Page 28 of A Housekeeper for the Earl of Drinkwater
It would be like having her very own home again, and she would have paid employment to boot. She could not wait to write letters to Mr. Tate, Evelyn, and Whitton, so that was what she spent the next few hours doing.
With that done, she paid a visit to Mrs. Chantry, the ailing housekeeper. She hoped not to be too much of a bother to the lady, but she needed to learn about the manor, and the earl’s expectations of a housekeeper. And, in truth, she was very curious, about the housekeeper, about the earl, about everything to do with Chimneys.
It took her a little time to find the corridor leading to Mrs. Chantry’s apartments. Eventually she located it, and when she reached the rooms, she breathed happily as she looked around.
Unlike the manor itself, the apartments were clean, bright, and comfortable. There were alternating sets of orange, yellow, and pink drapes at each of the windows, and the furniture was upholstered in pinks and purples. There were beige couches with floral-patterned pillows, and bookshelves of light-brown wood that shone which were stacked with books from floor to ceiling.
She tiptoed around until she found the room in which Mrs. Chantry was convalescing. She knocked lightly, smiling sweetly as the pudgy-cheeked, gray-haired woman looked toward her.
“Ah,” she said, trying to shift herself in bed and coughing as she did so. “You must be Miss White.”
Serena nodded and curtseyed respectfully.
“Hello, Mrs. Chantry. Yes, I’m Serena. How are you feeling? I thought I’d better come and introduce myself—I so wanted to meet you—I hope you don’t mind,” she said, feeling guilty for disturbing the ailing housekeeper. “I can come back later if I’m disturbing you.”
The woman smiled and shook her head, motioning eagerly for Serena to come closer.
“Nonsense, dear,” she said. “Please, come in. I was just about to take some tea. Would you care to join me?”
Serena liked Mrs. Chantry immediately, though she felt a tug in her heart for the elderly woman. Her round cheeks should have been rosy, but they were pale and damp with sweat. Her gray eyes, which matched the strands of hair Serena saw peeking out from beneath a nightcap, also looked dull and tired, and they had dark circles beneath them.
She sat down beside the housekeeper, who had begun coughing again. Serena bit her lip, looking around and finding the tea tray. She poured the housekeeper a cup of tea immediately and handed it to her. The woman smiled, sipping at it gratefully.
“Ah, that’s better. Thank you, dear. Now, don’t worry yourself about me,” she said. “I shall take my medicine shortly and I’ll feel much better. I’m just recovering from the flu, but I assure you I’m not infectious, and I shall be fine.
How nice of you to come up and see a sickly old woman so soon after arriving,” she jested. “I expect you want to know all about Chimneys, don’t you, and what it’s like being a housekeeper here?”
Serena nodded, deciding immediately to save her many questions about the earl and the state of the manor for another time; her curiosity did not take precedence over the sweet woman’s comfort. She poured her own cup of tea and smiled again.
“Yes, I’m wondering what the earl expects of me,” she said. “I’ve helped to keep my father’s house, and when my mother fell ill and then passed on, I learned as much as I could helping Evelyn, our housekeeper. But our home was not as large or grand as Chimneys, and, besides, I’m sure that tending to someone else’s home is quite different than to one’s own.”
The elderly housekeeper smiled fondly at her.
“Well, my dear, if your house is the only one you have ever kept, you are in the best place, as this is first and foremost a home,” she said. “Lord Drinkwater is a dear, and he only expects us to do our best, especially since the old house has become so run down of late. It’s quite shocking to you, I’m sure. You should have seen it when he got back from the war a few weeks ago—quite the wreck, it was, and with me laid up here! Well, as to your duties, you know the basics, I’m sure; we’re expected to make sure things are dusted, polished, floors swept and clean, oversee the laundering and ironing, of course, and make sure we have clean linens, and so on. If you can see those things, I can assure you, you will do very well.”
Serena sighed with relief.
“Is it really so simple?” she asked.
The housekeeper nodded.
“It is, dear,” she said.
“Well, are there any places in particular where you think I should start?” she asked.
Mrs. Chantry smiled, clearly pleased.
“You are eager and smart,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I suggest starting with the most frequently used rooms in the manor. And work your way from the bottom floor up. There is no sense in working yourself to death, climbing up and down stairs all day. Do one floor at a time. You will get more done that way.”
Serena nodded, sipping her tea.
“Will there be new servants coming, Mrs. Chantry?” she asked.
Mrs. Chantry’s face changed, but only for a moment before she nodded.
“Over time,” she said. “A great deal has happened of late, and it will take time to get everything as it should be. But, yes, Lord Drinkwater will be hiring new staff as we go along. So, you see, there’ll be more help coming very soon. And we have Emily, of course.”
Serena nodded, trying to hide her relief. She was grateful for the employment, but even with the elderly housekeeper’s advice, she still felt overwhelmed.
