4 Chapter 4

Mathew wakes up the next morning to find Lily isn't there and it's past four o'clock.

"Where have you gone, Lily?" A knock on the door was heard as he waited.

" Lily!" he yelled.

But it was Piper and Maggie who walked in, not Lily. "Sorry, my Lord, Lily is not available at the moment, she has gone somewhere else," Piper explained.

"Where has she gone?" Matthew inquired.

"The lady's maid Rebecca summoned her as she was coming to the mansion to wake my lord," piper explained.

"Lady Cotton, summoned her," Matthew said angrily.

When he notices his rage, he notices Maggie hiding behind Piper. He approaches her and says. "How are you doing these days? Were you terrified after that bad lady hit you?"

She gives a nod.

"Don't worry, that bad lady won't hurt you anymore," Matthew smiled.

Hey stands up and walks in front of Piper.

"Where was she summoned?" inquires the Duke.

"I'm guessing she was taken to the Roseland Garden," Piper replied.

"Good, get me my coat," Matthew said. Maggie is holding his coat as he prepares to leave.

"What is it, dear Maggie?" he kneels.

"Please save big sister Lily," Maggie begged.

"I certainly will," Matthew says as he storms out of the mansion.

Lily is standing next to the lady smoking her pipe in the Roselane garden.

"I've heard good things about you, you aren't an easy woman, you've been fired from a lot of jobs, and now you work as a personal maid for the duke," Lady Cotton said.

"Yes, Miss," Lily said, terrified.

"Do you know the Duke?" inquired the lady.

"No, ma'am, I don't know much about the Duke, but he is mostly concerned with his staff," Lily responds.

"Interesting," the lady says as she stands up and examines her, "what would you do if you left the Duke?"

"Excuse me?" lily asked, perplexed.

"Did you hear correctly, what would you do if you left the Duke to work for me? I assure you that I will pay twice as much as he did "explains the lady

"I..." Before she can finish her sentence, Matthew rushes over and grabs her.

"What are you doing here, you made me lose my sword practice, what are you going to do now?"

"I.." Lily is terrified as she looks at Matthew.

"Please do not interrupt our conversation. Matthew" said the lady

"It's better if you don't talk Lady Cotton, she's my maid and she can't leave my premises until I say so," Matthew yelled angrily. "Let's go," Matthew says as he holds her and walks away.

The lady grins and tosses the tea.

While walking, he has a hard grip on Lily, which hurts her. "Sir, it hurts," Lily says.

"Listen here, you are my maid, not hers, don't run without my permission unless it's an emergency," he says as he slams her against the wall.

"Yes, sir, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience," lily says, looking down.

He blushes as he notices her sad expression. Lily notices him turning red and asks, "Are you all right, sir?"

"Yes, go rest and come back tomorrow, I'm not in the mood," Matthew says as he walks away.

When Lily returns to the quarters, everyone rushes to her, and Maggie runs up to her and hugs her.

"Are you okay?" Anne inquired.

"I'm fine," Lily said.

"I was afraid the lady would punish you," Linda said, "but I see you're fine."

"Man, the duke was enraged when he heard the lady summoned her; he stormed off like a knight saving his princess."

"How romantic," Maria remarks.

"Nothing stands between me and the Duke," Lily says, blushing.

"Yeah right," Piper says, giggling at her and Maggie.

Back in the office, the Duke was becoming distracted by thoughts of Lily, asking himself, "Why am I thinking of her?" He drank some water and reflected on her anger, sadness, and times when she was happy.

"What's the matter with me?"

---------

A two years have passed unnoticed and Lily had grown to be a Member of the house.

Later, after her fifth month, as a reward for her excellent services to the house, she was given the opportunity to change her name to Evelyn because Lily appears common, and changing her name would be professional when accompanying him to a meeting.

She quickly adjusted to her new name and assumed all of the Duke's responsibilities as his maid.

As days passed she was always with Matthew, she got more and more tired

"Hey Evelyn, are you taking note of this?" inquired the Duke. Evelyn, who had been daydreaming, quickly came to her senses and asked respectfully, "Can you repeat?"

