Chapter 9
***
It was Monday, the start of a new week.
"Now, when I call your names, you will come forward and check your assignments! First up, Heidi Thompson."
Starting with Heidi, the maids were called one by one.
Every Monday, the junior maids gathered in the hall to check in on their assigned areas for the week.
"Next, Dana Bodan."
Dana stood before the head maid with her neck and back erect.
"During the week, you are in charge of the parlor and laundry room. You will clean the fireplace, wash the tablecloths, and organize the crockery. And on the weekends..."
Maid Rosi trailed off and looked down at her pocketbook for a long moment, then turned to face Dana with an "Ah!
"Wait, follow me."
She led Dana behind a partition.
"You have a special job to do that day. You need to go to the Shore."
Dana's face showed surprise.
"The cottage on the lake."
Dana knew that the Shore was a vacation home. The question was why she should go there.
"The lady's fiancé is staying there, as you know."
"Yes," Dana said, not knowing what to say.
"And do you know that she had prepared a gift for him?"
Dana's mind flashed back to her conversation with Noah a few days earlier.
"Yes."
"It seems that Mr. Macmillan has a surprise in store for the Lady as well."
A small smile broke out on the maid's usually stern face. A little taken aback by the unexpected sight, Dana cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
"But... why should I go there, what does that have to do with...."
"Ah, it was not long ago that I met his attendant, Mr. Nostrom, and told him of you. I said that Lady Liana has a maid that she wishes to use as a companion."
"...."
"Then he asked me for a special favor. She asked me to send you to the Shore this Saturday. She has some urgent business to attend to."
"...... ... me?"
"Yes."
Dana couldn't help but look surprised.
"My first reaction was the same as yours. I told her that, although you are in the Lady's trust, you don't know much yet for a junior maid, and that a senior maid like Lou would be better suited for special tasks. Mr. Nordstrom agreed at first, too."
The maid looked into her blinking blue-gray eyes and continued.
"Then yesterday, out of the blue, the Shore called, saying he'd changed his mind and wanted to send you away. He must have liked the fact that the lady chose you, I suppose...."
The maid suddenly brought her mouth to Dana's ear.
"Perhaps he wants to prepare a surprise for the young lady with you, seeing as how he said he needed someone with tight lips and someone he could trust."
"Ah."
Dana nodded for now. But her mind was all over the place.
"So you will go to the Shore on weekends and follow Mr. Nostrom's instructions."
Dana didn't answer right away and stared off into space. The maid seemed to find this a little frustrating.
"I don't think it's a bad thing for you...?"
"What? Oh, yes......."
The maid's face became solemn and serious again.
"You do realize that Belvida will be the young lady's dowry, don't you?"
It was the first she had heard of it. But Dana simply nodded.
"And don't forget that it's no other man, but Mr. Macmillan of House Macmillan, who may become the owner of this velvida when the two are married."
Dana nodded again, this time eagerly.
The head maid was right.
It was nothing to worry about. It was all for the good of the lady, and she must accept it willingly and joyfully.
***
After finishing her afternoon chores, Dana packed a sandwich and headed straight for the barn.
"Noah."
He was feeding his 'master horse'.
"Hey, what brings you here again?"
"Uh... just."
Dana helped him move the straw bales. She'd been doing this for a while, and she couldn't stop her mouth from working.
"You know..."
"Yeah."
"...I'm going to the Shore, to the lady's cottage."
"Aha."
It seemed that all of Belvida's servants, except for Dana, already knew who was at the Shore. Noah stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"But, why?"
Dana was about to answer when the words "secret" and "surprise" flashed through her mind.
How could she be so careless?
Dana swallowed hard and spoke calmly.
"...Just to help out. They're a little short-handed."
"Really?"
Noah cocked his head, but didn't probe further.
"I hear they have a nice lake there, have a good look around. Hillbilly girl."
Dana giggled.
Just then, in the distance, she saw a carriage rolling along the macadamized pavement. It was an ornate carriage, the kind you don't see in the countryside.
"I wonder if that's the MacMillan carriage? It's heading toward the lake."
"Is it?"
Dana followed his hand.
"Perhaps Mr. Theodore is riding in it."
