Maria did feel a bit, well, not anxious, but rather slightly out of sorts. For Dick, everything would stay as it was, except he'd finally have what he never expected to have, a wife to share his life with. And a puppy. But for Maria everything would change, until they had their own home she would have to live with a different set of people, a decidedly weird accumulation of men mostly, of which she suspected Dick to be the most normal one. Well, and maybe Dennis, the master of the house, he seemed rather normal. Though for some reason Dick treated Dennis as a friend rather than as a figure of authority, and Dennis seemed to expect that from him. The way he had hugged Dick in church spoke clearly of the close bond the two men had. And the puppy.
Dennis had approached Maria one day, told her Dick had wanted a small dog of his own all his life, and asked whether she'd accept one in their little family. He promised to find a reliable pup and help Dick to raise it properly, so it wouldn't be a nuisance. What could Maria do but give her permission? She'd be living under his roof for weeks, maybe months, she could hardly tell a gentleman 'no'. But frankly she didn't really mind at all, she kind of liked dogs, and on an estate it would be outside most of the time.
And when she saw Dick's face as he beheld the tiny creature, she knew Dennis had given him his dearest wish indeed. Of course it wasn't as profound as getting married, but to see her love so happy was a treat, and to have such a man go through so much trouble to please a mere servant gave her hope their time at the manor would be really pleasant.
For their search for a new home wasn't working out at all. Whereas her own village was willing to take Maria's and her parents' word for it that Dick was not the witless violent giant gossip had made him, those stories had apparently spread to the other side of the river, and the couple had not been welcome there at all.
Maria had hoped to start afresh in a different neighbourhood, and have people see Dick as the gentle, contemplative man he had become, but no such luck. The first time they inquired after a cottage that was for sale they were still received reasonably friendly, but once the villagers had recognized Dick by his size and expression there had been some signs of alarm. By the time they'd left the village it was clear the gossip was actually worse over here, very much exaggerated and downright mean, and from that moment on their quest to find a home had become more and more hopeless. On their second viewing, people had merely eyed them with distrust, but after that her inquiries were turned down, or even blatantly ignored, though Maria knew the house was still for sale.
Dick had been very upset by the open hostility of some of the villagers, and though Maria felt very much in love taking his hand to comfort him, she was sorely disappointed to have her hopes for a new start crushed this rudely, and to see her beloved hurt through the cruelty of other people. She didn't even want to live in one of those villages anymore, how could they be so mean to someone they didn't even know?
Maybe Guy would know a solution, Dick said Guy knew everything. Maria was a bit afraid of Guy and Patrick, they looked so sophisticated, though she knew they were servants they were also obviously city people, and whereas Patrick seemed to be really sweet, Guy always looked a little sarcastic. But Dick said Guy had taught him to read with incredible patience, had in fact taught him everything when Dick first came to live at the manor, together with Patrick of course. They seemed inseparable, though rumour had them sharing the mistress' bed before Dennis came to the scene. The men could have been brothers but Maria suspected they weren't or Dick would have told her. They were probably just good friends, city people seeking each other's company in a country house surrounded by farmers.
And then there were Charles and Cook, who seemed total opposites in character but both devoted their lives to their profession. According to Dick they were nice enough.
'I hope my puppy is all right,' Dick worried, good thing Patrick had offered to take the little thing in the first night, for Maria was not prepared to share her wedding night with a dog, no matter how cute.
'I'm sure she is, Dick, Patrick strikes me as someone who loves to care for others, he has always been very nice to you, hasn't he?'
'Yes, he has. And to Dennis, when Dennis needed him. You're right, she will be fine.'
'Have you decided on a name, yet?'
'I thought we'd call her Pixie. It's a heathen name, but my parents aren't here to disapprove. What do you think?'
'Pixie is perfect, Dick, I love it. My father has given me a week off as a honeymoon, so we'll have plenty of time to get her settled. Who will do your work this week?'
'They all decided to do a share rather than have some stranger over. Even Dennis.'
Very strange indeed. But undoubtedly much would become clear once Maria was settled here. Now, they had other things to do.
Their new quarters were in the servants' part of the house, of course, which was nonetheless very well-built and very comfortable. Because most of the huge house was vacant there was plenty of space for everyone, and Mrs Beauchamp had had three rooms decorated especially for the new couple. Of course there was a bedroom, large and very stylish, Maria suspected the furniture had been made to order to the latest fashion, for she hadn't seen anything like it before, not even in the main house. It was all made of oak, slender and elegant instead of the sturdy pine most people used in this area, where trees were relatively rare.
