The New Maid’s Duties
by
Gypsy de Wilde
Smashwords Edition
The New Maid’s Duties
Copyright © 2010 by Gypsy de Wilde
ISBN: 978-1-4523-8392-7
The Civil War was over. Servants were now paid for their work. Margaret Daniels, a young widow, finds herself needing a job. But that’s not all she needs. She needs bedding in the worst way. Is Master Bartholomew Steadman, her new employer, up to the task? And what exactly will her duties be as the new maid in the house?
An erotic short by courtesan, Gypsy de Wilde
The Master of the house strode through the hallway, grim-faced, slapping his kidskin gloves against his thigh in agitation. He had better things to do than to inspect a rag-tag crop of servants. But he must do his duty, it was expected—if he didn’t expire from boredom first.
“Simon, do knock the dust off that coat before Missus Abigail sees you. She’ll positively have a snit.” Master Bartholomew slapped at the front of the worn, gaping jacket with a glove. Dust peppered the air. “Don’t show yourself in this house like that again, you hear?”
“Yessir, Master Bart. I won’t, sir. I wuz a hurryin’—”
Bartholomew cut him off sharply. “Did I ask? Just don’t set off the Missus. Take care of it.” He watched Simon rush to the side door and slip out. Then Bart moved on down the line, insisting on cleaner hands or a haircut, just as his older sister, Abigail, required. She ruled the house-hold with an iron petticoat, or so she thought. Bartholomew had his ways of breaking the tediousness of raising cotton and tobacco, though. But he dared not let dear sister know anything about them.
As he reached the end of the long line of servants, he found just such a distraction. Mrs. Harper, the head housekeeper, stood waiting—wishing his approval on a new employee. A fine looking wench, too, he saw as his eyes traveled up and down her modestly clad form as she sat in a chair, patiently awaiting his decision.
“Who have we here, Mrs. Harper? A new face, I do believe.” The Master’s eyes were glued to her ample breasts straining to escape the buttons down the front of her traveling dress. She appeared to be a lady of a slightly lower class or one of their own who’d fallen on hard times.
“She be Margaret Daniels, sir,” the housekeeper spoke quietly. “She wants to be the new maid we need fer the downstairs. I fair think she’d do well to serve tea to the guests and mind the front rooms. Missus Abigail might enjoy her company. Her pa, Ezekiel Johnson, wants to hire her out to us as she’s widowed and left with naught. He wants her to learn a trade to make her own way.”
Mrs. Harper held her tongue rather than say what kind of trade the Master would be aiming to teach her. The poor lass would be lucky if she didn’t go the way of the “caught-up” maid she was replacing. The head housekeeper sighed, determined to teach this girl about vinegar soaked wads of cotton this very day. At least there was no virtue left to worry about with her a widow, not that a maidenhead stopped him with the last one. Well, she’d not get much work out of the new maid for days, either, she reckoned as she saw the way the Master was eyeing her.
Bartholomew realized he’d stared quite long enough when the attractive, dark-haired young woman’s cheeks turned a bright pink and she refused to raise her eyes.
Master Bart laid a hand on Mrs. Harper’s shoulder and whispered, “You’ve done well, Harpy. There will be a bonus in your packet the end of the month.” He walked over to the widow’s chair and greeted her abruptly.
“Margaret Daniels, you’ll do, I believe. But you must stand when your betters enter, if you’re to be a proper servant.”
She stood and hastily dropped him a curtsey. It was going to be difficult to remember her place, and this household evidently set great stock by it.
The Master liked what he saw of her even more. Only shoulder high to him, she was shapely but not portly. She filled out her dress in all the best spots, he noted as the fabric strained across her bosom.
“Margaret...no, we’ll make it Meg. Better suits your current station. We’ll teach you to earn your keep, and maybe an extra coin or two, if you do just as you’re told. Mrs. Harper, I’ll be taking my tea in the study this morning. Send Meg in with it as soon as it’s prepared. No time like the present to get her started in her new position.”