"Evelyn, pay close attention. You must now report to me all letters taken on a daily basis and check them.

"Yes, My Lord," Evelyn replied.

While the Duke was busy accounting, she returned to the study and began handling the documents.

"I have finished my work, My Lord," Evelyn said as she set down the letters. She notices some errors in the reports as she goes through some papers the Duke is working on.

"My lord, may I suggest something?" Evelyn asked.

"If it's not important, don't say anything; can't you see I'm busy?" While delivering his report, the Duke became enraged.

"My lord, Thank you; there may be some errors in these reports," Evelyn said.

"What mistakes?" Matthew was questioned

"Yes, My Lord, may I analyze your accounts?" Evelyn asked.

"How can you be certain?" asked the Duke, tapping his pen.

"Trust me," Evelyn said, putting her hand to her chest.

Evelyn removes the sheets from the table and points out the errors in the calculations.

The Duke was surprised when he saw the mistakes and asked, "How did you solve this?"

"I know mathematics, and I even help the head maid with her finances," she explained. "Do you know how to read and write?"

She suddenly realized she was no longer in her world, and that the person whose body she had possessed was a commoner who had not studied.

She quickly stated, "A little." My lord, I may be a commoner, and I did not attend school, but My lord taught me to read, write, and calculate. My mother wasn't always there because she worked as a maid for the lord. Every weekend, I would sneak away to his and his wife's house and learn from him," Lily said, smiling at Evelyn.

" What an intelligent man, he sure taught you a lot" said the Duke smiling

" yes, Mr. Hikkins was like a father to me, he was my father's brother after father died due to sickness, Mr. Hikkins took care of me after mother started working as a maid. He was my everything, but soon he too departed to heaven with his wife, so in order to repay him I'll work hard to fulfill his dream" said Evelyn with determination.

" his dream?" he inquired

"Yes, he always wanted to be a teacher but couldn't because of his parents, so I want to carry on his legacy by becoming a teacher to teach illiterate children to read and write, and that's why I want to save money to get my license," Evelyn explained.

"I like your motivation," Matthew said.

"Thank you, My Lord," Evelyn said.

Matthew was impressed when he saw how happy she was while checking the accounts. When he saw her smile, his heart began to race.

When Evelyn saw the Duke, she asked, "Are you all right, My Lord?" She was curious.

Suddenly, Matthew came to, "uh... oh yeah, that's it for today, see you tomorrow," said the Duke as he stood up.

"Certainly, My Lord, please have a good night," Evelyn said as she walked out of the office.

The Duke sighed and sat back in his chair, wondering, "What just happened?" He notices her smile and orders blues for her.

He summoned her to the office the following day. "Evelyn" "I've seen you do things that no commoner has done," the Duke said.

"Please forgive me if I inadvertently disrupted your work," said Evelyn, who taught the Duke, was enraged because she thought she was smarter than her master.

When he sees her puppy face, he smiles and says, "Walk with me to the market."

"Yes, My Lord," Evelyn said as she prepared the carriage.

She tells her to sit beside him as they prepare to leave.

"Where would you like to go, My Lord?" she inquired.

"Don't be concerned; I asked the coachman where we were going. When she sees the Duke happy, she gets a strange feeling.

The stop was near the most expensive tailor shop in London, and Evelyn asked, "Are you looking for a suit?" He enters without saying anything.

"My lord Morrison, what do I owe you a pleasure?" asked the tailor.

"Please give me the finest dresses for this lady," replied the Duke.

"What !.." Evelyn and the tailor were both questioned at the same time.

"Don't keep me waiting," Matthew said.

"Certainly, My Lord," he says as he leads Evelyn to the dressing room. There, she tries on every dress that is given to her.

"How do you like it?" the Duke inquired.

"It's nice, My Lord," he says, "but why are you buying me clothes?"

"It's because, from tomorrow onwards, you are to be my secretary," the Duke smiled, passing her a noble rank, "you are no longer a commoner, nor are your family, from this day onwards, I pronounce you Baroness Evelyn Montefiore."

