Deciding that she was indeed early, she gave Lady Amy the benefit of the doubt and moved her attention to the books on the shelf across the room to keep herself occupied while she waited. She thought on how she had read the book from the night before almost cover to cover and wondered whether there might be one in here worth switching it for. Yet nothing seemed to catch her eye, only the clock, which was slowly ticking, marking minute after minute.
Where are you, Lady Amy?she wondered, trying not to get too disconcerted. Finally taking a book on flowers and insects from one of the shelves, she moved to sit upon the nearest couch, in full view of the open door so that she would see if Lady Amy were coming. There she sat and flicked through the book, looking at the pictures and reading the headings, stopping when she saw something interesting and deciding to read more.
Several times she heard footsteps, yet when she looked up all she saw was a house maid or a footman hurrying past to go about their business quickly and quietly.
When the third one passed, Matilda decided she'd had enough. Pushing herself to her feet, she returned the book to its shelf and glanced at the clock on the mantlepiece. It was almost twenty past the hour and so Lady Amy was twenty minutes late. Gritting her teeth, Matilda wandered to the door, and seeing two maids coming toward her, she said, "Excuse me?"
Though the two young women tried to hide it, Matilda could clearly see the disdain in their eyes. Their forced smiles suggested they would have rather spat at her than smile. Matilda was not surprised. It was a general consensus among servants, especially the female servants, to automatically dislike a governess for the simple fact she was treated so much better with grander quarters, better wages and a much more friendly relationship with the family they worked for.
Deciding it was best to ignore the looks she was receiving, she asked, "Have either of you seen Lady Amy this morning?"
Though the two women paused in front of her and glanced at each other before they spoke, Matilda guessed she knew exactly what they were thinking,She is your charge. You are being paid to look after her. Ought you not know where she is?And a part of Matilda had to agree with them. She most definitely ought to have known where Lady Amy was but the fact was, she did not, and she felt the need to rectify that situation as soon as possible.
"I am afraid we do not,Miss," said the older of the two maids and both curtsied quickly before hurrying away to continue on with their work. Whether they knew and had chosen not to tell her or whether they truly had no idea where Lady Amy was, Matilda could not be sure. Either way, she decided not to let their uncomfortable behaviour affect her and instead headed the opposite way down the hall in the hopes of tracking down her ward.
Reaching the entryway of the huge manor, she was just in time to see Mr Burns closing up the front door. Upon doing so, he turned, looking quite shocked to see her and quickly dropped into a bow.
“Miss Percival, is there something I can help you with?” he asked, standing upright. Matilda felt her cheeks instantly beginning to burn at his question. She did not like the thought of inquiring after Lady Amy yet again, not after how the maids had reacted. Yet, she quickly reminded herself that the butler was often far more friendly than the maids whenever she came to a new residence.
“Was that the Duke you have just seen out?” she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. A part of her hoped that she might be wrong. Perhaps the butler had merely been answering the door to a messenger or something, though she was certain she did not remember hearing the bell ring.
I was distracted by that book,she reminded herself, knowing how easily she could switch off to everything around her whenever she had her nose in a book. Yet she quickly shook the thought away. That was not possible, not this morning when she had been constantly on edge waiting for Lady Amy to arrive.
“It was, Miss. Did you have need of him?” the butler asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is it perhaps something I can help with?”
Matilda gritted her teeth and shook her head. “No, please, do not trouble yourself. All is well.”
With a respectful nod of her head, she wished the butler well in his duties for the day and then hurried on down the far hall in the hopes of finding Lady Amy herself. Of course, the manor was huge, but if she looked long enough then she would eventually find her, and it did not hurt to give herself a tour of the place in the meantime.
Perhaps she forgot about out meeting?Matilda told herself as she made her way down the hall, knocking on each door as she went, popping her head in every room, finding all of them empty save for the roaring fires that kept the chill away in such a huge stone house even during the summer.
Perhaps Helen will help me,she thought, beginning to give up on finding Lady Amy by herself. Yet so far, she had been unable to find the personal maid either. The two appeared to have disappeared right into thin air.
She was four common rooms down when she found a maid in one of them and asked again only to get practically the same response as she had from the previous two. Again, it was not a surprise. There she was standing in her fine new clothing wearing a pretty, pale grey dress with fine white lace accents while the poor woman was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors, likely for pennies.
At least, that was how the maids complained of it, that they did all the hard work and received little in compensation for it. Matilda could not speak to it as she had never been a maid, though she was well aware just how difficult her own job could be.
Especially when I cannot locate my charge!she thought, her concern beginning to grow. After all the accounts she had read from the previous governesses, she was growing more and more anxious that Lady Amy might be up to her usual tricks.
“Thank you,” she said to the maid when she realised she would get nothing of consequence from her. She gave a respectful nod and then quickly closed the door to the room between them. Standing in the hall, she closed her eyes for a moment and placed her hands to her temples. The beginnings of a headache were starting to throb right behind her eyes, and she sucked in a deep, steadying breath in an attempt to calm herself.
When she heard footsteps coming from the other end of the hall, she quickly dropped her hands and attempted to look calm, yet it appeared too late.
“Miss Percival? Are you well?” came a concerned voice and Matilda was relieved to see Miss Stuart walking toward her.Why could I not have found her first?Matilda thought, feeling as though after the night before, there was no way the personal maid would treat her as the others had been doing.
“I…yes,” Matilda said, trying to keep her voice level even though she was now trying not to entirely break down. A part of her had hoped that Lady Amy would be with her personal maid and yet, when she glanced down the hall past the woman, there was no sign of the girl. “I was just looking for Lady Amy.”
Helen stopped before her and raised an eyebrow. For a moment, Matilda was suddenly worried that the personal maid would treat her exactly as all the other maids had. But then the woman grumbled, “And let me guess, none of the house maids have been willing to help?”
Matilda gritted her teeth even as she shook her head. She did not like the idea of telling anyone of any kind of mistreatment, feeling as though it might push the maids even further away but how was she supposed to keep quiet against a direct question?
“Ignore them,” Helen instructed her firmly and in the next moment she was shaking her head in disappointment. “Unfortunately, most of them have been working here or have family who have worked here since the current duke took over the dukedom, some even before that, and they can be a little negative toward newcomers.”
I imagine that did not help the situation with the other governesses,Matilda thought but she quickly decided it was best not to bring them up right now, especially not when she was off to as bad a start as they had been with not even being able to find the young lady.
“Miss Stuart, tell me honestly. Should I be worried?”
“Worried?” the personal maid responded, looking a little confused. “Why ever should you be worried? And please, call me Helen!”