PROLOGUE
march 1939.
"Can I help you?" the young man before me asked. He had opened the door and I was looking nervously at him. He was obviously one of the family members of the Blake family. I cursed a bit in my mind. "I am here for interview." He looked at me blankly. "For the job as ladies maid?" I asked again. He nodded. "I am sorry. Come in. I will ring Mrs. Bates for you. She is in charge." "I know. I am their adoptive daughter," I muttered irritated. He smiled a bit stiffly. "Mrs. Bates, there is someone here for you!" he called out.
"George, please could you mind your volume?" asked a woman with an aristocratic voice. "Your sister is having an headache." George nodded. "Yes, mother." "Very well. I'm going to visit Edith, please tell Anna I am back for dinner." He nodded again. "You are Anna's daughter right?" she turned towards me. "Yes, I am milady," I said. She nodded. I looked at my skirt and at my shoes. "Helena! What are you doing here?" my mothers voice asked. I looked up. "Anna, maybe you can talk this through in your private quarters?" My mother nodded and dragged me with here.
"Mother! I just want a job. And you were talking with father about it, so I thought I could do it. You learned me just enough to get do it right!" I shouted a bit but I didn't care. "I know. And your father and I agree that you can work here. But there was no need to come here and shout around. What kind of impressions do you want to give Lady Mary?" I sat back. "Sorry mother." She nodded. While she informed my father I changed into some proper attire. My flowery skirt with its many colors was my favorite skirt. My white blouse was a bit standard but fashion wasn't my forte.
Once I was at the hallway I went to search my mother. I looked averywhere but the house is quite big. Not as big as the Downton house were the other Crawleys lived, as my mother once told me but it was a bit of a maze for me. Suddenly I bumped into something solid. I was steadied by a pair of nice, warm hands. I looked up quickly and saw dark blue eyes looking at me. It was the George guy. "I didn't look where I was going. I am sorry," he said. "Well, you should be," I said winking. He laughed. "Altough bumping into pretty girls is a nice thing." He let go of me and I steadied myself again. Was he flirting? That was odd. He looked very distant when he opened the door. I grinned. "Maybe we should bump into eachother again," I suggested. He smiled. "Let's do that." With that he walked away. He just walked away!