III

"But nothing makes a room feel emptier than wanting someone in it."

—Calla Quinn; All the Time

III.

Grace arrived, worldly possessions in tow, ten minutes before six the next morning. While the village slept, the house was awake, with the servants all sitting down to breakfast before they commenced their daily responsibilities.

Grace knew of several of the servants. They all attended the same church and frequented the odd public assembly. She had even danced with a few of the footmen on occasion. Despite all being servants, there was a certain stature afforded to one who worked in the great Ashwood estate.

Mrs Hayes introduced Grace briefly to the household over their bowls of porridge, before taking her into the butler's study. It was a similar size and layout to Mrs Hayes' sitting room, and an older, bespectacled man sat in a leather chair, his nose buried in that morning's newspaper.

"Good morning, Mr Cole," greeted Mrs Hayes cheerfully.

The newspaper crinkled as Mr Cole looked over it. He offered Mrs Hayes a polite smile before setting his newspaper down on his desk. He was dressed immaculately, as only the butler of Ashwood House would be.

Mr Cole had been the butler of Ashwood for eons. Grace could remember him scolding her and Adam for running about downstairs when they were children. She almost shivered noticeably as another memory unwittingly bubbled to the forefront of her mind.

"Allow me to formally introduce Grace Denham," said Mrs Hayes. "Grace is replacing Frances Rivers."

Grace could remember hearing Frances Rivers' name being read out in church during the marriage banns.

"Welcome to you, Grace," replied Mr Cole courteously, though not in a way that he recognised her as Mrs Hayes did. His light blue eyes returned to the housekeeper. "You are to begin making arrangements?" he checked.

Mrs Hayes nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "When will you alert the house?"

"I am waiting on a confirmation. I do not want to be mistaken and have the news spread falsely," Mr Cole said coyly.

Grace knew the tone. This was not a conversation for her ears, and she respectfully vacated the room, waiting out into the hallway, returning to her bags. As much as she knew it was none of her business, she could not help but feel curious about the subject. What exactly was the house to learn, and when would they learn it?

Mrs Hayes emerged moments later and said nothing, and Grace knew better than to ask. She motioned for Grace to follow her, before leading her to a narrow staircase.

My, it had been a long time since she had been up and down these staircases. Grace knew they ran all through the internal walls of Ashwood House. Purposefully hidden behind concealed doors to allow the servants to slip in and out without being noticed by the fine, fancy figures who graced the halls.

Mrs Hayes did not show her age at all as she led Grace up a number of staircases to the third storey of the house. What might have once been a large attic, or a roof cavity, was converted into two dozen little bedrooms. The hallway was long and narrow, illuminated only by lamps; there were no windows. The hallway was cut in two, a door separating one half from another.

"The housemaids, kitchen and scullery maids, cook, and I, sleep through here," explained Mrs Hayes. "Only Mrs Reynolds, the cook, and I, have keys to this door." Mrs Hayes produced a set of keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, leading Grace through to an identical hallway filled with bedrooms for the female servants.

Mrs Hayes found the room that she was looking for on the right and opened the door inward. This room had a little window, facing east, and the light from the sunrise had begun to stream into the small room. There were two little beds, neatly made, as well as two identical sets of drawers. A mirror, basin, and writing desk completed the simple furnishings.

A dark uniform was folded on one of the beds, alongside a white apron and cap.

"This will be your bed," Mrs Hayes motioned to the bed with the clothing. "And those are you drawers. You share this room with Ruby Trickett, though she is already downstairs." She took a breath and smiled. "I admire what you do for your family, Grace," she complimented. "It must not be easy with your mother so indisposed. I hope you will come to me if you do need any help."

"Thank you," said Grace gratefully, "again, for everything," she emphasised.

Mrs Hayes nodded to the uniform on the bed. "I will leave you to dress. Then I will direct you to your morning responsibilities."

***

Grace was shown the quickest routes to get to certain rooms in the house via the servants' staircases. Despite having played in the house years ago, it was still difficult for her to get her bearings, and the tour did help.

Most of the rooms were shut, with large sheets draped over the ornate furnishings because the Beresfords were not at home to use them. But today, Mrs Hayes was pulling down the sheer lace curtains that hung behind the drapes at every window and laundering them.

It was Grace's task then, owing to the fact she had small and nimble hands and experience in mending expensive fabrics, to comb over every inch and mend any tears, snags or pulls in the expensive curtains. There was a smell about the curtains, one that often lingered when a room had been shut up for a long period. She supposed they were lucky that the curtains had not been destroyed by mothballs.

As time consuming and fiddly as the task was, Grace settled in, grateful for the work, and knowing that every shilling she was earning would be feeding her mother and siblings well

The curtains from the drawing, dining, library, sitting and parlour rooms were all folded on the servants' dining table, while Grace sat with the first one in her hands. She was not sure what time it was, but Mrs Reynolds and the kitchen maids were starting on the midday meal.

A redheaded maid sat down on the bench seat beside Grace. She had large, green eyes and a handful of freckles across her nose. Smiling, she said, "Mrs Hayes asked me to come and assist you. I am Ruby Trickett."

Grace realised that this was the Ruby who would be sharing her room. "Grace Denham," she introduced herself. "It's lovely to meet you."

Ruby nodded in reciprocation. "You don't happen to have any idea why we are suddenly mending curtains, do you?" she asked curiously as she picked up the other end of the curtain that Grace was inspecting, beginning to look for imperfections.

