Story: What Annabella Wants Annabella Gets. Chapter 10.

by Jackie J

Having passed through a small village eventually the carriage rumbled up the drive to Sandowns. Not palatial like Buckshire manor and the grounds less extensive but still an imposing property. Lady Hogarth exited the carriage by the main entrance and her maid was told to stay on the carriage until collected and taken into the house. With Lady Hogarth welcomed in the doorway by a brute of a woman, who stared up at Annie, the carriage jolted forwards and made its way to the rear of the house.

Sat on the carriage for some time the woman she had seen welcoming her Mistress into the house with a warm smile appeared on the steps of the rear entrance with a different less welcoming expression and shouted up to her.

“Down girl let's be having you.”

Down off the carriage Annie stood in front of the woman at the bottom of the steps.

“So, you are Annie, Mistress told me about your troubles, well I judge as I see, keep your nose clean here girl or you will be out on your ear understand?”

Annie nodded giving little consideration to what her aunt had told this this woman about her “troubles”.

“Yes Miss.”

“Right inside with you, I am Mrs Scripts housekeeper at Sandowns, do your work well you will have no trouble from me, I catch you loafing and you will feel the sting of my strap, so be warned. I am told you are an experienced maid so we will get you out of those rags and into a uniform and you can start earning your keep.”

Annie followed Mrs Scripts into the house to the maid’s quarters, situated behind the kitchens, and was told to strip, wash, and dress which she did. The underwear was clean but used and the dress tight reminding Annie just how much her figure had changed.  Boots to her feet, Apron tied and cap in place Annie walked out into the kitchens and was put to work.

After cooking and serving breakfast the following day Annie was summoned to Mrs Scripts office. Complimented on a good start Annie was presented with a terms of service document.

“I would prefer to see how you go but Mistress is insistent that you are signed into service, a protection for you, can you read and write, if not I will read it to you and you can make your mark”

The temptation was too great for Annie literacy was not a given for all, especially for the lower class and she muttered her response.

“A little Miss, I don’t not long words best you read it for me.”

Mrs Scripts shrugged her shoulders.

“Very well sit here by the desk.”

Annie was to be paid but, after deductions, for food, lodging’s and clothing it was obvious there would be little left. Annie thought little of the money it was the conditions of service that made her squirm in hidden delight. It was no less than a document of enslavement, as all such contracts for maids were, but the way Mrs Scripts read the text it appeared that the household was a benefactor offering shelter and succour to those taken into service, for one destitute then surely it would be. 

Annie scribbled her name where Mrs Scripts pointed why wouldn’t she? This was all her Mistresses idea, for Annie’s benefit, Lady Hogarth would look after her when the time came to annul such a possessive document, wouldn’t she?   

There was little respite for the new maid at Sandown’s, but the work was familiar and little hardship for such a willing surf. Annie saw little of her Mistress, beyond serving meals, and when she did, she was ignored completely. This adding to Annie’s growing feelings of isolation.

It became clear after two weeks working at Sandown the residence was nowhere near as opulent or well- kept as Buckshire manor. The paintwork and furniture tired, ornaments few and of little value, the rugs well worn. With some of the unused rooms on the first floor showing signs of damp Annie tried her best to improve matters ventilating these rooms having struggled to open the windows.

There were two maids in service at Sandowns, Florrie, the senior maid who had been sent away for some reason, and Gwen, Gwen willing but lacking in the skills that Annie possessed.  There was also a cook, who was part time and resented Annie, who was far better in the kitchen, and feared for her job. A groom come handyman Raymond, who was sometimes helped by his aging father Rodrick.

Less than a month in service and Annie had made an impression on the housekeeper and Gwen was happy to learn from the new maid.

Two months and Sandowns was looking much brighter. Floor tiles gleamed, furniture highly polished windows clear and Raymond had been put to work on the paintwork. Annie could not be happier she was a maid, nothing more and was treated as such. She had tried hard to stifle her refined accent although she was still teased by Mrs Scripts, Gwen and the groom and handyman Raymond. It took time but Lizzy the cook, who despised Annie on her arrival, now looked at the new maid quite differently. Annie had passed on to Lizzy what she had learnt from Carol at Buckshire manor and there was no longer any animosity between them.

Annie had never been to an Inn before or indeed drunk cider but after numerous visits with Gwen, occasionally joined by Raymond, she could slug back the grog with the best. The precocious Annabella sitting laughing, in front of a roaring fire in the back of a tavern, at tales she could hardly believe, never, but Annie, yes. When questioned about her life, before coming to Sandowns, Annie was reticent. She told those who questioned her that she had worked at Buckshire manor for many years but wanted to put that behind her. That was fine, few in the inn would wish to celebrate what had passed in their lives before finding themselves here at the Crown and Sceptre.

Mrs Scripts was firm but fair and the new maid that her Mistress had brought to Sandowns was proving to be more than a good replacement for her head maid Florrie who had been sent to Buckshire manor to help at the Mistress’s brother’s residence. 

Maud, Lady Hogarth, had watched Annie with interest since she had brought her to Sandowns. She was her Niece; she was Annabella Montgomery the privileged daughter of her brother the Earl of Buckshire, but who would ever think so?  Numerous visitors to Sandowns, many who knew Annabella well, had been served by her maid not one ever considering Maud’s maid was any other than what she was.  All was going to Lady Hogarth’s plans for the heiress of Buckshire manor.