"Theodore?"
"Yes, Theodore MacMillan. Lady Liana's fiancé."
Noah tapped the horse's nose and pointed toward the carriage.
"Look, Nicaea, that’s the man who will be your master."
Nicaea whinnied as if he understood.
Noah laughed. Dana, who had been watching, laughed along with him.
***
It was exactly noon on Saturday, just as Dana was finishing up her morning routine, when she got the call from the Shore House.
She was drying her grimy hands in the washroom when someone burst through the door. It was a middle-aged man with a thin build and piercing eyes.
"You happen to be Dana Bodan?"
He asked bluntly, without greeting, but Dana seemed to know who he was.
"I'm Hal Nordstrom. I assume you've heard from the head maid?"
"Yes."
"Follow me."
He led Dana to the servants' carriage parked at the front gate.
"Get in."
The ride to the villa was a level carriage path that wound along the edge of the Corinthian forest. There was a cool running stream and endless rows of cherry trees on either side.
Dana paused to marvel at the magical atmosphere created by the dense tree caves.
A lone, ears perked up, a blue snowy-haired dog stared curiously at the rolling carriage. Dana smiled brightly at the curious beast, which stretched its neck out.
How far had they traveled?
After a moment, the carriage came to a halt with the clatter of horses' tires.
"Dismount."
The cottage was breathtaking.
In the middle of a forest echoing with birdsong, the three-story building hugging a small lake was magnificent and beautiful.
"Hurry up."
Nostrom's stiff tone broke the trance. Dana clamped her mouth shut and hurried out of the carriage.
They headed straight for the cottage.
The enormous fireplace and crystal chandelier, unlike anything she had ever seen before, drew her attention, but she forced herself to keep her eyes straight ahead.
She reminded herself hard that she was here to work, not to gawk.
And what would she be doing, anyway?
Would she be making a surprise gift? Or a party?
But if they were planning a party, they wouldn't need a useless maid like Dana.
With each step, she felt her heart sinking into her chest.
"There."
Nordstrom halted in his tracks.
"What am I... what am I going to do?"
He glanced at Dana, cleared his throat, and then opened his mouth.
"You'll be trying on clothes. Various dresses, trinkets, jewelry, and such for Lady Hastings."
"Fitting maid"?
Dana tried not to gape stupidly.
It was something she knew from word of mouth.
Nobles changed their clothes at least three times a day. It wasn't titles or estates that separated people from commoners, but rather, as the joke goes, "How much do you tolerate the pain of changing?”
Unlike men, who only need to change their shirts and jackets, ladies have to wear four or five layers of undergarments, including chemises, shifts, bustles, and corsets, depending on the type of dress.
Was that all?
Depending on the material and design of the dress, stockings, hats, umbrellas, jewelry, and even gloves, fans, and brushes were required to match.
That was why the highest class of women, she was told, had fitting maids who would make dozens of alterations to their dresses.
Suddenly, a bigger, heavier weight settled on Dana's chest.
"You know... with all due respect... I don't have the same skin or hair color as Miss Liana......."
Mr. Nordstrom glanced at Dana again.
"Yeah, I guess so."
He muttered disgruntledly. It dawned on Dana that he didn't like her.
...But why?
Dana was here now because he, Mr. Nordstrom, wanted her. Not her choice.
"Rosalyn will take care of the little things. Just keep your mouth shut and follow me."
Dana paced after him again.
Who else was Rosaline? A maid or a designer?
She wondered, but didn't ask. Middle managers like Maid Rosi, Mr. Nordstrom, hate to be questioned. The hall opened up into a wide hallway.
Statues and ceramics flanked the long carpet.
Delicate carved columns, extravagant furniture with gilded trim, fine bronze lamps, and enormous tapestries. It was literally the most luxurious villa she had ever seen, even in Belvida.
The man, the lady’s fiancé, from a family that would make socialites swoon.
Dana was nervous, but also curious to see what he was like.
Nordstrom paused in his frenetic pace. In the deepest recesses of the cottage, in front of the mahogany double doors.
***
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Write a comment
krung12 (Monday, 09 September 2024 20:04)
Thank you for translating this novel. Can't wait for the next update ❤️