Gina's Education by Mariah Bailey Read Free Book Online Page A

business.
    Master Robert asked, “Now, Mr. and Mrs. Walters, what can Mayhew House do for you?”
    The young man began, “I don’t know what you can do. She has no respect and she doesn’t do what I tell her.”
    Master Robert asked patiently, “What exactly is it you tell her?” Rose noted he didn’t add the customary ‘sir’ since the young man hadn’t.
    Mistress Rose was observing the young wife and she seemed to be seething.
    “When I go to work every day, I leave her a list of chores. When I come home, dinner is almost never ready and on the table, and half of what I told her to do isn’t done.”
    “Would you please make out a list of chores for me to see?” Master Robert then turned to Mrs. Walters. “What is it you expect the Mayhew House to do to improve your marriage?”
    Mr. Walters interrupted, “She isn’t the one to ask!”
    Master Robert looked him right in the eye and said very quietly, “In this house, sir , we do not interrupt.” The man opened his mouth and shut it immediately. Master Robert turned back to the woman and the conversation continued.
    Master Robert asked the pointed question, “Do you want to please your husband?”
    “Yes, sir, I do.” When she was through explaining her take on the way things were going, she said, “I just cannot please him!”
    “Do you honestly try?”
    “Yes.” To this, her husband scoffed.
    Mr. Walters handed over the list and Master Robert looked it over. “You give her the same instructions every day?”
    “Pretty much,” he answered.
    “And get the same results?”
    “She never gets half her chores done.”
    “If you do the same thing every day, why would you not expect the same results?” He waited for him to comprehend, and then he asked, “Mistress Rose, do you see a solution to this problem?”
    Without hesitation, she said, “Divorce.” When she looked at Master Robert she thought she saw him smirk. “I’m sorry,” she said, holding the list the man had written, “but short of a miracle, I don’t see these two together another month!”
    She handed back the list and said, “Half of this list would take a full eight hours to accomplish. The other half of the list is – well – silly. How important is it that the labels on the canned goods all face out?”
    It was Mr. Walters who spoke, taking his wife’s hand. “I don’t want to give up on us.”
    His wife said, “I don’t either, but I have always tried to do what you ask.”
    “There!” Master Robert stated, “Now, we have a beginning.”
    They set up appointments for the next four weeks and after they left, Rose asked, “Was my answer out of line, Sir?”
    Master Robert laughed. “They may have needed the shock of your answer.”
     
    *****
     
    Rose settled into a routine. In the mornings she took her walks along the shore, enjoying the sunshine and sea air. She was learning more self-control and appreciation of the nuances of reading people. Afternoons she learned about some new aspect of the playrooms below. Once she experienced a playroom, Master Robert had her work sometime during the week with clients in that room. Her favorite was wielding the whips and her clients were well pleased with her.
    She was grateful that so far Master Robert was the only man she’d had; she knew it was probably only a matter of time before she had to fulfill that part of her contract. Many evenings the Master had her hostess his dinner parties and intimate gatherings of friends.
    She continued to help work with John and Susan Walters. Master Robert felt the greater work with them was to teach him to be the master of his home. Mr Walter’s expectations of his wife proved unreasonable, and Robert first needed to understand why he was so demanding. Interviewing John revealed that his father treated his mother unreasonably. Once that was brought to light, Mr. Walters admitted that he knew his father was over-bearing, but he didn’t see himself repeating the process.