WANTED: Nanny for three children. Two of them are afflicted in body but sharp in mind. The third child can be precocious and expresses high intelligence. Must bear a thorough knowledge of all basic subjects, language skills in French and German, physicality to manage the energies of three children, and good references. All those interested may apply at the address given below.
She clutched the advertisement tightly in her hand and knocked on the door. The large porch allowed the generous wind to whip by but it only managed to spread the oppressively humid heat down on her so the sweat on her skin captured more hair. As she went to address the strands now sticking stubbornly to her neck the door opened.
The woman on the other side had her hair tucked into a high knot but prickles of perspiration dotted her forehead and left a dark line around her collar. "Yes?"
"I'm Anna Smith," She took her free hand, holding it out, "I'm here about the position."
"Bit of a brave soul then?" The woman at the door took her hand gingerly, as if measuring her strength without giving any indication of her own.
"No more brave than anyone else I expect."
"She'll like that you're English." The woman nodded, "Follow me."
Anna grabbed her bag in a hurry, trailing at the woman as they entered the darkness of the house. When the doors shut the cool of the interior almost led Anna to sigh aloud but she restrained herself and managed to keep her jaw locked to avoid looking the fool as she gaped with her eyes at the splendor of the house. Even in the brief glimpses she caught of the library, the parlor, the main ballroom, and the dining room, Anna knew she could fit every house she ever lived in with space to spare in any of those rooms.
"Lady Mary insists on following the traditions of her homeland so you'll address her as 'milady' in her presence and speak with the utmost respect."
"I can manage that." They stopped at a door and the woman put her hand on the knob. "And how should I address you?"
"If she keeps you long enough for it to matter I'm Mrs. Hughes." She pushed the door open, "Milady, another answer to your advertisement, a Ms. Anna Smith."
"Oh," A reed of a woman unfolded herself from a desk and turned an relatively impassive face in Anna's direction. "I do hope you've vetted her."
"She seems within the appropriate realms of sanity, milady." Mrs. Hughes bowed out, pushing Anna toward the room. "I'll bring tea shall I?"
"I think we'd rather a nice…" Lady Mary snapped her fingers, "What are those fizzy drinks George is always going on about?"
"Sodas, milady."
"Yes, I think two of those should cool us both right down." Lady Mary turned to Anna, "Might I offer you a seat?"
"That's very generous, thank you." Anna set down her bag, keeping the advertisement and a portfolio tight in her grip.
"Generosity would be moving to a slightly more temperate clime." Lady Mary took the chair opposite the sofa where Anna perched herself on the edge. "How far've you come?"
"Whitby by way of New York, milady."
"What took you to New York?"
"I immigrated there after the war." Anna ran a finger over her portfolio, "I thought the chance of finding work would be better."
"The sweatshops were a bit much for you then?"
"New York was a bit much for me."
"Bit much for me too." Lady Mary sighed, squinting toward the large window that looked out on a sizable garden. "Bit much for them as well."
Anna twisted forward to look and noted a little girl in a wheelchair and a little boy managing crutches under the watchful eye of a nurse while another little girl ran around the yard with a stick in her hand. "Are those your children, milady? The ones you mentioned in the advertisement?"
"Yes." Lady Mary stood, moving toward the window to point at the boy. "That's George. He's my blood son and we lost his father in the Battle of the Bulge."
"I'm so sorry milady."
"You know," Lady Mary turned back to Anna, "They say it was so cold that their fingers froze and broke off. Can you imagine it?"
"Not in this heat but my sister's husband lost a leg in Italy."
"I guess we all lost something." Lady Mary pointed to the girl in the wheelchair, "That's my niece, Marigold. I'm her guardian while her mother searches the reaches of Germany for her missing father though, and I don't want to tell my sister this, I believe Mr. Gregson's already dead."
"And," Anna edged toward the window, pointing toward the last little girl. "Is she yours as well?"
"She's the daughter of my late youngest sister." Lady Mary sighed, "Death seems to follow my family wherever we go."
"If it's not too bold to say, milady, I think death follows everyone."
"Indeed, but not quite like tragedy follows me." Lady Mary took a breath, "George suffers from cerebral palsy, which runs in my family thought they didn't usually know what it was called. Marigold, from her father, inherited a muscular dystrophy that'll slowly eat away at her until her lungs can no longer help her to breathe, and Sybbie seems to be the only one not affected by generations of inbreeding."
"Inbreeding?"
"The nobility of Europe, to preserve their precious blood lines, doomed their descendants to insanity, genetic disorder, and early death." Lady Mary shrugged, "The risk of thinking you're better than everyone else is finding out you are special… just not in a way you'd like."
"They seem like fine children."
"They need someone who won't spoil them." Lady Mary faced Anna, her tone cutting Anna to the heart of the matter. "Too often people look at them and feel pity but they're not pitiful. They're strong, intelligent, and curious. I need someone to help them break away from the attachments they've formed to those things that don't matter and focus on what does."
"Education?"
"Among other things." Lady Mary wrung her hands a moment before forcing them to her side. "Further, I'm afraid they'll lose their heritage with all the American culture that inundates us here."
"How long have you been here, milady?"
"Since I sold my ancestral home to become a ladies college and boarding school." Lady Mary looked out the window, "Everyone I knew in England wanted them in an institution. It's what England demanded but I couldn't do that. I couldn't lose what little of my family I had left. Not when I'd already lost everyone else."
"So you brought them here?"
"And I need a nanny to help them remember who they are." Lady Mary noted the portfolio in Anna's hands. "I'm not interested in what you have in there. If you came all this way in this heat I'll not pretend you're not academically qualified with a good reference. You wouldn't have risked the door otherwise. What I want to know is if you can help me raise the children in my care."
Anna looked out the window, smiling at the joy on the faces of the children there. "I do believe I can milady."
"Good," The doors opened and Lady Mary smiled, "Just in time Mrs. Hughes. We're toasting Ms. Smith joining our staff here."
"Welcome to Downton Place Ms. Smith." Mrs. Hughes handed over a cold bottle, "I'm sure you'll love it here."
"I'm sure I will too."