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"Miss Stuart is also the maid who cares for the Duke's female family when they come to visit and she should be your first point of call if you need anything and are unable to find Mr Burns or Mrs Stevenson," Quintin explained. The smile he offered them both suggested he was pleased to see how well they were both getting on already.
It was just then that the disgruntled sounds of footmen came down the hall and the three of them turned just in time to see the men arriving with Matilda's trunk. Quickly skirting out of the way, Matilda watched the men carry the trunk into her new quarters and called after them, "Thank you very much."
"You are most welcome, miss," the younger of the two footmen said with a smile as they exited and left with little more than a bow.
"I think perhaps I shall leave you in the capable hands of Miss Stuart to help you unpack," Quintin suggested, looking expectantly at the maid. To her credit, the woman did not look perturbed. In fact, she looked quite pleased and nodded enthusiastically.
"I would be happy to help," she insisted, smiling with kind eyes. "It shall give us a chance to get to know one another better."
"Perfect, well then, Miss Percival," Quintin said, turning to her and offering a bow, "I wish you all the best until we next cross paths. Rest assured you will not be expected to begin your duties until the morrow."
"Thank you, Quintin," she responded, feeling slightly anxious that the person she knew most in the household was about to leave her. She offered him a curtsy and then made her way into her new quarters even as he began to leave.
The room was even larger and more beautiful than Matilda had expected it to be from the outside. She stood in the very centre and turned slowly, taking everything in from the four-poster bed to the matching green drapes on the curtains. Though she was certain it was a coincidence, Matilda found herself wondering whether she had ever mentioned to Quintin that her favourite colour was in fact green.
A clearing of the throat caused her to turn back to the door to find Miss Stuart standing in the doorway. "May I come in?" she asked politely and Matilda began to blush all over again.
"Yes, of course," Matilda replied, gesturing the maid into the room.
Although the first few minutes were taken in relative silence, Matilda and Helen quickly fell into step around each other, working to unpack Matilda's trunk. Matilda noticed how woefully small her number of possessions was compared to the wardrobe and drawer space there was on offer in the room.
Do I truly deserve such a position? Coming from such humble beginnings as I do?Matilda asked herself. It was a question she had asked herself several times over the years, but this position was the one that made her ask it the most.
After all, His Grace was the very first duke she had been employed by and although that were the fact, she had heard tell from many other governesses who had worked under dukes and never had she heard of any of them being treated so kindly. In fact, she practically felt like royalty, unpacking her clothes with the help of a maid.
By the time they were almost halfway through, Matilda could no longer hold her tongue. If she were to start her duties in the morning, she wanted to get as much information as possible beforehand.
"So, Miss Stuart, as Lady Amy's maid, you must know both her and the Duke fairly well," she said, making a point of not looking at the maid directly, hoping that any conversation would remain nonchalant.
"I suppose you could say so, Miss Percival." The maid continued to go about the business of unpacking as though she too wanted to avoid feeling as though they were entering into some kind of interrogation.
"What might you be able to tell me so that I may know what to expect in the morning?" Matilda asked, refolding a few items of clothing that had somehow managed to get unraveled in transit.
"Oh, I am sure your position here shall be quite the same as others you have experienced elsewhere," Miss Stuart announced, sounding overly perky almost as if she were trying to put a happy inflection into her voice. Matilda could not help but feel slightly unnerved by it. "Lady Amy can be quite…shy and nervy around a new member of staff but I am certain she will warm up to you within a few days."
Hmm…Matilda thought even as she asked, "And after those first few days? What might I expect then?"
Miss Stuart paused in her unpacking then and turned to look at Matilda. "Ah, well, then she had been known to act up, only a little of course, just testing boundaries as all children are known to do."
There was a smile on the maid's face but behind it, Matilda could tell that she was nervous. It was clear from the tightness of her jaw and how straight she was standing that she was being careful and was quite reluctant to say anything bad.
"Miss Stuart, need I remind you that it has taken the Duke a good few months to secure my services," she pointed out. "You need not try to sugarcoat things for me. I have had many an account and I would like to know exactly what I am in for."
It was in that moment, when Miss Stuart gave a great sigh and seemed to decide that she deserved the truth, that Matilda thought she and the maid would become firm friends. There was something about the ease with which she had been able to speak to her so directly that reassured her she had found someone she would always be able to confide in.
"Miss Percival, I am sure you are no stranger to misbehaving children in your line of work," Miss Stuart announced, "And Lady Amy shall be no different though I do admit she might be worse than any you have been charged with previously."
Matilda opened her mouth to ask further questions, but she never got the chance because the maid continued, "As for the Duke, he is quite possibly the kindest man to have ever walked this planet. He treats his staff as though we are practically his family, and I am certain you have already begun to experience that it is so."
Matilda nodded, remembering how warm and welcoming the Duke had been downstairs. "I do believe it may have something to do with his losing his wife in childbirth. God rest her soul, the Duke has been quite lonely since that day and has chosen never to remarry though there have been rumours of late…"
It was then that Matilda began to get an inkling as to what was truly going on at Thistledown Manor, as to why little Lady Amy was struggling so badly.
"And the Duke and his daughter's relationship?" She asked the same question that she had posed to Quintin in the carriage.
"They have always been close, though of late the Duke grows busier and busier," the maid admitted with a shrug, though her expression was sympathetic. "He is a very busy man, though always aims to be a good father."
Matilda did not exactly need to hear the words to know that they were true. She had seen it in the way that the Duke carried himself and in the way that he held his daughter's hand and spoke to her as if she were a young adult with her own mind that he was a brilliant father.
