Habits of the House by Fay Weldon

Author:Fay Weldon [Weldon, Fay]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781908800831
Publisher: Head of Zeus

Grace at Brown’s

Wednesday 8th November onwards, 1899

Grace, at her Ladyship’s pleasure, had been loaned – ‘as if I was some slave’ – to the O’Briens, with instructions to help the pair with the intricate niceties of dress and custom in London’s high society. She had been installed, at Tessa’s insistence, not in the servants’ quarters of Brown’s, in the attic rooms, but in a real, if smallish, guest’s room down the corridor from the O’Brien’s suite, complete with fruit, flowers, chocolate, cleaned twice daily by the chamber maid and supplied with unlimited fresh dry towels.

In the beginning Grace had gone down to meals in the hotel staff dining room, where the servants’ food was a lot worse than it was in Belgrave Square. Within a couple of days she felt bolder, and dared to ring for room service. She loved the Club Sandwiches, a new invention from the United States, a whole seven course meal pressed between two pieces of bread – chicken, beef, ham, turkey, tomatoes, salad and fruit chutney – taking up only one plate.

This luxurious living, instead of impressing her, made her restless and annoyed. A box spring mattress could only be so soft, linen so crisp and white, apricot jam so delectable. There must be an end to indulgence? And how did it happen that the idle rich managed to live so well and do so little except spend? She had become accustomed to escorting Rosina to the many meetings where political and social indignations of one kind or another were expressed, and when Mr Eddie asked if she would join him in an outing to the International Workingmen’s Association – which now accepted women – she had no hesitation in accepting. She found herself soothed by the thought of the inevitability of revolution amongst the masses, the certain victory of the working man and woman. But she could see that though hotel staff could well be organized into strike action to hasten the day when the proletariat could take over the means of production, there would be a difficulty in getting domestic staff to revolt. At No. 17 they were too wellfed, and too busy bickering and gossiping to worry about long working hours and low pay.

In the meantime, Grace did what she was employed to do as perfectly as she could. She would teach Tessa and Minnie how to dress and behave. Barnardo’s children’s home had instilled in her long ago the need to fulfil her obligations and live each day as if her last.

‘To sweep a room as for Thy cause makes that and th’action fine’, she had sung at least once a week for all her young life, and the message had sunk in. There was virtue in servitude. God dealt you cards at birth – your looks, your wealth, your status – and it was your duty to play them as best you could.

For a week there was no sign of the rumoured invitation from Master Arthur. Grace was both relieved and not surprised.

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