Caption: Anna Katarina

By derdurchdiezeitreisende [the time traveler]

Translated by T. H. Enerdly

Preface

This caption originally appeared in a now defunct German Yahoo group. It appeals to me for two reasons: it is a rather unusual example of a Lady-to-Maid story, an I think it could be re-written as a full length story.

I’m told that there are there are two types of translations:

• Faithful translations that are true to the source language, German in this case, or
• Idiomatic translations that read as if originally written by a native speaker of the target language, English in this case.

A translation can be one or the other, but not both. My translation is idiomatic.

The Original Caption

Translation:

Story: Hidden Shame

With author's permission and as part of my ongoing effort to gather all lady-to-maid stories under one roof, I am reposting this one from Tcheser's blog.

By Tcheser

Shannon loved to have her friends over to play cards with her on the weekend. They had so much much fun talking, drinking and laughing together. However when her friends Margo, Mindy, and Taylor came over to play this particular weekend they found that Shannon had a new housekeeper. A mousy little thing in an icky blue polyester uniform, apron and canvas sneakers. Her name was Jenny they learned and though she seemed somewhat familiar, none of them could place her. She kept to herself and stayed in the kitchen waiting to be called.

When Shannon's friends finally left that evening, Jenny the maid emerged from the kitchen and went about cleaning up the ladies' tea cups and plates. She thanked her lucky stars that she had not been recognized. For a little over a year ago she had been a completely different person.

Story: An Heiress Humbled

This is an old favourite of mine, even as its lady-to-maid aspect is only implied. It's exceptionally well written. Unfortunately, the story never got finished (or I am not aware of a sequel - please let me known if I am mistaken!) and we never get to see Charlotte in a maid's uniform. Still, the elements of social drop that we all like are there. It also has a historic setting, which is always a big plus for me.

In my library it was linked to Alec Leamus's Beyond the Magic Box, but, as one of the readers pointed out, that blog appears to be dead now. Another reader was kind enough to send me a saved copy of this unfinished story so I'm reposting it here to preserve it for the fans.

AN HEIRESS HUMBLED - A BOARDING SCHOOL TALE OF OLDEN DAYS

by Charlotte Fairfax-Hamilton

AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL

The Rolls purred its way softly up the drive to Forsyth Hall. In the back seat, alone, sat the Honourable Charlotte Forsyth - spoiled, pretty and twenty-one. Her thoughts felt fuzzy with a champagne buzz, and she sniffed, very delicately, still tasting in the back of her throat the metallic bitterness of cocaine. Ah, cocaine! How perfectly marvellous it had been of "Squiffy" Bowman-Shaw to introduce her to the delights of that magical white powder! Even if you'd been dancing all night, one little sniff, and rooty toot! - the party could continue! Oh, heaven! What a joy it was to be rich, without any boring parents, and twenty-one!

The past three days in London had been a blur. Parties, balls, young men - a kaleidoscope of memories, spinning round and round inside Charlotte's head. She smiled, careful not to close her eyes, however, and saw, faint through the autumn darkness, the distant lights of Forsyth Hall drawing near. Instinctively, she brushed her fingers against her hair. Exhausted after three days of solid partying she may have been, but Charlotte never looked less than the quintessence of elegance, of London wealth, and Paris chic. A jet-black bob framed an elfin, perfectly pale-complexioned face. Her figure, fashionably slim. Her dress, from Reville's. A single bracelet, topaz and gold. Charlotte's smile faded, to be replaced by her customary pout, but inside, she continued to smile. Yes, being a grownup was indeed the most marvellous fun!

Story: Her Most Remarkable Performance. Chapter 7.

By Camille Langtry

Another week passed and Mr. Bermingdale, as promised, finally brought to Georgina a list of high-society parties, that were planned in coming days. Until her mother’s death the Ashburtons would have featured prominently among the London season’s most prominent hosts, but not anymore. Needless to say, all the other glittering aristocratic names were still there, trying to out-do one another with their fancy balls, expensive dinners, and fashionable receptions.  

It was surprising to Georgina how uninterested she has become in attending any of those parties. Instead, she concentrated on the task at hand: finding the right soiree, where Evelyn could perform to showcase her singing talent. She just couldn’t disappoint her “mistress”, even as she found Evelyn’s strict-and-disgruntled act incredibly stimulating and almost sensual and was almost tempted to “fail her” so that she could be berated yet again.

