Story: Maid Jenny and Her Mistress. Chapter 3.

by Jackie J

The same clock that had offered its lulling rhythmic ticking rattled into life. The hand of a disoriented Lucy pawed forlornly to seek the silence of the bells ringing. She stretched and pulled herself onto the pillar, her bleary eyes seeing the time to be five thirty!

The wash basin offered some further awakening and, staring at the shears and comb, Lucy scraped back her hair into the tightest bun before concealing it under her cap. She put on clean underwear, drew up her coarse stockings to the broad garter straps and then pulled on her clumpy shoes before tightening the laces. The lace apron gave some feminine definition to her shapeless heavy woollen dress and she was ready.

Menus were pinned by the rota sheet and Lucy got busy with her Mistress's poached eggs and toast whilst brewing a pot of tea, an early morning routine that would be repeated each day.

Her Mistress's tray prepared and noting the time was six fifteen Lucy made her way up to the  bedroom to serve breakfast. The irony of this task was not lost on Lucy. The very same breakfast served at the very same time to when she herself would awake to her maid Jenny serving her. How different she felt now!

Two knocks on the bedroom door and a call to enter followed from within.

Lucy curtsied and presented the tray to her mistress who was wearing a beautiful nightdress and a peignoir.

“Your Breakfast, Mistress.”

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.

Story: Maid Jenny and Her Mistress. Chapter 1.

by Jackie J

Chapter 1

Returning to Long Lawns Lucinda was fuming and threw down her purse onto the sofa.

“Jenny, Jenny, Jenny! Where are you, girl?”

Turning to her friend Marianne, who had accompanied Lucinda to the garden party held at Lady Southwards, she continued to voice her contempt for the hostess, a contempt that she had voiced during their carriage journey back to Long Lawns.

“That woman Marianne! The way she arrogantly proclaims her birth right and privilege it is a wonder there is no a revolution. ... Did you hear her? 

“I can tell someone’s class from a hundred paces, a leopard cannot change its spots and those of a low class can never be accepted into the higher echelons of society!”

Jenny scurried into the parlour and curtsied.

“Miss.”

Some interesting lady-to-maid captions

A Maid Life tumblr  has quite a number of interesting lady-to-maid captions done by @retroeverything, inspired by a reader of this blog, Qing Luan, who's kindly given me permission to share them here. Very familiar themes, love it! The employment contract at the bottom I found particularly exciting.

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Ayi knelt and waited for master to appear. He had let her in wordlessly at the door and just pointed to the stairs leading to her quarters. Or what had been her quarters. Now she didn’t know. Now she waited.  A month before at the end of her first year they had offered her a new contract to sign. She had been allowed a day to sign it. She had read it before falling asleep that night . 

The old contract for her first year had been negotiated before she had come to Master and Mistresses academy to become a maid. Back when she had been a person who thought she wanted to be a maid. It listed the things ‘maid’ wouldn’t do and allowed her the option to quit at any time. To hold her own passport and documents. To have her own bank account. To chose her maid name…  

The new one amended all that. A lot. Spankings as a punishment instead of extra duties. She knew they’d work her so hard that she’d beg for spankings instead of extra work. She knew that after a while she’d treat spanking as perfectly normal for a dumb maid. 90 days notice if she wanted to quit. Her papers and passport to be held by master and mistress. Her funds to be transferred to a trust watched by the Academy who would provide her a debit card in her maid name. Some of her wages would go to it so she could buy her toiletries, underwear and other sundries with the academy’s approval. Unapproved items would earn punishments.  

It was just too much control. She had been doing well. She earned few punishments. Suzy the 2nd year maid would get a percentage of her punishment to ensure she corrected her behavior, more if she wasn’t the one to spot it. Suzy had been allowing her to work without constant oversight for the past 3 months. Her punishments had often been more work till she was working 20 hour days. The utter exhaustion made her make more errors till she learned to think of nothing other than her maid duties to dig herself out of her punishment cycle. Now she could work for days without a thought in her head other than her duties. The only thoughts the instructions given to her at the start by phone message. 

Days would go without an actual person speaking to her face to face. Just impersonal instructions left as tasks. Maid Suzy telling her in whispers quicker ways to do tasks. Showing her if she was slow on the uptake. The exhaustion she felt every day left her dazed and dumb. She never could get used to the constant drudgery. Interrupted a few times a day to take over maid Suzy’s tasks while she dealt with Master and Mistress directly face to face.  Sleeping at night listening to mistresses lessons on perfecting her chinese maid accent. So tired she had no resistance in her and had learned quickly to speak to her betters in a broken chinglish.  

