Story: Maid Jenny and Her Mistress. Chapter 2.

by Jackie J

Why was she feeling so nervous? This was her own home for goodness sake! This was her good friend Marianne and the girl stood so elegantly dressed at the threshold was her maid Jenny? But it wasn’t really, was it? The lady leading her to the door was Mrs Sunderland and that girl staring down on her from the top of the steps was Mrs Lancaster’s cousin. This wasn’t her house anymore. She was to be the maid at Long Lawns.

Marianne embraced Jenny and both turned to watch Lucy stumble up the steps in her uniform.

Marianne smiled.

“This is Lucy. Jenny, she is to be your maid at Long Lawns.”

Jenny hid her nervousness well. Her mentor, Marianne, had drummed into her during the first three weeks of her training that Mrs Lancaster, her Mistress, had left for foreign travel and the girl she would be returning with would be Lucy, her maid. But seeing her Mistress wearing a maid’s uniform, looking so plain and meek, was hard to comprehend. Still, Jenny managed to follow the instructions Marianne had given her for the arrival of her maid and her rehearsed words flowed with perfect diction.

“Lucy, welcome to Long Lawns. Your quarters are at the rear of the scullery. Go there now. You will find what is required of you and I will call when your services are required.”

Lucy looked at her maid Jenny, traits of her transformation very evident. The way she was dressed, her poise and demeanour, her voice softer, clearer, more authoritative. Lucy just stared frozen for what seemed an age, unsure what to say.

Marianne knew the importance of this first encounter. Would her pupil follow through? Had she given her enough confidence? Could she treat her mistress as her maid? Could she? Would she?

Jenny moved towards Lucy.

“Don’t you stare! Be on your way and quickly! Go now, girl.”

Lucy, broken from her trance, instinctively dropped a curtsy to the hidden amusement of both Jenny and Marianne.

“Sorry, Miss. Yes, Miss.”

Lucy made her way inside and Marianne smiled at Jenny.

“Good. That went well. So, have you been reading? I note you have managed to round your vowels and...”

The coachman approached and disturbed the two ladies.

“The luggage, Madame. The trunks and cases, should I bring them inside?”

Marianne looked across at the carriage laden with Lucinda’s belongings.

“Bring me the locked box from inside the carriage. The rest of items are to be taken to my home at Meadow Hall, the staff there would know what to do with them.”

The coachman tugged his forelock in deference.

“Yes, Madame.”

Marianne was putting Lucinda’s wardrobe beyond her use, should she be tempted at any time to seek finer wear than her uniforms. However, the jewellery box and its contents would be for the use of Miss Jenny.

“So, Jenny… What was I saying…Yes, very good, your speech is coming on fine. Now you must forget Mrs Lancaster, keep in your mind she is enjoying her travels abroad. The girl now sitting in her quarters and reading the maid’s duties document that Mrs Lancaster gave her is Lucy. She is just your maid and nothing more.”

Jenny held Marianne’s hand.

“That was so difficult for me, it really was. Did you see the expression on her face? I couldn’t believe it when she curtsied like she did, my Mistress curtsying to me, her maid!”

Marianne smiled, noting that Jenny’s voice lost much of its previous sophistication. She held both of Jenny’s hands and looked into her eyes.

“What have I just told you? Mrs Lancaster is travelling abroad and the girl who curtsied was Lucy, your housemaid. The housemaid of Miss Jenny Osborne, Mrs Lancaster’s cousin.”

Jenny giggled nervously.

“Yes of course. I was just so nervous. I won’t forget. Sorry, Marianne.”

Arriving at the maid’s quarters Lucy sighed and sat forlornly on the bed staring down at her shiny heavy boots, still only half-believing the change in Jenny, her maid – it’s just heen three weeks and she was already so different. She reconciled that Marianne was doing a good job and laughed in self-deprecation at her own acceptance of her role in Jenny’s transformation.

Opening the envelope addressed to Lucy that had been left on the bed she smiled, sighed and frowned. It was a copy of the maid’s agreement she herself had penned for Jenny when she came to Long Lawns to be her maid. The reality of what she had agreed to stared back at her from the page. Putting the document back into the envelope Lucy opened the closet and drawers and sighed again, inspecting her clothing for the duration of Jenny’s transformation.