The bed was huge and looked very comfortable, and there was lovely blue and lavender fabric everywhere, pillows, spreads, curtains, everything matched.
'Why didn't they just get some old furniture from the attic, Dick?' Maria asked in total confusion at this splendour, 'you're just a servant, and we're moving out in a few months anyway.'
Did she say something wrong? Dick seemed rather upset about something she said.
'We never go to the attic, Maria. I'm sure there is no old furniture there,' he said solemnly.
To add, 'And I'm sure we can take this with us when we've found ourselves a cottage, for the mistress said so herself.'
So it was her mention of the attic that caused him to start, was this the first sign of things in this house not being what they seemed?
The other rooms were of course a sitting-room, with still more beautiful furniture, the likes of which even her parents didn't have, and exactly to Maria's taste. Lazy chairs, a sofa, several small coffee tables and a beautiful buffet, it was all so rich!
And a dining-room! Why would they have a dining-room? They didn't even have a kitchen! The staff had all their meals in a common-room made for that purpose. The room was beautiful, though, and it would be very useful if she ever wanted to do some work at home, it had such a large table. There were six, no, eight elegant chairs around it, and a cupboard contained a magnificent set of China, real porcelain, for them!
'Why, Dick? Why did you get a dining-room from your mistress? You do the hard labour out here, why would you have a dining-room?'
'That is what I asked the mistress, Maria, when she proposed we'd have one, and she said a married man had to entertain his family sometimes. She said Cook and John could entertain at home, but this was to be my home so I should be able to have guests. We can get dinner from the kitchen as usual, if we mention to Cook we have guests he will make extra, and then we can eat it here with your mum and dad, or whomever we like. She did say we had to do our own washing up afterwards, she smiled as she said it so I guess it was a kind of joke, but I suppose we'd do that anyway, since it's my job.'
It was so cute how Dick suspected he was having his leg pulled by his mistress, but wasn't altogether sure.
'Why do you call Mrs Beauchamp 'the mistress', Dick, and call your master by his first name? Isn't that disrespectful? Shouldn't you call him 'sir', or 'master' or Mr Beauchamp?'
Another great secret? Dick's reaction was the same as when she mentioned the relatively innocent word 'attic'. He was having real difficulty framing a reply, of course that was not unusual for him, she could wait a little.
'Patrick said he once accidentally called Dennis master, or was it sir? I don't remember which. And then Dennis talked the most horrible brogue to him. Dennis is from London, you see, and apparently they use hideous language there, with horrible curses. So I'd never dare do that, I don't want to hear horrible curses. And Mr Beauchamp was the former master, the mistress' husband who died years ago. I never knew him, Dennis never knew him of course, and it's certainly not his name. I don't even know his last name. But most of all, I knew him when he was still a servant, like me, and he was having a very bad time, first he was weak from hunger, and then he was depressed from his past, and we became friends. It would be weird to call one's friend 'master', don't you think?'
Well, that was easy enough, if Dick knew Dennis before he became the master of the house, of course it would be weird to start treating him with deference. But horrible curses? That young gentleman? There had to be an interesting story behind that, and Maria couldn't wait to find out what it was.
'That would indeed be strange, my love. Thank you for showing me around, dearest, I'm thrilled to have so much space to ourselves, and it will be great to have my parents and my sisters over, or John and Beatrice or my other friends from the village. Even if we have to wash up afterwards, we'd have to do that in our own home as well, and the scullery is magnificent here. My mother doesn't have running water to do the dishes. Shall we turn in now? I can't wait to lie beside you a whole night, and touch you whenever I want, and make love every morning and every evening.'
And Dick picked her up as easily as if she were his new puppy, and carried her to the bed.
But he didn't throw her on the bed and jump her, as she more or less expected, but rather put her back on her legs very carefully right next to the bed.
'I don't want to wrinkle your beautiful dress, my love, will you let me take it off? We're married now, I want to touch every inch of your body and relish that it's no longer a sin to do so. You know I always was a bit worried to defy the minister. And I suppose we should be careful with the suit, the mistress had it made especially for me, can't risk spoiling it.'
Maria was speechless with love and admiration for her large husband, to show such self-control at a time like this. And he was so cute, like a little boy hiding in the body of a giant.
'Of course, my love, I can't wait to take the time to undress you instead of making haste. Start with the veil, it's pinned to my hair and to the dress. Is there enough light to see it?'
Despite his large hands, Dick could be very precise, Cook didn't allow him to cut fillets out of kindness; Dick was good at tasks that required patience and he had eyes like a hawk.
