Chapter 19: An uncomfortable dinner
03. An uncomfortable dinner
Repeated nagging for about 100 years was just boring.
Standing next to Donna, Helen, the housekeeper, was angry this morning and nagged with a stern voice. At around this hour, its already the time to gather the maids and delegate their tasks for the day. She seemed very angry. It was obvious why, considering what happened last night and considering Donnas pale-white face and swollen eyes.
Milady cant go out as you please again.
Yeah.
Its already clear that Donna isnt good enough to serve Milady, so Ill have to think about who could replace her.
Ohh
When it was Nancy, only Carynne was scolded. Carynne rubbed her side, wondering if it was because of the age difference, as expected. Its not so pleasant to hear a middle-aged womans voice rather than a young girls voice so early in the morning.
While looking at her throbbing side, Carynne felt that it was fortunate she got proper treatment this time. She had a stray thought that it would be better to maintain a good relationship with Dullan until she would get hurt again in the future.
After removing her negligee and checking the wounded area, just as Raymond said, she wasnt stabbed deeply. Even so, she still had to get two stitches for it. Her forehead was already torn open and her side was sewn up like this. She wondered how shed be in a years time.
That corset was definitely a whale bone corset. Im glad I bought it.
Milady.
Dont blame me too much. I didnt even get that hurt.
There were many casualties in the circus. If it werent for Sir Raymond, you could have died. No, Im sure that you would have died.
It was difficult for her to make excuses. Helen was the highest ranking person among the female employees because she was the housekeeper, so that means she was in charge of the households internal affairs in place of the young Carynne.
Bowen was a man, so he wasnt here to listen to all of this since he wasnt under Helens jurisdiction. But here, Helen said that because of Donnas immature behavior, the maids salary would be cut half for a month and shed go back to being a laundry maid.
I dont want that.
Above all, there were few other maids who were as loose-lipped, lively and accident-prone as Donna. She was so attractive to Carynne that she didnt want to give the maid up.
It was my fault, so just let Donna continue working.
Milady.
Helen responded firmly. Donnas eyes glistened.
I know that youre attached to her because you dont have that many peers right now, but this is not wise.
What are you, the lady of the house? Carynne couldnt even drink her morning tea because of all the nagging. Carynne liked herself a good balance of good and evil in a character, but she didnt like Helen very much.
Helen acted as though she was the manors mistress, just like other housekeepers in other houses where the madam of the house was powerless. And so, she tried to control Carynne like she was a child.
It wasnt a pleasant experience for Carynne to see how Helen was mistaking this as something of a moral right or her duty. Good people were lovely, evil people were interestinghowever, humans who thought that they were right just made her bored and irritated. Thats why shed been avoiding meeting Helen as much as possible.
Helen.
Carynne wanted to snap at the woman and tell her she was being impudent, but she was restraining herself. Housekeepers like Helen had authority. How many servants would listen to a seventeen-year-old noble lady who says whatever she wants to say. Carynne recalled a distant past.
There was a time when she tried acting like the madam of the house. She fasted, though it was inconvenient, and got the woman kicked out. But Carynne soon regretted it. There were so many servants to manage and so many tasks to complete. It was only in fairy tales that everything worked out just because youre the daughter of the territorys lord.
To manage a household, all servants should be gathered everyday at dawn to review what tasks there were to do, and later at night, they needed to be checked. Carynne had to do everythingaccounting, welcoming guests, and general management.
Helen was replaced with Nancy, but Nancy was weak-minded and she barely managed because she was illiterate, so it wasnt possible for them to handle that kind of work.
Thats not possible, Helen replied.
Please.
Useful people needed to be pacified, coaxed and badgered.
But its inconvenient to suddenly have someone replace her Will you come play with me, Helen?
I have a lot of work to do.
Thats exactly it. Because youre not even my attendant, Helen.
Its lonesome. She expressed intimacy and kicked it up a notch. Whenever Carynne pretended to be upset, Helens resolve would weaken. Just as expected, Helen was really thinking of herself as Carynnes biological mother.
You cant do that again.
Yes, yes. I wont.
Even so, just how many things started to go wrong because of Nancy
Whens Nancy coming back?
You dont know? Nancy had quit. She said she couldnt stand it. I knew it, this couldnt be helped because she was born a wanderer.
Thats how it was dealt with? Nancy went on vacation, but she eventually quit because work was too hard.
Carynne lowered her teacup. Helen brought over a brush. Brushing Carynnes hair wasnt something Helen, a housekeeper, would do, but the younger woman asked anyway.
Youre going to do it, Helen?
When I was younger, I was a lady-in-waiting in charge of young noblewomens clothes. I cant leave this to Donna on a day like this. It would have been better if Nancy was here.
What day is it today?
Its Sir Raymonds first day here. You have to be quiet, Milady. Milord and Mister Evans will be there.
Ah.
You should look pretty, right?
That meant that it would take an hour to put on makeup and three hours to get her hair done. Usually, all of them would be done by Nancy, or if Nancy wasnt there, it would be Sera.
Having another hairdressers hand on her was also pleasant. Carynne was much too old to whine and say, I dont want to do this kind of thing!
Still, this is too excessive.
What is?
The rose oil, or even this outfit?
Its still not that luxurious compared to Miss Evans. You have to look the part so that you wont be brought to shame, right?
Which here was more shameful, trying too hard while overdressing with high-quality clothes or wearing inexpensive clothes amongst people who would be wearing high-quality clothes? The general consensus would be that the latter was more shameful, but this was between people who didnt want to lose face.
While thinking that there was such a thing as basic courtesy, amongst those with higher standards than others, the lines between courtesy, frugality and luxury would start to blur. And Carynne just focused on other things rather than weighing the scales between them.
The most important thing was the ending of the novel and the male leads taste.
Raymonds taste was important. Carynnes judgement on value was not very important.
Is Father making you do this?
No.
As Helens eyes scrunched up, a masseuse entered. She took off Carynnes clothes with skilled hands and lay her down on the wooden bed. Her entire body was wiped with a piece of cloth that was soaked with rose water.
Ugh.
The wound still hurt, so Carynne groaned. Eventually, Helen stopped the masseuse from wiping Carynnes body and spoke.
Taking a bath might be too much for you.
Right?
Then it should be enough to just apply scented oil.
The wound would likely open again.
With Carynnes hair pulled back, Donna washed her scalp and hair with water and applied scented oils again while her hair was up.
Since youre good at handling laundry, youre good at washing hair, too, huh?
Hehe.
Is there really a reason for me to look good in front of Sir Raymond?
There is! First, compared to Isella to Miss Evans, Milady is much more beautiful, so it will be a proud moment. Second what else
What else?
Um
To earn money. Carynne could hear Helen and the masseuse chuckling. Donna didnt answer in the end, but considering the laughter between that silence, Carynne already knew.
Dullan was an unwelcome incumbent fief lord. Hes someone who didnt suit the beautiful lady. Helen wanted Carynne to look good in front of Raymond so openly.
Its not that she wouldnt think of Dullan as Carynnes husband, its just that she thought of him as a spare who wasnt good enough for Carynne.
Carynne wasnt offended by this arrogance. She didnt feel compelled to defend or foster animosity towards Dullan.
Rather, she had the urge to spoil the mood.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