  ‘Right, well get on then. I don’t want Mrs Marsh calling me to account because one of her girls had a foolish accident and was late for work.’

  Emily sent him a speaking look but he had turned his horse and was riding away as if the devil were on his tail. What a bad-tempered man! Had she dared she would have told him he could keep his rotten job but Pa needed her wages and for the moment she was forced to hold her tongue.

  Mrs Marsh looked at Emily when she walked in through the kitchen door. It was a few minutes past seven by the clock on the wall and by the expression on the housekeeper’s face it was obvious she’d begun to think Emily wasn’t coming. She made a show of looking at the silver watch pinned to her dress, which was different from the one she’d worn previously but just as severe and, to Emily’s mind, old-fashioned.

  ‘Well, you finally arrived,’ Mrs Marsh said, a prim look on her face. ‘This is Mrs Hattersley. I believe you met yesterday when you enquired for the position?’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Marsh. I’m sorry I was late. I … fell over and that’s why I have mud on my clothes.’

  The housekeeper’s eyes narrowed. She inclined her head but made no comment on Emily’s excuse, merely giving her the names of the people she would be working with. There were three other maids, June, Mary and Anne; also two footmen – Tomas and Gilbert Phillips; Billy, the boot boy, who was their cousin; Miss Lancaster, Lady Prior’s maid; Mr Hattersley, the butler; and Mr Payne, Lord Barton’s man. There were also several outside men, but Mrs Marsh did not bother to name them, as they seldom came into the house. Emily was told she would meet them all in time, but they were busy and Mrs Hattersley needed her to get on with her work.