The service bell from the parlour tinkled above the door. Lucy stood, smoothed down her apron and made her way through the kitchen, up the stone steps along the hallway and into the parlour. Marianne and Jenny’s heads turned and Lucy bobbed a curtsy.

“Miss?”

Jenny, without looking at her maid, issued her first order, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Tea for Mrs Sunderland and your Mistress, Lucy.”

Whilst Jenny could not bring herself to look at what was her Mistress, Marianne was looking directly at her friend and smiled as Lucinda meekly curtsied again.

“Yes, Miss.”

Marianne turned to Jenny.

“Jenny, you must always make eye contact with everyone you engage with. A servant may lower her gaze but a lady always holds her head high as she looks the world in the eye with confidence. You must work on this. A lady may be coy and shy in matters of love but at all other times you must be bold and confident." 

Jenny forced a weak smile.

“Sorry, Marianne, this is going to be hard to get used to. It really is and I am not sure how I will manage whilst you are not here.”

Marianne laughed. 

“Nonsense, Jenny. Nonsense! If you can’t even cope with your maid, how will you manage when we are meeting people outside the security of Long Lawns? Mrs Lancaster was adamant that Lucy will be treated like any other maid so I suggest that you give this your priority over the coming weeks. Have you prepared the work rota like asked? You can start with that when Lucy returns to serve our tea.”

Lucy took great care in laying out the tray with a tea pot, cups and saucers, a milk jug and a sugar bowl. Glancing up at the wall by the door Lucy walked over to where until recently she had posted the maid’s duties for the week. Lucy smiled. The name at the top was not Jenny, it was now Lucy. 

Being careful not to scold herself, Lucy gingerly poured the boiling water over the leaves. She left the tea to stew a little, lifted the tray and headed up to the parlour.

She curtsied before laying the tray on the low table between her Mistress and Mrs Sunderland, filled the cups, stood back and curtsied again.

“Will there be anything else, Mistress?”

Jenny coughed to clear her throat and having sought a reassuring nod from her mentor spoke with an icy stare.

“Yes, Lucy. I trust you have taken time to read the work rota I have prepared for you?” 

Lucy felt awkward with Jenny looking directly at her and could not help but lower her gaze much to the satisfaction of Marianne and surprised contentment of Jenny.

With a strange nervousness about her Lucy mumbled her reply.

“Hmm, yes, yes the rota... Yes, Mistress, the one in the kitchen. Yes, Mistress.”

Jenny, somewhat emboldened by Lucy’s nervous response, stood from her chair and continued. Lucy looked up but seeing her Mistress looking directly at her was quick to lower her gaze back to the floor.

“Good, then I suggest you make a start on your duties, girl.”

Lucy curtsied. 

“Yes Mistress.”

Lucy turned and hurried from the parlour and stood leaning on the wall in the hallway, flushed and panting. What just happened? She couldn’t speak, full of nerves because of that stern look that Jenny gave her. What was wrong with her?

With Lucy having left the parlour, Marianne stood and embraced Jenny.

“Perfect! Simply perfect! See what effect a confident glare has on a subordinate or indeed anyone. You must have been on the receiving end of that previously. Yes, Jenny that was perfect. Now let’s finish our tea. I have other matters to discuss with you about your maid.”  

Ticking the rota Lucy headed up to the master bedroom. It was a strange experience. Yes, it used to be her bedroom but it has not been for a number of weeks. The changes she saw made her shudder. The large closet was filled with fine clothes but not hers, the drawers likewise - nothing of hers to be found. Small things like make-up trays or a silly teddy she had kept were nowhere to be found. Lucy sighed and set about stripping the bed linen. The books she had read whilst away helped with making the bed perfectly and efficiently. Standing back Lucy smiled to herself: she would love to find such a perfectly prepared sanctuary at the end of day. She dusted and polished leaving the bedroom perfect for her Mistress. Lucy chuckled to herself. "Mistress"? Dear me! What was she thinking? It is Jenny the maid! Lucy took another look in the closet at the beautiful gowns Marianne had purchased for her. All with Mrs Lancaster’s money, of course. Lucy was impressed with the high quality of the obviously tailored items. Strange, but she was looking forward to seeing her former maid wearing them.

Lucy was on her way back to the kitchen when she remembered that she had served tea and would need to retrieve the empty cups and tea pot.

