home. “I don’t need the four shillings.”
“We don’t need more servants.” The housekeeper frowned.
“I’ll do it for one. One shilling a week.” The amount of money made no difference to her. What she wanted was the work. She would have agreed to do it for free, but that may have made the housekeeper more suspicious.
“Maids don’t make only a shilling a week. General Woodsworth wouldn’t allow us to undercut those in his employ.”
A well-dressed older man walked into the kitchen.
“Mrs. Bates—” he began just before noticing Patience. “Who is this?”
“Another relative of one of the general’s men looking for work.”
The man, clearly the butler, nodded but didn’t interfere. Instead he motioned for Mrs. Bates to continue.
Mrs. Bates didn’t say anything, so Patience took that as her cue to continue to plead her case. “So don’t undercut me. I’ll undercut my work. One day off a week and evenings off as well. If you like the work I do—” Patience was quite sure she wouldn’t; she had no more idea how to do housework than she did to fish for spiny eels, but at least she might get a chance to try.
The housekeeper was stroking her cheeks with her hand in thought. “Evenings off? And one day off every week in exchange for a fourth of the pay?”
“And a place to stay. I will need a place to stay.”
“Of course.” The housekeeper wasn’t looking at her any longer. Instead she looked over her shoulder and behind her toward the butler. Was she considering it?
“How do you know the general, again?”
“My brother served under him.”
“And who is your brother?”
Oh dear. She could hardly say, His Grace, Nicholas Kendrick, Duke of Harrington. Nor could she lie. She never had been any good at it. Her eye always twitched and her fingers shook if she lied. By the age of twelve, she had decided to give up the practice. She sometimes twisted the truth a bit, but she never lied.
That meant only one thing: it was time to twist the truth.
Patience pulled at one tight ringlet that had fallen loose from the knot at the back of her head. “My brother was a good soldier, although it probably took him a while to catch on to what was expected of him.”
“A name. I need a name if you expect us to hire you on the spot.”
She needed a name? That she could provide.
I’m sorry, Mr. Young, to use you so shamelessly.
“Donald Young. He fell at Kabul, but he was a fine man. One who would have gone far had he been allowed to live, and he would have vouched for me.” Donald Young was the only man who had been comfortable enough around her brother to call him a friend. Before Mr. Young left for Kabul, he had visited their home and was one of the nicest men Patience had ever met. While in training, Nicholas’s letters had been full of him, until Mr. Young had died. He would have helped her; of that she was certain. Patience’s hands didn’t shake—she hadn’t lied. Not outright.
The housekeeper’s face softened. She took a deep breath and straightened. The shadow that had crossed her face disappeared.
“This household lost a son in Kabul as well. And although the casualties are nothing like the wars when I was young, when it is your casualty, it is different, isn’t it? Still, we haven’t room for another servant.”
“What about Doris’s room?” The butler asked, still on the other side of the room. “She will be with her family for at least three months.”
“We don’t know that. What if she returns sooner?”
“Then we can deal with it then. If the sister of one of General Woodsworth’s men needs work, we can provide work.”
Mrs. Bated sighed but then nodded. “All right, Miss Young, and what is your name?”
Oh dear. She hadn’t thought the details through very well. How many half-truths would she need to tell every day just to maintain this charade? “Patience,” she said, even though perhaps she shouldn’t have. It was a lot harder to twist the truth of one’s own name. And it was one less misunderstanding she would need to keep track of.
“Patience,” said the housekeeper. “I am Mrs. Bates. This is Mr. Gilbert. We run a very tight household. I will expect work done on time and done well. Do you understand? No matter how cheap you come, you will be expected to work as hard as anyone else here. You traded that money for time off, not