Story: It Wasn't Right. Chapter 5.

by Jackie J

The large envelope nervously opened, and the contents laid out on my desk, I notice the same letterhead used for the confirmation of Mrs Burtonshaw to be my temporary housekeeper, Mayfair Domestic Services, any similarity to that previous correspondence ends there. No detail of Mrs Burtonshaw working for me, but of myself, well Miss Brannigan, working for her. All very formal and detailed.  I sit back and read the main letter.

Dear Miss Brannigan,

Following the completion of your service for Miss Williams, at Crestley House, and your wish to become one of our maids, I write to inform you that your application to join Mayfair Domestic Services was successful and your maid registration is now complete. Your registration certificate is enclosed along with your identification disc which you will wear at all times whilst in service.

Your first assignment is at Bracken Hall, being employed for general maid duties. You will report on the sixth of October to the housekeeper, Mrs Madeley. The address you will find on your letter of introduction, which is enclosed. I need not remind you of the high standards that are expected of you, of all Mayfair domestic servants, of which you are now one. Your contract at Bracken Hall is for one month, and I will expect favourable reports when your time there is concluded. Don’t let me down Milly.

Mrs A Burtonshaw.

I smile, fondling the enclosed engraved brass disc.  On the face, the name Miss Milly Brannigan, and a series of numbers 015-1905, on the obverse Mayfair Domestic Services.  Putting the disc to one side I study my Certificate of registration.

The certificate is most impressive, identifying Milly Brannigan, registration number 015-1905, to be a maid of Mayfair Domestic Services. Dated two years previous, 1905, indicating Milly Brannigan to be a maid of some years in service.  I blush slightly reading Mrs Burtonshaw’s testament to my worth. Milly Brannigan, having proved herself competent in all matters of domestic service, is rated with high proficiency. Over skills, include Literacy, Numeracy and Silver Service. I giggle with a strange sense of pride, pleased at the professed skills detailed on the certificate. 

The last document I read is my letter of introduction to be given to Mrs Madeley on my arrival at Bracken Hall. 

Dear Mrs Madeley,

This letter introduces our maid, Milly Brannigan. She is one of our most willing and obedient maids. Her most recent placement was at the residence of a Miss Williams, at Crestley House. She was the single maid for the household and performed her duties well, with excellent reports from Miss Williams herself. She is a maid of all work, with a sound education, being both numerate and literate, well spoken, trustworthy and honest. I am sure you will find, that like with the previous maids we have provided for you, she will do what she is told, when she is told, and how she is told, and accept whatever consequences if she does not.

Yours Agnes.

Mayfair Domestic Services.

My fingers are trembling replacing the documents back into the envelope. I had begun to doubt that I would ever hear from Mrs Burtonshaw and sit staring at the envelope, what to do?

Having placed the correspondence containing the alternative identity, offered by Mrs Burtonshaw, into the security of the safe, I wonder into the library. Having located the town of Penistone, and the village of Bracken Vale in the Atlas, I ponder what would await me there. Being aproned in my own home, a maid for Mrs Burtonshaw was one thing, but this, could I really contemplate assuming the persona of a maid, a real maid? The persona of Milly Brannigan.

A strange place, a month a maid, my whole-body trembles at the prospect. For the remainder of the day I am distracted, my mind consumed with thoughts and imaginings which eventually turn to the practicalities of such a precarious endeavour. Deep into the night I formulate a plan, a scheme of deception to pave the way for Miss Millicent Williams to transform herself into Milly Brannigan, and take up her position at Bracken Hall, a common maid.  I will have two weeks to prepare.

Having raised the subject on numerous occasions, Miss Renwick is quite pleased that I have eventually decided to take some time away from Crestley House. Before concluding the sale of the family business, I was often away travelling but since the conclusion of the sale I have hardly left the place. My Housekeeper is somewhat surprised however that I have taken the month of October to spend my time on the south coast. My true destination, however, will not be the Maritime Hotel in Brighton, but Bracken Hall, Derbyshire.

My scheming begins with a visit to the city. I book a room at the railway hotel, in the name of Milly Brannigan, two nights, one for the night before I leave, and one night for when I return. My next port of call is the market, I will need some low value clothing for when I travel to Derbyshire. A few cheap skirts, a jacket, some blouses, a shawl, and a bonnet, second hand of course. They are clean but obviously worn, the jacket well worn, perfect. A battered case concludes my purchases and, with the clothing stuffed inside, I leave the case at the left luggage at the station before returning home. 

