She closed her eyes tightly and slid down into the warm bubbly water, how the other half lives, she smiled to herself. Of course she had been in the pool at the river a few times, (once even naked on that summer night last year, with some of the other servants from the estate); but her usual washing was done in the pantry sink , or twice a month in the old tin hip-bath that the house servants used in front of the range in the back kitchen. Even then she was usually second or third in, after Mrs Cox the housekeeper and Molly, his lordships' maid, and the water was never this hot, or smelt so fine.
It did not occur to Jenny to question her position, she was the lady's maid and truth to tell it was a better job than most. Her ma been a laundry woman for many years, and worked all hours to keep the family all fed. She had rough red hands from the lye soap to prove it. Her Da had been injured in the stables when a horse had kicked him, and had never recovered enough to work again.
Jenny let her cares slip away as she slid deeper, and began to daydream of the handsome gentleman who would come and whisk her away to the city. She was a bit of a daydreamer, and being in the mistresses rooms was always a good place to set her off on one of here fantasies..
There was a knock on the door. It was only a quiet tap, but to Jenny it was the sound of disaster.
She froze, horrified; if she was caught in her mistresses' bathroom acting like a countess, she would be out on her ear and her family would likely be dismissed from service. They would be reduced to beggars. They could starve.. Before she could finish the thought, the door opened
Jenny was still frozen with fear; she could not move her head, or even raise her eyes to look at who it was, she was so terrified.
There was a pause that seemed to go on for ever, then she heard the polite voice of Bernard, the under butler, saying,
"Ah, I see you are at your bath madam, perhaps a little more hot water?"
Jenny made a small sound, it sounded more like a mouse squeaking than a person, but it seemed to be acceptable as she heard Bernard saying
"Very good madam, you stay there, I will fetch some directly"
He stepped back through the door and closed it behind him.
Could he have mistaken her for the Countess? She did have her mass of dark hair stuffed into a maids' mob cap to keep dry, and he was off to one side, he had not looked directly at her face had he?
But even as she thought this, she knew it was a vain hope, Jenny was only 23, she was quite petite and although she was certainly curvy enough, she was nothing at all like the Countess; who she had heard one dinner guest refer to a "mighty galleon, sailing the waters of society"
No, the only explanation was that Bernard, who she did not know very well, had decided to overlook her crime, although he was senior to her and not one of her circle of friends, he was a servant after all, and maybe he was on her side. She began to clamber out of the big white iron bath.
As she stood, she and reached for the plug chain she realised what he had said,
"stay there" he had said quite clearly hadn't he? Should she stay, or should she get quickly dressed and start cleaning up the bathroom, maybe he would pretend he had never seen her..
All she knew about Bernard was that he always seemed serious, he was maybe ten years older than her, and he was strong. (She had seen him loading sacks of grain into a cart and Tom , the under footman, had gone to help him, but could not even lift the sacks! (Much to the chagrin of Tom and the amusement of Jenny and Molly).
He was a bit of a loner too, he liked to walk his dog in the woods and hills around the estate, and would often have left the servants kitchen by the time Jenny ( who was not a naturally early riser) went to breakfast.
"Here you go your ladyship" announced Bernard, backing into the room with a huge jug of steaming water.
"That is a very poor bath you have there, this will fill it up a bit, sit tight and I will pour it over your back if you like".
Jenny sat quickly and holding one arm across her breasts kept as still as she could, though she could not stop a slight quivering with apprehension, while Bernard slowly poured the hot water over her shoulders. The water was scented with something, lavender, it smelt like and Jenny found she could breathe again,