At 6:00 sharp, Victoria attended Lady Elmira. She drew open the bedroom curtains, unfastened the windows to allow fresh air and light in, and with some help from Constance she helped her dress. All the while, Lady Elmira chatted. Her mood was already far brighter than the shortly rising sun.

She had a way of pushing through a person’s dour mood and dragging them into her own cheerful aura. Constance worshiped the ground beneath her, and often wondered (perhaps a little too loudly) over breakfast, supper, and tea - - whether or not she might be better suited to Victoria’s work, being closer in age to their lady. For Victoria’s part, she simply ignored the girl. She hated unnecessarily troubling Mrs. Pragajh or their butler, Mister Grady. Sooner or later she was sure Constance’s thorns would lose their prick.

Properly dressed in her petticoats, stays, and a lemon yellow Caraco with a green silk skirt, Lady Elmira was the picture of spring. A wind-weak flower blossoming in the middle of fall. The skirt had been a dress from her brother in London, whose education and friends circle allowed him trinkets the household could not currently afford themselves. Her brother doted on her, and even so many miles away it was evident.

“I should like supper with father today, if he’ll join me,” Lady Elmira chirped as Constance and Victoria very carefully lifted her together from her bed to set her in the padded chair beside the window. The one Victoria typically used when attending to her mistress in the evenings.

“Thank you, Constance,” Victoria said to the younger girl, her assistance no longer required. She turned her back to approach a corner beside Lady Elmira’s bureau and grabbed a circular wooden table to bring to her lady’s side. It wasn’t very large, but made for an excellent surface to place books, cards, any number of things Lady Elmira requested.

Constance curtsied to Lady Elmira, “my lady,” she said with entirely too much pride in her voice. Too much, because she sounded as if she was performing. Showing off that she could say ‘my lady’ with far more respect and fanfare than Victoria.

“My hoop. Bring me my hoop!” Lady Elmira demanded of Victoria in a light and happy voice, completely ignoring the other maid. She had a singular mind.

“You’ll be embroidering today, my lady?” Victoria asked, almost surprised. Nothing really surprised her when it came to Lady Elmira, but she didn’t put her hand to craftwork very often.

“It is to be father’s birthday soon, is it not?” Lady Elmira asked, “I’ll fix his favorite pillow for him. Fetch it for me, Victoria.”

“While I am sure he does favor one pillow over another, I can’t say I know which one it might be. I shall inquire with Mister Reeves, if it pleases you.”

“Alright,” Lady Elmira replied, nodding her head, “bring me some tea as well. Milk. Sugar. Perhaps a biscuit or two.”

Victoria nodded, “perhaps you would like your full breakfast, my lady. I shall see to it and then prepare your father’s pillow, provided it is available.” The task would prove challenging if the Baron was still sleeping with said pillow.

Dismissed, she left Lady Elmira’s room at a brisk pace, cutting quickly into the kitchen. A steaming tray had already been prepared and set on the preparation table by one of Mrs. Pragajh’s assistants, Landon, who was fast at work assisting with food and tea for the Baron. Mrs. Pragajh was at the cookfire, while her other assistants, Lewis and Hilde, were bringing fresh butter and milk into the main kitchen. There was never a moment’s rest between the cooking staff.

“Victoria,” Landon greeted her, gesturing with a large wooden spoon at the tray. He looked like he was working some batter, which made sense, given the butter being brought to him. “Fresh eggs, fish, bread. A bit of jam still left from the larder. She’s sure to enjoy it today. Some of the best bread Mrs. Pragajh has ever made, on my honor. I set aside a little extra if you’re still hungry?” His tone had a hopeful note to it.

Victoria smiled sweetly at him, taking the tray. He was perhaps the most gentle soul she’d ever met, his smile wider than half his face, sandy hair perpetually falling out of its ribbon. A good shave would do him good.

“Landon, you’re the only person I’ve ever met who made extra breakfast sound like a marriage proposal,” she told him, turning on her heel.

“Maybe I’ll move to that step next!” He called after her. She didn’t respond, reaching the kitchen door and nudging it open with the toe of her slipper. In the corridor, she passed Mister Grady, who hesitated in the doorway and turned back towards her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Victoria, have you seen Mister Reeves this morning? He hasn’t seen to his morning duties.” The butler took their roles in the house very seriously. Stretched so thin, they simply couldn’t afford for any piece of their fragile machine to fall apart.

“No, Mister Grady. Did you check with Gordon?”