At the parlour's door she hesitated. Should she knock? Just enter? Or, perhaps, just wait for the service bell? She decided just to enter and two heads turned to face her when she did. That look again from Jenny sent a weakening shiver though her and she found herself offering a stuttering apology. What was wrong with her? This was her own home!

“Sorry, Miss, Mistress. The cup, the cups.. And things from the tea... To collect them.”

Marianne wanted to laugh at her friend’s nervous and unsure performance but managed to keep a straight and stern face for the benefit of Jenny.

Jenny held her stare for a few moments. 

“Well, girl, come on in then. Collect them and be on your way.”

Marianne watched Lucy fumble with the cups and tray then head to the door but Jenny halted her maid at the door with a sharp reprimand.

“You forgot to curtsy, girl! Don’t let that happen again.”

Lucy was blushing, admonished by her own maid for her indiscretion and promptly curtsied.

“Sorry, Mistress.”

Placing the tray down on the work top by the sinks in the kitchens Lucy was still feeling queasy, a strange numbness overwhelmed here. That tone, that look, those sharp dismissive words!

Washing through the contents of the tray, Lucy could not forget the vision of her maid sitting so comfortably in her fine clothes, chastising her for not curtsying to her in the presence of her friend, who treated Jenny like she was the real Mistress of Long Lawns. The human mind can distort any truth and Lucy had a soft smile on her face as she was wiping the pots with a tea towel. Lucy realized that what Jenny had done was good. Marianne taught her well. Her own part in all this was to be a maid, her feelings did not matter. Jenny was to behave like the Mistress of Long Lawns. No, Jenny was the Mistress of Long Lawns and she was her maid.

The service bell rang and Lucy was back up the steps and into the parlour, She stood before her mistress and curtsied.

“Mistress,” 

Marianne had already left, left without a word. But why should she say her goodbye to a mere maid?

Jenny turned in her chair and then slowly stood up, smoothing down the skirts of her beautiful dress.

“You found the agreement I left on your bed? Have you signed it, Lucy?”

Lucy looked at Jenny quizzically. Sign it? It was a copy of Jenny’s agreement. Why would she sign it?

“No, Mistress, I didn’t kn...”

Jenny cut her short.

“Where is it the agreement? Where is it, girl?”

Lucy found herself again on the back foot feeling awkward. She fumbled in the apron pocket and retrieved the envelope containing the agreement.

“Here, Mistress. It was in my pocket.”

Jenny smiled and reached down for a pen from the table.

“Well sign it, girl. According to Mrs Sunderland, you are to be my maid here at Long Lawns for twelve months. And like Mrs Lancaster told the previous maid here, this agreement is for your protection.”

Jenny’s eyes tightened.

“So, sign it. Sign it now, girl!”

A quiver went through Lucy as she took the pen from a stern-faced Jenn,  unfolded the agreement on the table, leaned down and signed it without thought as "Lucinda Lancaster", not Lucy, her adopted maid's name.

Jenny took the agreement, looked at the signature and smiled. She folded it away in the envelope before handing Lucy an unsigned copy from a file on the table.

“Take off your cap, Lucy. The pins from your hair too.”

Lucy shook out her hair feeling the soft strands bounce at her napes and on her shoulders.

“Now read clause twelve on the copy I've just given you.”

Lucy looked up from the page, colour visibly draining from her cheeks.

“No, please, Mistress! No! Please, not that. Please, Mistress.”

Jenny smirked, toying with her own growing but still rather short cut.

“It seems Mrs Lancaster was quite strict when it came to hair length for her maids here at Long Lawns. You will find shears and a comb in the kitchen. I will inspect it in the morning. That’s all for this evening, you have your routines for tomorrow. Off you go.” 

Lucy folded the copy of the agreement she had signed into her pocket. The agreement she herself had written. These were now the very terms that her Mistress would use to control her.

Lucy, her expression solemn having been hoist with her own petard, curtsied and slowly slopped from the room. She went to the kitchen to collect the shears and the comb and entered her meagre quarters.

She removed her clothing, slipped on a plain cotton nightdress from the drawers and sat on her bed, staring at the shears. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t to her beautiful golden hair, she couldn’t. Lucy rocked back on the bed and pulled the sheets over her, kneading the hard pillow to a level of near acceptable softness. Staring out into the blackness of her room Lucinda reflected on the events of the day - her first day in service to her maid, now her mistress - as the rhythm of the clock ticking by the bed eventually lulled her into a welcome sleep.

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