"No," replied Grace.

Ruby found a pull nearly immediately and fetched a needle and thread from the sewing kit to begin fixing it. "Where were you working before coming to Ashwood?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"I worked for the Slickson family," replied Grace. "Do you know them?"

Ruby grinned. "Of course," she enthused. "Dear me, is not Arthur Slickson terribly handsome?" she asked, a slight blush to her cheeks.

Grace wagered that Ruby would get on well with her sister, Claire. They both seemed to appreciate the handsome Arthur Slickson. Although Claire was much too shy to admit it. Not that Grace exactly approved, no matter how rich he was. Vanity was not something Grace enjoyed in a man's character.

"He is not ugly," Grace allowed, to which Ruby laughed.

Grace settled into the task well, chatting to Ruby nonchalantly and finding that she enjoyed her light-hearted conversation. She seemed an easy person to get to know, and Ruby liked to talk about a lot of different light topics and did not like to delve into the droll. Ruby was twenty, and from a small village ten miles away. Her aunt was a housekeeper for the Earl of Greenwich and had recommended her to Mrs Hayes six months earlier.

As they sewed, Grace noticed Mrs Hayes enter the kitchen a little while later, speaking quietly to Mrs Reynolds as she prepared luncheon.

"You stitch so neatly," complimented Ruby. "You would not even know that there had been a tear."

Grace's attention returned to the hole that she had just repaired, admiring it with a small smile. She supposed she did mend rather well. "I have four younger siblings," she replied. "Mending, altering, hemming, mending again, was all a part of growing up."

No sooner had she finished that sentence, the kitchen door burst open, and Grace jumped with such a fright that she pricked her finger suddenly with her needle. A bead of blood dripped from the tip of her index finger as her head, and the head of every other person in the room, turned towards the commotion at the door.

Three people, two men and a woman, entered the kitchen with searching eyes. The first person through the door was a young woman, an impossibly pretty, young woman, with two perfect blonde curls framing her face below a rose-coloured bonnet. Her spencer coat was the same shade of pink as her bonnet, and it went over a fine white gown.

The first man into the kitchen was young as well, with a handsome, albeit tired looking, face. He was a head taller than the woman and sported a lean torso. His brown hair looked unkempt, as though it hadn't been comped, and his coat and breeched, while rich looking, appeared slept in.

The second man was as handsome, if not more so, than the first. He looked the oldest of the three and was slightly taller than his male companion. He was just as lean, and dressed just as richly, though his attire was neat and uncrumpled. His shoulders were broad, and his jaw was strong and mature. His hair was lighter than the other man's, having a slight curl to it, and it was combed out of his eyes. His eyes, Grace could see from where she was, were hazel, and in them she could see the boy she once knew.

But he wasn't a boy anymore. He was a man, and he was here.

Grace was frozen to the bench seat she was sitting on as she stared at him. Adam was here, after twelve years! On the day she had begun working at Ashwood, it had to be some cruel trick of fate.

But Adam didn't see her. His smile was for Mrs Hayes, and Grace's heart flipped in her chest as she saw it. It was almost like her heart missed it and would not listen to her head. He might've grown up, but him smile still looked the same. His cheeks still swelled, and the smile reached his large eyes.

"Miss Hayes!" cried Susanna Beresford, her arms extending out to her childhood nanny.

In Grace's shock, she had not seen the look of pure adulation on the face of Mrs Hayes. She cried out in delight as happy tears began to fall down her rosy cheeks as she received Susanna. She hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "Oh, my girl!" she cried. "You are a lady!" She gasped as she looked up, and she reached her Jack.

Grace watched as Jack nearly fell into his nanny, bending his head to her shoulder as he hugged her, Susanna shifting so that he had room. From what she could see of Jack in that moment, he needed that affection.

"Oh, my darling, Jack!" gushed Mrs Hayes, as she all but petted his head, just like she would have if he were a child, before her eyes settled on Adam. "Both of you boys have grown into such handsome young men. I can scarcely believe it!"

"You have not changed at all, Miss Hayes," Adam assured her, and Grace sucked in a silent gasp as she heard his adult voice for the first time.

He had still sounded like a boy when she had last spoken to him, but now he sounded like a man, with a deep, confident, calm voice. It was enough to send what felt like the thirty-seventh shiver down her spine.

When Jack released Mrs Hayes, Adam leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, before hugging her as his siblings had. Mrs Hayes stood up on her toes as she cupped the back of his head, just like a mother would when she cradled her child.

"I was not expecting you today! Not that this isn't the best of surprises!" remarked Mrs Hayes and she pulled away and stood before the three Beresford siblings.

"We came home early," replied Adam. "I hope it will not be too much of an inconvenience to open the house."

"Oh, no!" dismissed Mrs Hayes. "I will have the maids—oh!" she cried, and Grace knew exactly where her mind had gone.

No. There was no way she was ready to face the man who had once been her friend, her ...

How could she anyway? He had made it quite clear a long time ago the difference between themselves, and Grace was sitting there as definitive proof that he was right. She somehow found the strength to rise from her seat, jumping over the bench and diving into the laundry, hiding from where Adam would be looking in mere moments.

"Oh, you will want to see ..." Mrs Hayes stopped abruptly when she realised that Grace was no longer sitting at the dining table mending curtains. "Where did she go?" she wondered. "Oh, never mind. Come on now, you three had best get upstairs and changed and I will arrange for the house to be opened. How glad I am to have you three home."