“It’s very nice,” Margaret agreed. She guessed it was made of brass and not gold, though the gilt still shone after all these years. It had obviously been well cared for.
Still Betty stared down at the chatelaine in her lap, tears filling her eyes. “I shall never see twenty years now....”
“Don’t say that,” Margaret soothed, patting Betty’s arm.
The tears settled it—Margaret knew she must say something, do something, before Mrs. Budgeon and the steward reached their verdict about Betty. She hoped kind Mr. Hudson would be lenient.
Finally, Betty laid the chatelaine back in a velvet-lined box on her bedside table and rose with a sigh. “Well. Turn around and let’s have a tug on those fancy stays of yours. Then we’d best be on our way. Like I always say—”
“The shutters await,” Margaret supplied.
Betty raised one brow. “And the chamber pots besides.”
———
Margaret hurried through her duties, nerves giving her the energy her lack of sleep would normally have drained. There was nothing like the pressure of knowing one had done wrong, and that every minute of putting off doing right might bring more trouble to oneself or another to distract one’s focus. Margaret finished her duties quickly. How well, she could not say.
Palms damp, Margaret knocked on the door of Mr. Hudson’s office on the ground floor, tucked behind the main stairway.
“Enter,” she heard from within and pushed open the door, wiping her palms on her apron.
She hesitated. Mrs. Budgeon was there as well, seated before the man’s desk.
“What is it, Nora?” Mr. Hudson asked.
“I... never mind, sir. I shall come back when you’re not busy.”
“You are here now. What is it?”
“I wanted to... that is, I needed to tell you that it wasn’t Betty’s fault about the vase. It was my fault. I startled her and...” She felt Mrs. Budgeon’s gaze and ducked her head. “Please don’t dismiss her for my mistake.”
“Why say something now and not at the time?” Mrs. Budgeon asked.
Margaret felt her cheeks heat and kept her head low. “I was afraid, ma’am. That was wrong of me too.”
How self-conscious she felt with those two pairs of eyes on her bowed head. She risked a glance and found Mr. Hudson studying her. “Very well, Nora. We had already decided not to dismiss Betty, but thank you for tellingus.”
Relief filled her. “Thank you, sir.”
———
When Betty emerged from Mr. Hudson’s office half an hour later, Margaret expected her to be cheerful and relieved, but Betty’s head was bowed and her mouth tight.
“Betty, what is it?” She followed her to the back stairs. “You are not to be dismissed, I understand?”
She shook her head. “No. Not dismissed. But my wages garnished for the quarter.”
“Oh no. But I thought—”
“’Twas Mrs. Budgeon’s decision, I gather. To remind me to be more careful in future.”
“But I told them it was my fault.”
“I know you did. Mr. Hudson said as much, and I do appreciate it. But I am the upper housemaid, so it was my responsibility.”
Margaret winced. “Will you be all right?”
Betty sighed. “I shall manage. But my...” Her sentence trailed away unfinished.
