Chapter 1
“How old is he anyway?” the girl asked.
“Keep your voice down” Mr. Rogers scolded.
He snorted and returned to his book.
“Yes, yes, I am sorry” the girl apologized lowering her voice. “But how old is he?”
“How is that of your concern?”
“Well, I want to know how old my new boss is” she insisted, forgetting to keep her voice low.
He shut his book irritated. If the girl was already so curious and loud, he might have to start taking painkillers again.
“Mr. Burton is forty-three and an eligible bachelor” Mr. Rogers stated.
An eligible bachelor! What a joke!
The girl giggled incredulously.
“Eligible bachelor at forty-three?” she mocked. “He’s a male spinster”
“Hush, you silly thing!” Mr. Roberts growled. “We are close to Mr. Burton’s study and the walls are not particularly thick”
Nothing more was heard but the damage was done. His peace had been destroyed. Barely five seconds later came the knock on his door. The thought of refusing to let them in crossed his mind temptingly, but he dismissed it. Sooner or later, he’d have to face it all.
“Come in” he called as coldly as he could.
Mr. Rogers appeared first, his somewhat bulky frame concealing the creature behind him, only for a moment. The loud girl was revealed, but he wasn’t interested in looking at her. He focused his attention on his butler and pretended she didn’t exist.
“I brought the new maid, sir”
“Very well”
“She is Mrs. Landon’s daughter” Mr. Rogers said meaningfully.
“I remember” he replied.
He wanted to add that he didn’t give a damn, but it was too early in the day to be rude.
“You can take her…” he started but he was interrupted.
“You knew my mother” the girl said enthusiastically. “Before she died, I mean”
“It would be impossible to know her after she was dead” he retorted dryly.
“I didn’t say that” she frowned.
“Your mother was working for my family, years ago”
“When you were younger?”
“Yes. I can barely recall what she looked like”
“She didn’t look like me” the girl shrugged.
He said nothing to that.
“Or I should say I don’t look like her. I don’t look like my dad either”
He huffed softly and leaned back on his chair.
The girl was of small stature and slightly chubby. Her hair was a dark brown and her eyes a lighter one. She wore jeans and a t-shirt.
“Who do you look like?”
“Excuse me?”
“Your mother, your dad or nobody?”
“Miss Landon!” Mr. Rogers exclaimed.
“What?”
“Behave”
“I didn’t ask anything bad, did I?”
“You aren’t here to ask questions”
“Why not?”
“You are here to obey to rules and follow orders” Mr. Rogers said as if he hadn’t heard her at all.
“But I…”
“Not another word. Turn around, young lady. We are going to the kitchen”
The girl rolled her eyes but obeyed.
“I apologize on her behalf, sir” Mr. Rogers bowed his head at his direction.
He merely nodded in acknowledgment and the old man took it correctly as a dismissal sign and left, closing the door softly behind him.
***
She looked around mildly fascinated.
Everything in here was beautiful, spotless and didn’t remember any of it. But then again, she was only three when they had left, and her mother had told her that she wasn’t allowed to be in the main house.
“…disrespectful. Your mother was a sensible woman. She knew her place. She never asked out of turn, and she did her job impeccably”
The man stopped talking abruptly and glared at her.
“Are you even listening to me, girl?”
“You mean your ranting?” she questioned airily. “It was amusing the first three minutes but then you just repeated yourself and I got bored. And by the way, my name is Vicky”
“You are the most insolent young person I have ever met! If it wasn’t for your late mother…”
“I wouldn’t get the position” she nodded. “Yes, I know. That’s why I have applied”
Mr. Rogers muttered something under his breath, but she paid him no mind. He would get used to her. Eventually.
“Why did you take to meet Mr. Burton if I wasn’t supposed to talk to him at all?” she questioned.
“I took you there so he can see you. That way if he bumps onto you some time, he will know you work here”
“But I will be wearing a uniform, won’t I?” she frowned.
“Yes, you will”
“So this was completely useless”
“No, it wasn’t”
“Yes, it was. The man scarcely glanced at me. I bet you, he didn’t even care”
“He must care” Mr. Rogers shouted. “His father always wanted to meet the staff personally”
“You are working for the wrong person then” Vicky observed.
She wasn’t being smug or anything, yet the old man got upset anyway. His whole face went red and he didn’t utter a coherent phrase until they reached the kitchen.
Then he delivered her to the cook and took his leave.
Thankfully, the cook wasn’t acting as stiffly and explained everything that had to be done in the place.
“You are unlucky, poor thing” she told her. “Mrs. Fulton is… well, less neurotic and stuck up”
Vicky giggled.
“Don’t mistake my words. He is a good man. Just a bit old fashioned”
“I figured as much”
“It’s the late Mr. Burton’s fault. He was a strict man; God rest his soul. He had an obsession with propriety and boundaries between masters and servants”
“What about this Mr. Burton?”
“You saw him”
“I did”
“What did you think of him?”
“He’s no ray of sunshine” Vicky scoffed. “And a bachelor at forty-five…”
“Oh, don’t judge, sweetheart”
“I don’t judge. I am just saying”
“You are saying such things because you are very young”
“I will be twenty-eight in two months”
“Twenty-eight!” the cook exclaimed. “You look younger”
“It’s because I act younger” she winked.
“You surely do. And this will get you into trouble”