He shook his head, “he hasn’t seen him either. Very strange. Mister Reeves is usually so punctual.”

She nodded, “he is indeed, sir.”

Just as the butler was about to depart, Victoria shifted the tray and called back to him, “Mister Grady, sir, do you know which pillow the Baron is fond of? Lady Elmira would very much like to embroider it. If Mister Reeves is nowhere to be found, I haven’t a clue which one it might be.”

He shook his head, but tapped the side of his nose with a secretive smile, “not to worry. We’ll find out for you if the lady will permit us some time. I shall have your answer by tea.”

“Thank you, Mister Grady,” she did her best to curtsy without tilting the tray. Juggling food with a pot of tea and cup wasn’t especially difficult with the years of practice she’d had, but she’d had to embarrass herself with a simple courtesy.

When she returned to Lady Elmira’s room, the girl was staring at the wall with a concerning expression. The thoughtful pensiveness of a silly thought. Victoria knew the look very well.

“I’ve brought your breakfast, my lady,” she announced, bringing it quickly to the table at Lady Elmira’s side and placing it gently in front of her. Thankfully, the fire had already been tended to, which meant all Victoria really had to do was stand at her mistress’s side for a few hours with lighter tasks and conversation.

“Thank you, Victoria,” Lady Elmira said a little too sweetly, allowing Victoria to pour tea into her cup. She served herself a good deal of milk and sugar, snatching up a small spoon to clack into the china happily as she talked. “So, is there any news? Something exciting in the house I haven’t yet been informed of?”

Victoria clasped her hands together, keeping her eyes focused down, “whatever do you mean, my lady? It is the same as always.”

“Ah!” Lady Elmira exclaimed, sticking the spoon into her mouth and still talking as she did so, “but I thaw–” she paused, removing the spoon, “I saw something through the window last night.”

“I can’t see how, my lady, the curtains were drawn.”

“Oh very well, I heard talking! The walls are thin, Victoria. There was someone in the parlor with father, was there not?”

“There was,” Victoria relented.

“A man?”

“A Viscount.”

“A Viscount? Oh, how exciting!” She placed the spoon aside, lifting her teacup to her face, “is he a very handsome Viscount? Do tell me you saw him. I’ll bet he’s exceedingly handsome. They always are.”

“My lady, though it is not my place to criticize my betters, that is patently untrue. There must be one or two Viscounts with terrible figures and faces,” she teased. She knew where this line of thought was going.

Lady Elmira tittered, taking a slow sip of her tea. She then lowered it to snatch up a fork and set to work on her food. “If you had any other mistress, Victoria, I fear you’d have been sent off without a letter of recommendation years ago. You’ve got a poisonous tongue.”

“I shall bear that in mind, my lady, and thank you very much for mercifully allowing me to continue to serve you despite my many shortcomings which you enjoy listing out for me every morning.”

Taking a bite of fish, Lady Elmira took a moment to say “oh, hush!” She flourished her fork in the process, which reminded Victoria once more that another etiquette lesson or two might be in order.

“It’s decided then,” Lady Elmira stated matter-of-factly, “I’m desperately in love, and our guest shall carry me away to a fine castle by week’s end. Mark my words.”

“My lady, you need more than a man with a title and a pretty face for a husband,” Victoria chided.

“Ah, so he is handsome!”

Victoria truly hoped she wasn’t blushing, and tried her best not to show she’d been caught, “some might say so, I suppose. Yes, he has a pleasing face, my lady. I should still like to encourage you to meet him first before you schedule your wedding. You may find you do not agree.”

Once she’d had her tea and finished her breakfast, Victoria took the tray away and returned to see to it that her mistress was comfortable. They discussed embroidery, books, and various other things Victoria was only half-aware of as they spoke. It was silly, really. The Viscount hardly looked at her even once, and even if he had–Victoria reminded herself once more that he was a guest of some means and status. She was a maid. Not only that, she thought to herself, she was quickly becoming a bit of an old maid, if she trusted Constance’s childish vanity.

“Silly woman,” she whispered to herself once she was free in the early afternoon to take tea with the kitchen staff. “Stupid woman,” she repeated a little more firmly. She’d never felt especially lonely before, or really thought of it until now. Yet the very thought of Lady Elmira finally debuting or perhaps even marrying their guest, as silly as it had seemed at the time she’d said it, reminded her that it was very likely she might never wed.

Why did that suddenly bother her?

“Stupid,” she repeated, striding quickly towards the kitchen. So very stupid.