Just one more week before I leave and I am making final preparations, a few months have passed since Linda last trimmed my hair and I sit whilst Linda repeats the cut leaving my hair much the same as the last time. I do not criticise that it appears even shorter than before.

The eve of my departure and my meeting with Janice, my housekeeper, concludes all my preparation’s. There is nothing pressing, and there will be no need to forward my mail. There are ample funds in the housekeeping account, and I will expect everything to be in order on my return.

Nervous, apprehensive yes, but also excited by what I am proposing to do. After retrieving the case, I deposited previously, from the left luggage on the station, I add it to my other luggage and have it taken to my room at the hotel. My appetite is not great, but I take dinner in the hotel restaurant. I watch and admire the waitresses at work among the tables and smile. Sat like I am, there is a gulf in social class between us, but tomorrow, tomorrow I will be their equal.

An early start I have little to do. The clothes I wore yesterday are already packed in the large trunk prepared for my planned stay in Brighton, which I will leave at the station for my time at Bracken Hall. Enough money for my return rail ticket and a few extra shillings into my purse I leave everything else in my large trunk. The low rent clothing I have purchased, in which I am now dressed, has quite a remarkable effect. Not only the overall feel but looking in the mirror it exudes an obviousness to the social status of the wearer, which is me. I chuckle at my subterfuge tying the scruffy ribbon of my bonnet under my chin and head down to the reception desk.  The gentleman on the desk is quite surly, looking down his nose at me when asked to organise taking my luggage to the station. I am prepared for such difficulty and placate his superior manner by informing him that I help with a charity, and dress much like those I help.

With my trunk, placed in the care of left luggage, I stand in line for a third-class return ticket to my destination. Four hours in the cramped third-class accommodation of the train is thankfully over and I step out onto the steam filled platform and join the herd of like travellers at the ticket barrier.  It is five miles to Bracken Village from the station in Penistone and I am aware a bus service operates twice a day.  I am in time to join the other passengers waiting at the stand and am soon taking my seat for the last leg of my journey. Bracken Hall is situated just over a mile from the village, and I am glad of my boots trudging along the roadway. The case I carry seems to be increasing in weight with every step I take. The road rises to a brow, and I take a breath looking down on what can only be Bracken Hall. A large residence, its grounds bordered by a high stone wall, it looks quite splendid. Down the hill, through the ornate gateway, and having made my way up the driveway, I am mindful to use the rear entrance. Straightening my shawl and bonnet, I stand on the steps at the back of the Hall having rattled the doorbell, the door opens and a maid stare’s down at me.

“What yer want, state yer business.”

“Milly Brannigan to see Mrs Madeley.”

“You must b’ new maid, cum in.”

I follow the girl through the kitchens and up a flight of stone stairs where I am told to wait in a narrow dim corridor. Nervously I fumble in my bag for the letter of introduction and wait anxiously. I don’t have to wait long and a tall smartly dressed woman beckons me down the corridor towards her.

 “Welcome to Bracken Hall Miss Brannigan.”

Opening a door off the corridor she points.

“Inside girl stand by the desk.”

I hold out the letter and my certificate of registration which she takes from me and sits behind her desk.

Having read the contents, she puts them in a drawer and looking up she smiles.

“Impressive Milly.”

“A few simple rules you will be mindful of whilst employed here at Bracken Hall. You will wash daily and keep yourself smart and clean at all times. You will not question instructions given to you, you will speak only when spoken to and show deference to The Master, Mistress, their children, and myself. I need not tell you that there will be no fraternising whatsoever with male staff. You maid’s like to chat, but not on my time, and don’t let me catch you idling, or you will wish I hadn’t. Carry out your duties well and you will have no issue with me. Is that understood?”

I curtsy.

“Yes Miss.”

“Good, being a maid of some years, you will know the routine with a large residence, so strip off and I will take you down to the sluice for disinfecting, check for nits and the like, then get you into your uniform. Well girl don’t just stand there get everything off and into the basket in the corner.”

Something I did not expect, but it seems a common practice, and start to remove my clothing.  With my clothes in the basket and stood awkward and naked, but for the identity disc around my neck, Mrs Madeley opens the door.

“Bring your boots and Follow me.”

Following a cold hosing and with the strong odour of disinfectant I stand shivering wrapped in a rough towel whilst Mrs Madeley inspects my hair.

“Your good let’s get you into a uniform.”

