Chapter Nine
Monday didn’t start auspiciously. The second housemaid fell down the back stairs and broke her leg.
“Two maids short,” Mrs. Early said, stout and agitated. “It can’t be done, ma’am. Not a house of this size, and with Miss Durham staying.”
After Isabella had soothed the housekeeper and sent her off to the registry office to hire a new housemaid, she carried the news upstairs to Mrs. Westin’s parlor, where she found not just her cousin, but Harriet as well.
“Oh, let me help!” cried Harriet, putting down the handkerchief she was hemming. “I can dust and make beds and—”
“Thank you, my dear, but it’s not necessary.” Isabella smiled at her. A pile of handkerchiefs lay on the sofa alongside the girl. Isabella picked up the top one. It had been hemmed so neatly that the stitches