Story: The Best Laid Plans. Chapters 5-7.

by Jackie J

Chapter 5

Margret pondered her impending secondment to High Trees Hall into the service of Lord and Lady Parsons. Lord Parsons had complimented Molly’s service at one of her Mistresses functions but she was still a little apprehensive of taking her developed skills outside the security of Woodland manor.

Margret need not have worried she wallowed in her assured anonymity within the walls of High Trees Hall displaying all the attributes associated with a certified Penfold Maid.

This was so different to her contrived position within the familiarity of her own home.  She was away from the safety of the shore now out in the open sea just a simple maid loaned from one house to another. None of her imaginings had engendered feeling like the ones stirring her emotions at High Trees. Treated with total disdain with no hint of familiarity by her Mistress and Master, or their guests, there was no thought of pretence, no time to dwell on a privileged past, she had been given over to strangers to do their bidding and willingly danced to their demanding tune. 

Thankfully maid Molly’s training under the tutorage of Mrs Farrow allowed the High Trees maid to carry out her tasks to the unmentioned satisfaction of her owners. Yes, owners because not only did the Parsons treat her and remind her she was owned property but Molly accepted that she was, felt like she was.

With Lord and Lady Parsons guests leaving High trees suitably impressed it had been agreed that Molly would to remain in their service for the remainder of the week. It was Thursday morning when Molly was called into the parlour by Lady Parsons and she dutifully curtsied.

Story: The Best Laid Plans. Chapters 1-4.

by Jackie J

Chapter one 

Margret sighed tossing yet another batch of applications received from her solicitor, into the roaring flames of the log fire and sat back in the large leather chair by the hearth clutching two of the more promising letters and attached references. Margret Whittingham-Smythe requirements were very specific but the lack of tempting the correct candidate to apply only fuelled her desires more, she had to be out there somewhere she had to be? Crushing the first of the letters in her hands and rolling the creased paper into a ball Margret flung the documents into the flames in frustration. Too old, the second one ticked most of the boxes but again just the wrong age, this one too young and too tall. 

During the twelve months since she had become obsessed with her smouldering desire, having read the novel by Dauphine le Mur, Margret had prepared the path for her planned adventure and only one cog was left to be slotted into place. Given this last piece of her contrived masochistic puzzle was the most fundamental of all, her planning counted for nothing?

Margret had managed to distance herself from the few friends she had there was no family to speak off and she lived a solitary existence at Woodland manor since the two years of her arrival which fitted well with her plans.  

There was no shortage of applications, why wouldn’t there be? To enjoy the comfort and lavish ambiance of Woodland manor, access to incredible wealth and the lifestyle currently enjoyed by Margret herself. Sure, that was the bait but with only four potential applicants having reached the interview stage in the twelve months that had passed Margret’s fantasy seemed further away from fulfilment than ever.

Story: Mind Games.

 by Jackie J

The evening had turned out much better than Jane Askew had thought. When she had received Lucy’s invite for the event she had wanted to refuse, make some excuse but it was for charity and a charity she herself supported, she had to attend, she was a patron after all and Lucy was quite insistent. Jane chuckled to herself in the taxi on the way home Hypnosis, what a sham and the performance had not changed her mind. The hypnotist was very professional, a little frightening but it was just theatre wasn’t it. She must have had stooges in the audience she must have had. Looking at the pamphlet “Madame Zara” had given her when they chatted after her performance Jane wondered if she had been rude when she told her that she didn’t believe it was real. No, Madame Zara seemed alright she must have heard that many times from the less gullible members of her audience.  Anyway, I did compliment her on her eye makeup, couldn’t take my eyes of it, I do hope she didn’t think I was staring at her? Jane tried to remember what the hypnotist had told her before she left it seemed important at the time but for the life of her, she couldn’t bring it to mind. 

“Just here on the left driver you can pull through the main gates then up the driveway to main entrance.”

Jane entered the palatial old house and sighed. Her attempts to sell the property since her husband Rodger passed away had been unsuccessful, it was too much just for her but Jane had reconciled that until she received a significantly improved offer for the property, she would remain at Tarragon Hall.