Mrs Scripts only had praise for her new maid and questioned why such a well – trained girl had been dismissed so harshly and left on the streets.  Annie was happy at Sandowns that was clear, and she had settled into her routines without issue. Whilst uncomfortable, when the maid arrived at first, that her Mistress had given the girl the benefit of a two- year bonded contract at Sandowns, with no trial period, four months in, she was now pleased that she had. Mrs Scripts would not want to let this girl go in a hurry and was hopeful Annie would want to renew her contract when the time came, but that was some time off. 

The snows had been thankfully light in the Alps that winter and the treatment of the Earl had been successful in part and, whilst still weak, he was strong enough to travel.  Whilst not ideal conditions the Countess was desperate to get back to England and Buckshire manor. It was thought it would be six months before the weather relented and the winter snows had passed but, with the mild winter and the Earls improved health the further delay to the Earl and Countesses return was only three months. Annabella, oblivious to her families return, was a maid in service at Sandowns whilst Miss Jarvis and her new maid Florrie were serving the needs of Emily, the established surrogate of Miss Annabella Montgomery at Buckshire manor.

Lady Hogarth had not panicked, when making one of her monthly visit’s, Miss Jarvis having informed her of the imminent return of the Earl, her brother, and the Countess.

It was clear that having Annabella to remain a maid had not transpired and she was back to normal, this was plain to see. With Annabella being her demanding self, Lady Hogarth had agreed to loan one of her maids to assist the housekeeper at Buckshire manor. Lady Hogarth had made it plain that is what Miss Jarvis would relay to the returning Countess. If the Countess found Annabella a little different, distant, and distracted, then the Countess would know why wouldn’t she?  Although of course she could not say without exposing her own involvement in Annabella being trained to be a maid. Maud had spent time with her daughter reviewing what she had gained from the diaries and complimented her on her continued portrayal of Annabella. Maud more than confident her subterfuge would be successful.

Only two more days and the Earl and Countess would be back at Buckshire manor. Martha was up to her neck in Lady Hogarth’s conspiracy. She had been willingly complicit in educating Annabella how she should react to her father and the Countess when they returned, how the dynamic of their cohabitation was. Never close to her father and each alike, Annabella and the Countess displaying a veiled contempt for each other. Annabella had gone to the trouble of roughening her hands and shorting her hair slightly to display some of the traits of her abandoned mischief. This to add to Martha’s credibility when the Countess carried out her interrogation of her housekeeper as to what had gone wrong with the demise of her stepdaughter. Especially with Martha having previously written how successful she and Carol, the ex- maid, had been in reducing her to a common maid.

The two resident maids at Buckshire manor were the first to return Jenny and Mollie entering through the rear entrance giggling and laughing Miss Jarvis reprimanding them both telling them to change into their uniforms and report to her study. Florrie was out in the rear yards beating rugs and saw the two girls arrive giving a sigh of relief. At best she would be returning to Sandowns away from that witch of a young Mistress Miss Annabella, who had made her life a misery. If she wasn’t to return to Sandowns, at least her workload would now be shared.

Disembarking from her carriage at the main entrance Constance chuckled under her breath noting three maids stood waiting with the housekeeper in the hallway to greet the arriving party. But her heart nearly stopped seeing a radiant Annabella making her way through the doorway and down the steps. Constance gathered herself watching Annabella approaching Malcolm being lifted from the carriage and eased into his bath chair. Constance was filled with mixed emotions stared at her stepdaughter, not what she expected at all.  In a flurry of silk and lace Annabella stooped and kissed the forehead of the Earl and stood back. The scent of Annabella’s distinctive perfume bringing a strained smile to the still sick invalid.

His words strained, his eyes fighting for focus, his hands groped forward to clutch Annabella’s hands.

“Annabella, you don’t know how I have longed to breathe in your scent, to have you close.”

Annabella seeing the state of the Earl and his genuine pleading for comfort it was going to be hard to be dispassionate like she knew she must. Releasing her hands from the Earls she spoke matter of fact.

“Well now you have, welcome home, best to let them get you inside.”

The Earl sighed, same old Annabella, what can he do to heal the hurt and the anger she feels for me.”

The Coachman and groom lifted the Earls chair and carried the Earl inside Buckshire manor.

Annabella looked at the Countess with little expression.

“I am not going to say I am glad you are back, because in truth I am not.”

Constance smirked not knowing why the precocious brat was not still aproned and curtsying her deference, but safe in the knowledge this prim and proper vision before her had been slapped strapped and down on its hands and knees scrubbing the floors of Berkshire manor in her absence. Miss Jarvis had a lot of explaining to do, as to how and why Annabella had regained her status.

Constance stood close to Annabella and smiled seeing her hair had not fully returned to its full length and beauty many rough- cut strands evident. a glance at Annabella’s hands added to a degree of satisfaction her nails whilst neat being short. How long had Annabella been free from her apron?

“Well back I am young lady so things will soon be returned to normal here at the manor, now where is Miss Jarvis I need a word, out of my way Annabella.”

Annabella smiled watching the Countess striding into the manor. The Earl and the Countess having suspected nothing and accepted Annabella for who she was, Annabella. 

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