Georgina looked at the list in front of her. The D’Asgognes were hosting something this coming Sunday, but Lady Constance was probably the last person in all of London’s high society that Georgina wanted to approach with her little request. Her haughty, imperious manners were well-known. Furthermore, her bitter rivalry with the late Lady Olivia made asking Lady Constance for help impossible for Georgina.

Story: A Maid for Malangton Hall. Chapters 9-10.

by Jackie J

Chapter 9

It was just after seven thirty and hearing the large bell at the door Rosemary straightened her lacy cap on her short neat bob, smoothed her apron, shook out the hem of her dress and walked to the main entrance of Malangton Hall. Opening the door Miss Stephenson stood looking radiant.

Rosemary instinctively dropped curtsy.

“Miss.”

Miss Stephenson looked Rosemary up and down and, acknowledging Rosemary with a smile, stepped into the sparkling hallway.

“Mrs Worthington, how nice to meet with you again, or are you now more comfortable with your maid’s name, ROSE?”

Rosemary dropped another curtsy.

“Yes Miss, Rose Miss.”

Story: A Maid for Malangton Hall. Chapters 7-8.

by Jackie J

Chapter 7

It was a concerned Miss Nightingale that disturbed Rosemary from her slumbers.

“Rose, Rose what are you doing still in your bed its past six O’clock you should be dressed and ready for work?”

Rosemary stretched and yawned and took a few moments to gather her thoughts, her first thought being: where was she?

Rosemary stared at Miss Nightingale framed in the doorway of the frugal maid’s quarters looking less that pleased.

Story: Daphne And The White Apron

by Monica Graz

Daphne Arnellos finished getting dressed  and gave an indifferent look at her immense untidy bedroom. Her Polish maid Magda would take care of that later, she thought. She moved to her study and turned her computer on and then went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. She knew that Magda would be out at this hour doing her morning shopping.    

She started going back but she stopped as her eye caught the freshly ironed white apron’s strings as they were hanging down at the end of the utility room table right next to the kitchen. Instinctively she went in there to check. She picked the apron hesitantly and looked at it. It was a small serving half apron, quite pretty with its broderie anglaise trim. She looked down at her body noticing her very simple black dress she was wearing and then she remembered the words of her friend and confidante Annette when they were both students at a very exclusive Swiss boarding school for girls several years ago.

“Daphne dear,” Annette said with her melodious French voice continuing immediately in French, “Il y a deux façons de porter la robe noir, avec un collier de perles ou un tablier blanc!”

More Reading Suggestions From My Virtual Shelf

Partially thanks to feedback from subscribers to my newsletter (please sign up here if you haven't already), I've gotten quite a number of reading suggestions from you, dear readers. Therefore, I've decided to share them back with the crowd. I've really expanded my reading list in the past few weeks with new names and new themes in downgrade and social drop fiction. I'd also forgotten to add some good stories in my previous message so will add them here.

There is a treasure's trove of unread material still waiting to be discovered. Here are some that I liked that may interest you as well.

(Disclaimer: I may earn a small commission for any purchases you make via Amazon affiliate e-book links. Your purchase will help me support this blog. Or I can just buy myself a cup of coffee if a lot of you buy something).

The Peculiar Passions of Lady Mag: A reader pointed me to this classic tale about three 18th century English ladies-in-waiting sold as slaves to the colonies. "White slavery" in historic settings is one of my favourite topics so if you like such stories as well I can heartily recommend this vintage erotica tale. The first link is to the paperback edition if you want to hold it in your hands, the electronic Kindle version is available as Book 1 and Book 2 (affiliate links).

Voice Adjustment: Monica Graz has recently completed her old multi-part story Adjusting His Voice and published it via Mags Inc. I can't recommend anything done by Monica enough so if you are a fan as well, this is a must read.

The Rape of The Statue: A great Ophelia Press tale of voluntary social degradation. Set in 1950s Paris, this Marjorie Carthwright novel is about a young female student who choses life as a streetwalker. A good girl turned into a hooker is another trope that I enjoy so I couldn't miss this one. There is also something about classic erotica that is often irresistible!  Another reader suggestion.

Story: A Maid for Malangton Hall. Chapters 5-6.

by Jackie J

Chapter 5

Rosemary stood awkwardly in her maid’s uniform, her fingers fidgeting nervously at her apron, and listened passively to Miss Nightingale’s veiled tirade. What was happening? She felt submissive, subservient to this woman, who had proclaimed herself Rosemary’s Mistress and who now demanded her unquestioning obedience from her for the training to continue.  Unique and unfamiliar feelings surged through the young woman following her chastisement.

