Maid for a Duke (A Christmas Novella)

Chapter 2

Katherine Bennett, Maid

"But what if she runs into scoundrels?"

"Scoundrels? What if she meets a man?!"

"Oh, please, Alice, our dear sister won't know what to do if she meets a worthy male."

Katherine Bennett rubbed her temples before she looked, yet again, down the long stretch of snow for the mail coach. As nervous as she was to start this new chapter in her life, she believed space from her two sisters was needed. As well as her mother...

"Now, Katherine, do you remember everything I told you about your new job?"

"Yes, Mother," Katherine answered in a tired voice. Her mother taught her all about the joys of being a maid. The constant dusting of the shutters, paintings, and wall hangings. Not to mention, preparing the stoves, fireplaces, and cleaning the hearths. There was also the cleaning of the bedrooms, including the-

"Do you think you'll get to meet the Duke?" Her sister Mary asked.

"I don't know, Mary. I haven't gotten there yet," Katherine quipped. You love your sisters, you love your sisters, she reminded herself.

Alice scoffed at Mary's question. "Come now, Mary. You know the lower class, such as ourselves, don't get to have lunch and chat with the Duke."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I didn't ask if she was having lunch with him. I asked if she was going to meet him."

"Oh, look," Katherine said with excitement and relief, "there's the mail coach. Looks like I better be off now."

Katherine said her goodbyes to her sisters before she turned to her mother.

"I am so proud of you, my darling girl. Please, take care of yourself and make sure to write me."

Katherine may have been dying to leave, but now that it was officially time to board the mail coach, she was feeling anxious. She hugged her mother tightly and said with a shaky voice, "I will write you every day, Mother. I love you."

Katherine boarded the mail coach with her small trunk that had her only dress, a book, and bread and fruit. She looked out the window and waved goodbye to the only home she's ever known. When she could no longer see them, she sat back in the coach with disbelief. She couldn't believe it. She was actually on her way to be a maid in the Duke of Kent's estate.

When her mother got wind that they were looking for another maid, she suggested Katherine. It took them some time and a lot of favors to afford this mail coach to get her there. Katherine was ecstatic at the news. Finally, something she could do for herself. She could be on her own for the first time.

She remembered her sister's reaction to the news clearly:

"Katherine, you have the chance to do something real," Alice had said.

"You may meet someone there. You can get wed and start a family. Maybe he will even be titled," Mary had added. She was always the optimist.

"My lovely sisters, you know I cannot marry someone titled. It's not the way of things."

Mary smiled and glanced from Alice back to Katherine. "But imagine if you did! Imagine if you wed a man, a real man. Then you know..."

The three sisters giggled at the implied remark.

Katherine smiled to herself in the mail coach. It was a lovely memory that filled her heart with warmth. Katherine noticed it had started snowing and it seemed to be picking up speed. "Sir, how long until we arrive at the castle?" She asked the driver.