Santa Fe Mail Order Brides Box Set by Katherine St Clair

Author:Katherine St Clair
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Maplewood Publishing
Published: 2017-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

March 18, 1901

S he returned to her mistress’s room with a new tray, and this time she managed to make it to the bedroom without incident. She knocked on the door and heard her mistress give her permission to come in.

“Come.”

She walked into the opulently decorated bedroom, and over to the canopy bed where her mistress was sitting up, leaning against several embroidered pillows. Caroline was no longer in her mother’s bedroom; it was just Mrs. Chatham.

She was reading a letter and barely acknowledged Faith’s presence. Faith placed the tray over her legs. The breakfast tray stood on four feet and made a perfect table for Mrs. Chatham to enjoy coffee and breakfast without ever leaving her bed. Faith thought it was lazy for a healthy woman to eat in bed, but her opinion did not matter much here.

“Mrs. Chatham, can I bring you anything else?” asked Faith, hoping the answer would be no. She wanted to change out of the clothes that were still covered in the contents of the tray from earlier, and she needed a break after what Caroline had done.

“No, I don’t, but there is a matter I need to address.”

Faith prepared herself, sure she was about to get sacked.

“You were absent yesterday for several hours. I had no idea where you were and neither did anyone else, and then today you broke my priceless china and showed not a scrap of remorse. Your behavior is unacceptable. I’m not sure how you ever came to be in service with work habits such as yours, but I suppose I should not be surprised. After all, you are Irish.”

Faith could feel her face turning red with indignation. She wondered to herself if there was a place where being Irish was not looked on with such scorn. She had been treated badly because she Irish back home, by the English, and now here in America. She stayed silent while her employer continued her tirade.

“I am forced to conclude that you are either incapable, or you simply choose not to take your responsibilities and duties as seriously as you should. As result, I will dock your pay by half for two weeks and reduce your wage after that, until such time as I see that you have shown the necessary improvement.”

“Ma’am, my wage is poor now, how can you reduce it?”

“You are fortunate that I am charitable enough let you keep your position, so I would recommend that you accept the reduced wage without further comment, unless you would like to live in the poorhouse.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, as she looked at the floor. Faith had a temper that was really quite fierce, and right now she was fighting the urge to grab the orange juice off Mrs. Chatham’s tray and dump it on her head.

“That’s better. Now, would you lay out the blue afternoon dress from Worth; I am expecting guests for tea later.”

Faith walked to the armoire and selected the blue afternoon dress. She excused herself and took it downstairs to iron it.

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