"What do you mean?" "I can't accept this kind of job," Evelyn stated.

"Why?" inquired the Duke.

"I just wanted to help," Evelyn explained.

He pats her head and says, "you are an intelligent girl who is smarter than me and you should not waste your talents I assure you I will help you archive your dream and pay you with good money for your mother and your dream of opening a school" and holds both of her shoulders. He turns to the tailor, " please arrange them to the mansion"

"Certainly, My Lord," the tailor replied.

Evelyn was overjoyed that she had finally realized her dream, and she quickly regained her position as the Duke's Secretary, making her mother happy as they began their new life in the mansion.

Lady Morrison, who checked on Evelyn, said, "This girl has impressed me, let's see what else she has in store for this house."

A year has passed, and Evelyn is now twenty years old, and she has continued to serve the Duke as his secretary. As the days passed, more inflation occurred in the United Kingdom, and as the secretary, she has become a workaholic.

Since the Easter festival was yet to come, The duke, Evelyn and other officers present in the office always kept themselves busy.

"Check Mr. Knightsburg's accounts for the shipment of this month's goods," the Duke says to Evelyn.

"Yes." Evelyn immediately lowered her gaze to her notes, "Everything is in order, and the baron mentioned that many people have recently come to the bank to exchange silver. We're concerned that something we don't know about has occurred."

Yeah." Matthew gave a nod. "Hmph, she knows more than I do; if she had been a higher noble, she would have been a famous auditor, but what if she was?" Evelyn, who was preoccupied with her work, noticed the Duke daydreaming.

"My lord... My lord, what about this?" she asked.

"Oh yes.. Proceed," Matthew said.

Matthew frequently forgets that Evelyn, his maid, is now his secretary. The duke would take his time understanding his reports, but preparing the minutes was a piece of cake for her. She had already mastered the ability to record while in a trance.

She, in fact, took the initiative and volunteered to take the minutes.

Matthew was initially adamantly opposed to this. He thought it was superfluous. He was confident that he could recall them and would not forget what he had heard. It was just that he had always tolerated this girl before, but now that she wants to work hard, she has won his heart. But he had no idea the meeting minutes would be so useful. It was much easier for him to understand the answer from this information after working with Evelyn.

Furthermore, after each meeting, Evelyn will allow all participants to go over the minutes to ensure that there were no omissions or misprints, and she will ask everyone to confirm if the details were correct before stamping their fingerprints to show acknowledgment and responsibility.

"Despite being a lady, you are certainly knowledgeable," said one lord.

"If something went wrong in the future, all you'd have to do is go back through those records and see who lied and who didn't report it," Evelyn stated this. The lady had also expressed her admiration for love of working

Back at the main mansion, the lady of Morrison sips her tea " what news do you bring on the new baroness"

"She has everyone's attention, and many people compliment her on being so knowledgeable and in that the Duke thinks her a lot and spends more time with her till night," Rebecca, the lady's personal maid, said.

"Someone who could think of this method is a very wise person. Few girls would be able to quickly jot down all of the important points during a discussion. He began to suspect that this girl was not an ordinary person from that point forward. But, in terms of herself, she may not be as well-organized as she is at work." Lady Morrison stated.

The maid responded, "Her coworkers claimed that when she worked with the Duke, she was aware that she had been silently observed by her boss for a long time. But she was always on her toes when it came to her work. It was difficult for her to work as a secretary during these years. Not only did she work all year, but she frequently had to work hard overtime until midnight."

"Interesting," commented the lady smoking her pipe.

"In short, she didn't plan to fall in love or marry anyone in this life, and... well, having the duke by her side," the head maid continued.

"Interesting, let's see more of this child," the lady said.

"In short, she didn't plan to fall in love or marry anyone in this life, and... well, having the duke by her side, it looks like she might catch the Duke's interest" the head maid continued.

"Interesting, let's see more of this child," the lady said.

"What are your plans for the girl?" inquired Rebecca

"Big things, Rebecca, big things," said the lady as she extinguished her smoke pipe