Rosemary could have, indeed should have called a halt to this masquerade there and then, strip of these vestiges of servitude she had been dressed in, reassert her ownership of her own home, send this woman packing! Why had she been thinking of agreeing to all this nonsense? Should she? No!

Her timid and conciliatory response even surprised Miss Nightingale and her fate was sealed.

Paid in Full Revised and Edited

I've replaced the old (admittedly half-baked) January 26 version of B.L Sharp's Paid in Full with an edited and significantly expanded version. It's a lot better than the first take and I hope you like it.  I won't post it here to avoid repetition so please follow the link.

Story: Annabelle's New Role. Epilogue.

by Violet Carson

Epilogue – 3 Months Later

Annabelle looked at her reflection in the rear view mirror of her new Golf. She had thought of this moment for much of the last three months and it had finally arrived as she sat in the car park of Getaway Holidays as the workers drifted home at the end of this bright spring working day. When she arrived, the car park was largely full, but as it started to clear she had managed to move her car to a space very close to Andrzej’s Honda.

She had come a long way in just over three months since her accident. She had spent the first three days in a coma in hospital and had been described on the local news as an unidentified elderly lady who had been the victim of a mugging. Thankfully, both Jack and Jenny had heard of the incident and as she hadn't returned calls made their way to the hospital and from then on visited regularly. Jenny had told Annabelle’s now ex husband about the situation and once she’d regained consciousness, he had, after some persuasion paid to have her transferred to a private hospital where she had received the best possible care.

Story: A Maid for Malangton Hall. Chapters 3-4.

by Jackie J

Chapter 3

Having resolved to undergo the maid supervisory course to comply with Mrs Stephenson’s conditions to employ one of her maids, Rosemary became even more hesitant to tidy and clean the house. Picking up the mail Rosemary recognised the distinctive handwriting of her friend Caroline. Discarding the other mail she tore open the envelope, withdrew a perfumed letter, and began to read.

Rosemary had planned to visit Westbury Manor to discuss the supervisory maid training with her friend after seeing how effective the maid at Westbury manor was. Rosemary,  having noted no time scale was highlighted in the contracts, was anxious to know how long Caroline’s maid supervisory course had taken to complete,

It appeared that Caroline would not be at Westbury Manor for some time. The letter explained that following Rosemary’s recent visit Caroline had decided to take an extended trip to see the European capitals like Rosemary had recently done. Rosemary was happy for her friend and pleased that her account of her own travels, in some part, had convinced her to go. It was sudden but her friend had always been impetuous.

Story: Annabelle's New Role. Part 19.

by Violet Carson

Part 19

We sat in the back of the taxi with Jack holding my hand as if he were a teenager on his first date. I don’t know why, but any sense of trepidation of what lay ahead of me had disappeared. I didn't know if it was the wine over dinner or if this was simply another logical step into my decent into my new life as Rose!

Jack spoke quietly close to my ear trying to give the situation a sense of intimacy that the taxi driver wouldn’t be able to overhear, but unfortunately due to Marj’s handiwork his sweet comments were largely lost on me. I occasionally looked up to catch the driver’s eye in the rearview mirror, not knowing if he was thinking how strange it was to see such elderly lovebirds whispering to each other, or if he’d spotted I was a fake and couldn’t stop himself from looking to check that his eyes weren't deceiving him.

Story: A Maid For Malangton Hall. Chapters 1-2.

by Jackie J

Chapter 1

The docks at Dover were busy when Rosemary Worthington disembarked from the cutter, John Dalton. It would be a full day’s travel back to Malangton Hall. The train would have been a speedier option but Rosemary had opted for the more traditional horse-drawn carriage. Her trunks loaded onto the coach, the horses whinnied and trotted out through the dock gates and onto the rutted track. She was not looking forward to the last leg of her journey home from her continental trip.

Rosemary had been away for two months visiting the capitals of Europe and was excited to tell her close friend Caroline Longmire of her adventures. Caroline should have taken the trip with her but, feeling a little unwell the week before they were due to depart, decided against it.

The coach rattled along making steady progress and with night drawing in eventually arrived at Malangton Hall and came to a halt at the entrance.