Drying myself, as we proceed to the maid’s quarters behind the kitchen’s, I force myself to appear accepting of a normality to the situation.

Mrs Madeley shows no concern for my nakedness and opens the door to a storeroom and points to a rail of black dresses.

“Pick a good fit, two dresses, those will be yours whilst you are at Bracken Hall. Underwear you will find in the drawers, which you will change daily, aprons and caps are kept there on the rails at the back. You will find a slip for sleeping with the underwear. Get dressed then find your way back to my office.”

The towel falls off my shoulders when I curtsy causing Mrs Madeley to chuckle.

“Yes Miss.”

Mrs Madeley stands close and runs her hand over my shoulder.

“You have a good body Milly and lovely skin tone for a maid, remarkable.”

I shudder slightly to her touch and look to the floor somewhat embarrassed by her comments.

“Thank you, Miss.”

Left alone, I finish drying myself then select underwear and dress. The underwear and petticoat well laundered and starched I sit on a stool tying on my boots. My introduction to a maid’s life is not what I expected at all, the strong aroma of disinfectant still about me. I find two dresses that fit and fastened into one I lay the other over the stool and fondle the aprons. Like the underwear pristine and starched I shudder tying the tapes of the apron behind me into a neat bow. Smoothing down my damp hair I tug a cap in place. Collecting the second dress and the slip I smile to myself, Milly Brannigan is ready to give service.

Knocking on Mrs Madeley’s office door I enter and curtsy.

She looks me up and down from her seat behind her desk and smiles.

“Good, very good, the dress fits you well. The underwear you will collect each evening for the following day, a clean apron and cap you will collect each morning before duties. There are five maids at Bracken Hall, two ladies’ maids, who are dedicated to serving the family’s needs. One chamber maid who takes care of the upper floors, two maids of all work who clean and serve meals, of which you are now one, and the kitchen maid who helps cook and takes care of the laundry. You will join the line of maids for inspection each morning at five thirty, to be given your days duties and start those duties at six. Unless otherwise arranged you will take a clean apron and cap to serve lunch at twelve thirty and dinner at seven. One other matter, maids do not leave the confines of the Hall, at any time, without my permission. Is that all clear Milly?”

I curtsy.

“Yes Miss”

Mrs Madeley tugs a cord by the wall.

“The maid you are replacing was most proficient and I will expect no less from you. Jenny is the girl you will be working with and sharing a room. She will be here shortly to take you to your quarters and show you around. I look forward to hearing good things about you Milly.”

A knock on the door and Jenny enters and curtsies.

“You sent for me Miss.”.

Mrs Madeley stands.

“Yes I did, Jenny. This is our new maid, Milly. She comes highly recommended and is taking the place of Gwen. Milly will be working with you and sharing your room. “

Mrs Madeley glances up at the clock then at the large board on the wall.

“Five thirty, that gives you plenty of time, before serving dinner this evening, to show Milly around and get her settled.”

 Jenney is quite welcoming pleased to have another pair of hands to share the burden of her work. The room I am to share is basic, two bunks, a set of drawers and a closet, a table with a jug and wash bowl. The window on the back wall is small but provides enough light.  Jenny takes me to the kitchens and introduces me to cook and the maid who met me when I arrived. Like Jenny they are very pleasant. Jenny explaining the various tasks as we go, beyond the kitchens the hall has three reception rooms, a parlour, a dining room, a main hall with a billiard room to the rear. Each room expensively furnished and kept immaculately, everything that should gleams and glistens, with all surfaces highly polished.

Jenny pauses in the hallway and opens a large cupboard under the wide staircase leading to the upper rooms and continues her explanation of what our duties are.

“Most of the cleaning materials are kept at the back of the laundry but brushes, mops and the like are found in here. Rosy the chamber maid shares these with us, make sure everything goes back in here cleaned after you have used it. Along with the all the downstairs rooms we are responsible for the hallway, entrance, and the main stairway to the upper rooms.”

With my introductory tour, of what will be my workplace over, a wash and freshen up, then under the guidance of Jenny we change aprons, prepare the dining room, and I help with serving dinner to the family.

Having collected clean underwear for the following day, stripped and pulled on my cotton slip I say goodnight to my roommate, my fellow maid.

Laid staring into the darkness I reflect on my day. My day of transition from lady to maid. From the wealthy Miss Millicent Williams to the common housemaid, Miss Milly Brannigan. Who could ever suspect that I am any other, than the maid I portray?