Page 2 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Quite well.”
“Read?”
“Exquisitely."
“But you have no maid experience?”
Adeline refused to shake her head. “I can clean as well as any. I’ve run a small household; I am no stranger to hard work, I assure you.”
Mrs Minton narrowed her eyes, wondering, no doubt, why Adeline’s parents would not be doing such a thing, or perhaps questioning if her experience was lacking.
“How soon would you be able to start?”
Adeline’s heart leapt. Could it be that easy? “It’s a live-in position, correct?”
“Correct.”
“I’d need to pack, but I could start as soon as tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” said Mrs Minton. “Let me take you to see the Young Lord. We’ll see what he makes of you.”
Inwardly, Adeline trembled, unsure of what to expect. She did not believe for one moment that the Young Lord was a complete monster, but there must have been something terrifying about him to ignite such rumours.
None of the others had been taken to see him. What had she said that the others hadn’t?
Mrs Minton led her from the servants’ quarters up the back passages and into a luxurious hallway, all cream and white and pink. In all her life, Adeline had never seen anywhere like this before. Her father had taken her and her brother Elliott with him into town a few times on business, and they’d lost hours in the museum there. This house had all of the grandeur and none of the practicalities. Each painted vase on the long walk must have been worth a small fortune, enough to feed her family half a year. Opulent. Obscene. She ought to have hated it.
Instead, she found herself swayed by the beauty, every careful curve of an artist’s brush, every flick and glimmer of colour.
They stopped at an elaborate door, the handles carved in the shape of rose petals. The housekeeper rapped on the panel. “Young Lord?”
There was a bark of admittance, and the two of them entered.
Adeline was hit with the musty smell of dust and unwashed sheets. The room was as fancy and gilded as the rest of the residence, but it was dark, the curtains drawn despite the time of day. A figure was slumped on the chaise by the window, a book in his lap. He did not put it down as they entered.
At first, Adeline noticed nothing unusual about him. He had light hair, a smooth cheek, an elegant posture. But there was something stiff about his left shoulder, the bones or muscles more pronounced along that section of his spine.
A hunchback? Was that all?
“Young Lord?” Mrs Minton prompted. “A new maid, if you’ll have her.”
“Surely,” the lord drawled, still not looking up, “the question is whether or not she’ll have me?”
He turned his face towards her, a sharp blue eye fixing on her form.
Adeline stiffened. The other was red and large, surrounded by thick, brown fur. Half of his face was that of some kind of animal, like someone had ripped off the head of a wolf or bear and stitched it cruelly onto his face. His left arm was longer and wider, bulging beneath his loose white shirt. It ended in sharp black talons.
He stared at Adeline, as if waiting for her to do something. His blue eye flickered apprehensively. Nothing else in his face moved at all, remaining firmly fixed in position.
Does he expect me to scream?she wondered. She was not much of a screamer, and she was actually judging all the other maids who must have, inflaming the rumours. It was an abominably rude response.
“Hideous, right?” the Young Lord said, his voice steady and toneless.
“Well,” she responded, summoning something like cheer, “at least you have half a handsome face. Many of us can’t even boast that.”
Mrs Minton put a hand over her mouth, to hide a smile, or a gasp, Adeline wasn’t sure. She wondered if she’d blown it already, been too free with her words. She wasn’t used to talking to the nobility and on the rare occasion she’d attended some high-born lady in childbed, she’d found childbirth to be a great equaliser.
“I’ll just step out for a moment,” Mrs Minton said. “Take your time.”
