A Very Dutiful Daughter by Elizabeth Mansfield

Author:Elizabeth Mansfield [Mansfield, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101568408
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2012-02-21T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The news had reached Bath that Charles James Fox had died, and the subject of his loss to Parliament and to England was discussed in the Pump Room, on every street, and in all the drawing rooms of the city. But the members of Lady Upsham’s domestic staff had something closer to their interests to discuss. Miss Tristle had taken Katie-from-the-kitchen under her wing! This surprising turnabout caused such endless expression of surprise and speculation that the topic drove all other matters from their conversation. All of the servants—even the butler—had felt a touch of Miss Tristle’s spleen from time to time, but none of them had had to endure the verbal slights, the frequent criticism, the constant interference, and the venomous disparagement that she had vented on poor Katie. Her sudden about-face on the subject of the rival abigail was nothing short of sensational. The death of Fox, famous though he was, had no power to drive from their minds and their tongues the subject of Miss Tristle’s change of attitude toward the girl who she had once said was an ignorant and vulgar urchin trying to encroach on her position in the domestic domain.

Ever since the morning Katie had prepared an herb wash for her toothache, Miss Tristle had begun to look upon the girl with new eyes. The wash had been surprisingly efficacious. For the first time in days, Miss Tristle had found herself free of pain, and repeated rinsings with Katie’s concoction had virtually cured the problem. She began to feel a new respect for Katie. She suddenly began to see the native intelligence and shrewdness that lay beneath Katie’s unpolished surface. Everything Katie said made good sense, and she had somehow acquired an astonishing fund of interesting and useful information on all sorts of subjects. Miss Tristle was impressed. Grudgingly at first, but soon more readily, she began to ask the girl’s opinion on matters she would never have deigned to ask before. Did Katie prefer the fichu or a Norwich shawl for Madam’s plum-colored evening dress? Did the London ladies still lean toward tight curls hanging over their ears for daytime wear? Could Katie recommend a recipe for removing freckles? For all these, Katie had a ready—and usually original and sensible—answer.

By the time three days of this testing had passed, Miss Tristle had been won over. She made what was, for her, an amazing condescension—she invited Katie to spend the evening in her room so that they both could do their mending while enjoying a companiable coz together. Since it was much discussed among the servants that Miss Tristle’s room was one of the largest and best lit of the servants’ rooms and that she kept it well supplied with tea, cakes, and sherry, Katie readily accepted. The evening proved to be a great success. The two abigails discovered that they each had something to teach the other—Katie could teach Miss Tristle all manner of recipes for medications and cosmetic lotions (useful secrets

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