Used to being in service her entire adult life, having this much leisure was unexpectedly tedious. Not that she’d ever been overworked by the Waverlys. In the country at Westerlynne, she’d been part of a large household, and as Miss Bea’s personal maid, her duties had been far from onerous. Her mistress was a kind young woman and one of those very rare souls who treated servants like equals. She went out of her way to be as little trouble as possible. Even here at South Mulberry Street, with just herself and Enid to do housework, Polly still hadn’t been sorely overtaxed, thanks to Miss Bea again. She’s pitched in where she could, and done a fair share of the chores, something unknown in the best houses. But now, everything had changed. The household had transformed. Thanks to Edmund Ellsworth Ritchie, there was money aplenty to pay bills, buy goods and employ staff. And his right-hand man, Jamie, was around to keep order and steward the establishment. In the space of a single day, Polly had been returned to her duties as Miss Bea’s lady’s maid, and the housework was to be done by a trio of maids from an agency, with Simon, a rather serious but amenable enough footman, on hand to open doors, hail cabs and deliver messages.
