Part 2
It was a week or two after this news that I overheard my sister crying in the lounge. Mother was comforting her and I feared the worst… either her fiancé Bertrand had been killed, or he’d broken off the engagement …thankfully it was neither. Agatha had written to mother with a proposition; send Mabel to her as Rebecca’s replacement where she’ll work as maid and housekeeper indefinitely, and in return, Mother will be the sole beneficiary of the entire estate. Of course mother was keen to send my nineteen year old sister because mother’s only concern is getting her hands on Agatha’s money.
My mother and sister discussed it for days before Mother wrote back to Agatha, explaining that Mabel is engaged to be married, but would consider the proposition if certain conditions are met, i.e. ‘normal’ working hours, a day off each week, a proper bedroom rather than the maid’s quarters and no mandatory corset. She also stipulated that her fiancé Bertrand moves in after the wedding and Mabel will divide her duties between her aunt and future husband.
A week passed before Agatha made contact. She flat refused to make any concessions and basically said that Mabel should call off the wedding if she wants to do right by her family. It was a tense and tearful time for my sister. One the one hand, she wanted to secure the inheritance for our strand of the family, but on the other, she didn’t want to break her engagement to Bertrand in exchange for years of servitude. Mabel and my mother discussed what to do at length. Both had their greedy eyes on Agatha’s estate and it didn’t take them long to set their beady eyes on me!
To begin with, I dismissed the suggestion as ridiculous. I knew nothing about housekeeping since it’s woman’s work, and had my studies to concentrate on in order to progress to university. I may only be fifteen but I’ve got far better things to do than play housekeeper for Aunt Agatha. “Any way, she wants a maid… I very much doubt she’d accept me as a replacement for Mabel purely on the grounds that I’m not a girl.”
“On the contrary Peter.” my mother replied. “I’ve already written to Agatha with my proposition and she’s more than happy to have you as her housekeeper instead of Mabel.”
“Well I’m not at all happy about it.” I retorted. My mother should have consulted me before she consulted Aunt Agatha, and Father would be turning in his grave if he knew I’d become a lowly manservant or valet for my cantankerous old aunt. I suggested my mother wrote to Aunt Agatha and suggested she find someone else to serve her, because I’m not going to it.
“Then she’d leave us nothing.” Mother stated.
“So?” I shrugged. “Father left us plenty.”
Mother told me that whilst father may have believed he’d left us plenty when he passed away (contracted typhoid on an overseas business trip, didn’t return), the money is fast running out and the way it’s looking, there won’t be enough to fund my higher education. I countered by suggesting that she spent less money on luxurious clothes & jewellery and spent less time wining and dining in expensive restaurants.
Mother’s retort was that we’re the sort of people who do wear expensive clothes and do dine in the best restaurants and that father would be turning in his grave if we were anything less. “If you don’t go to Agatha’s, then someone else will and they’ll get everything and you’ll get nothing.” she told me. “Is that what you want?”
My sister interjected and said there’s nothing wrong with being a manservant. “It’s only a stone’s throw from being a butler, and that a most prestigious role.” she claimed.
Only if you’re the King’s butler, I figured. Mother assured me that it would only be for a year, maybe two. “Agatha’s not got long left… even when I was a girl she was an old woman.” she claimed. “She must be well into her sixties.” she added.
“But what about my studies?” I asked. Father’s dying wish was that I attend university. He even left a trust fund to facilitate it.
“We’ve been living of that trust fund for the last two years Peter.” Mother informed me. “Once we’ve inherited Agatha’s estate, you can go to any university you want… Oxford, Cambridge, even Harvard!” she claimed. “Money will be no object… all you need to do is take a year or two out, the rewards will come back tenfold… a hundred fold.”
“Why can’t Mabel take a year or two out?” I asked. Bertrand can wait and year or two, so why does it have to be me?
“Because Bertrand’s very well-to-do.” my mother said. “And so is your sister. Aside from having to cancel the wedding… she’d lose her social standing if people knew she’d worked as a mere housemaid.” she claimed. “I can’t imagine that Bertrand’s parents would be too happy about him marrying a mere servant either.”
“And what about my social standing?” I asked. “I’d be a mere valet or manservant or whatever you call it.”
“You’re barely out of short trousers Peter… you don’t have a social standing.” my mother said. “That you’ll gain at university, and the better the university, the bigger your social standing shall be.”