Anna and Gladys rushed around the room, back and forth, making their
mistress nervous. Their eyebrows were furrowed and eyes were squinting as
the worked, looking for the various items needed to clean their mistress
up. Without any words or even eye-catches each knew exactly what they had
to do and exactly what the other would do. They'd been dressing and
preparing the same girl, now woman, together for the past twenty years, her
entire life. They usually did so in a long, drawn-out, but all the same
efficient way, but today was different; today their mistress was getting
married.
Finally Anna stopped her rushing and Gladys soon followed suit, both surrounding the poor woman and 'making her pretty' as they said. Anna brushed through her hair quite roughly while Gladys tightened the corset. Soon both were done with their task and had moved onto putting on the actual dress for Gladys and applying make-up for Anna. After an hour and a half, their mistress was ready, and if it had been proper to do so, they would have exclaimed at how well they had done, but it was not and so they held their pride within them.
"If you don't mind me saying, Miss, you look lovely," Anna said, the bravest of the two, though a timid woman all the same. Her eyes looked up at her mistress almost pleadingly, hoping not to be chastised. To most, this situation would have looked funny, seeing a much older woman be so careful about her words around such a young woman.a girl, in fact, as she was thus far unmarried. But, that was the way it was, and both parties were quite used to their roles, so used to them in fact that had they been switched none would have known what to do.
"Thank you," she said quietly, nodding to Anna and Gladys. The two women understood her nod and left the room, ready to walk back up to the manor. Neither was invited to the wedding, as they were just maids, and they were prepared to do their duty by going back to the house and cleaning, though neither did so with much of a light heart.
As the sun set, the two women could be seen climbing up the hill, neither speaking to each other nor to those they passed, those on their way to the wedding. Their black dresses announced to all that passed that they were maids, low servants deserving nothing; not even a tip of a hat or a smile. And they didn't get either, that is until they passed a very peculiar man, not dressed at all properly for a wedding, nor for any occasion.
His clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn, as was everything else that the man wore. Even his hair and skin looked tattered and unclean, though he was not at all old and obviously not poor if he was heading for the wedding. No, this man was very odd indeed, and it was Anna's and Gladys' feeling that they should stay away from him from the moment they saw him. So, both women moved to the far side of the road, giving him plenty of room, but, for whatever reason, the man simply stepped closer to the women. He continued to move towards them as they moved away until the two women were walking up in the ditch and he was walking down the very edge of the road. As they passed the two women shuddered, but the man clasped his two hands together, and copying the Asian greeting, bowed to the women and offered a friendly, "'ello there loves."
Finally Anna stopped her rushing and Gladys soon followed suit, both surrounding the poor woman and 'making her pretty' as they said. Anna brushed through her hair quite roughly while Gladys tightened the corset. Soon both were done with their task and had moved onto putting on the actual dress for Gladys and applying make-up for Anna. After an hour and a half, their mistress was ready, and if it had been proper to do so, they would have exclaimed at how well they had done, but it was not and so they held their pride within them.
"If you don't mind me saying, Miss, you look lovely," Anna said, the bravest of the two, though a timid woman all the same. Her eyes looked up at her mistress almost pleadingly, hoping not to be chastised. To most, this situation would have looked funny, seeing a much older woman be so careful about her words around such a young woman.a girl, in fact, as she was thus far unmarried. But, that was the way it was, and both parties were quite used to their roles, so used to them in fact that had they been switched none would have known what to do.
"Thank you," she said quietly, nodding to Anna and Gladys. The two women understood her nod and left the room, ready to walk back up to the manor. Neither was invited to the wedding, as they were just maids, and they were prepared to do their duty by going back to the house and cleaning, though neither did so with much of a light heart.
As the sun set, the two women could be seen climbing up the hill, neither speaking to each other nor to those they passed, those on their way to the wedding. Their black dresses announced to all that passed that they were maids, low servants deserving nothing; not even a tip of a hat or a smile. And they didn't get either, that is until they passed a very peculiar man, not dressed at all properly for a wedding, nor for any occasion.
His clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn, as was everything else that the man wore. Even his hair and skin looked tattered and unclean, though he was not at all old and obviously not poor if he was heading for the wedding. No, this man was very odd indeed, and it was Anna's and Gladys' feeling that they should stay away from him from the moment they saw him. So, both women moved to the far side of the road, giving him plenty of room, but, for whatever reason, the man simply stepped closer to the women. He continued to move towards them as they moved away until the two women were walking up in the ditch and he was walking down the very edge of the road. As they passed the two women shuddered, but the man clasped his two hands together, and copying the Asian greeting, bowed to the women and offered a friendly, "'ello there loves."