The Bachelor's Bargain by Catherine Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

Slocombe House.
    Having begun her work there as a housemaid, Anne had seen what that life offered. The rows of beds for the staff were filled with sleeping kitchenmaids, scullery maids, parlor maids, and maids-of-all-work. Dimly lit and musty, the rooms contained nothing more homelike than beds, trunks, hooks for dresses and aprons, washbasins, and chamber pots. Their thin, yellowed walls and bare wood floors contrasted sharply with the opulent lower levels of Slocombe House, which were outfitted with luxurious carpets, velvet draperies, gilt wallpapers, and cheery fireplaces. The poorly ventilated servants’ quarters stayed hot all summer and frigid all winter.
    How dare she complain? Yet, in her tenure at Slocombe House, Anne had discovered she was never alone. At mealtimes, the kitchen staff dined together in the kitchen, the household staff ate in the servants’ hall, and the upper servants supped in the steward’s room. The remainder of her time was spent in tending to the needs of Prudence Watson. Anne bathed, dressed, read her Bible, and worked her lace in the company of the young woman. Even on the rare afternoon off, she was compelled by Miss Watson to attend church or to stroll the grounds with her. Though the two had become friends, the difference in their rank could never be denied. Anne could refuse Miss Watson nothing, and that included talking through the night if her mistress wished.
    The tall clock in the corridor outside their room chimed the hour of three in the morning. In two more hours the bell would ring, young ladies would fly out of bed, scrub their faces, pull on dresses, aprons, and mobcaps, and scurry to their posts. Anne would be among them, though she had not been permitted to sleep for a moment.
    “You are not actually thinking of stealing the lace from the marquess, are you?” Prudence asked, the note of hope in her voice heavily tinged with dread. “I know your father was among the Nottingham Luddites and upheld their creeds. What were they?”
    “Determination. Free liberty.”
    “Aye, and look what their determination to have freedom got them, Anne. Look what they received in return for all their sledgehammers and muskets.”
    Sledgehammers and muskets. Anne wondered if Prudence realized that at first, the Luddites had been a peaceful group—resorting to smashing machines only when their demands for reasonable compensation, acceptable work conditions, and quality control were refused. All that had changed three years ago with a particularly violent attack at a mill in Lancashire. A large body of Luddites, some said more than a thousand, had attacked the mill, which was defended by well-armed guards. Then the government got involved, and many, including Anne’s father, were convicted, imprisoned, some even hanged.
    For generations—hundreds of years—the beautiful, handmade lace and stockings of Nottinghamshire had dominated the English market. But with the advent of machinery, Anne’s father had watched his beloved parishioners endure a drastic decrease in income and prestige. Most had been forced to submit to the regimented and cruel treatment of factory owners just to feed their families.
    Prudence was speaking again. “One must know one’s place in the world. If you are a stockinger making seven shillings a week, you had better stay a stockinger, no matter how many machines the hosiers bring in. That is your place. Anne, your father may have preached that all people are the same in God’s eyes, but I am sorry to tell you he was wrong. There are royalty, nobility, merchants, and laborers. You cannot go from one to the other. I am a tradesman’s daughter, and both of my sisters are married to tradesmen. Our wealth and happy connections with Society’s elite cannot erase our low position among them. You are a housemaid, and your job is to serve the duke’s family. It has been God’s hand that put the two of us together again, for if I leave Slocombe, you will not be