Hetty POV

No one had anticipated the impact of having an extra mouth to feed in Calendar Hall; the kitchens were busier than ever, ensuring that the baby, who was to be called William, was well-fed and water during his first crucial days of life. I rather envied the nannies of the household, often trying to grab a chance to peer at the little bundle of joy when no one else was there.

However, I couldn't help but worry over Mrs Calendar who was overexerting herself; trying to do everything for the baby. She was still weak herself, and the doctor had warned her against strenuous activity. It was only when I caught her searching for new clothes for the baby in the servant's quarters that I realised how serious the situation was. And when she mistook the baby's name for Charles; I understood that the event had brought back some tragic memories.

Keeping my head down, I went about my usual duties. I snubbed a grin when I realised I couldn't have it as worse as Sheila; she was busy sorting out the food for the christening and yet she'd managed to oversleep and had to rush the whole process. Today was certainly a test for her; making sure that she could keep up with the demands of a major event.

I went up to the master bedroom a little while later, and cooed over the baby as Mrs Calendar muttered a few words of comfort.

"They're so alone aren't they, so helpless..." she told me, smiling down at him.

I glanced up towards her, "Not if they have their mother..."

She turned towards me with a frowned etched upon her face. I realised that perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing to say; given the circumstances.

"I didn't mean..." I tried, but Mrs Calendar was clearly outraged.

"I know what you meant. You think I betrayed my first-born..." Mrs Calendar, "You think I abandoned him..."

I shook my head adamantly, "You had no choice!"

"Choice?" Mrs Calendar whispered aghast, "I may have said things when I was unwell - odd things, but that didn't give you the right to listen. Do you understand me?"

I nodded meekly and sighed after she dismissed from her room. I'd done it again; said the wrong thing and landed myself in trouble. Mrs Calendar had been nothing but good to me. I understood that seeing William can't have been easy for her.

Clearing my head, I bumped into Sheila who looked a right mess. She eventually informed me of the disaster that was the christening; apparently Cook had forgotten to order the ingredients and they only had a few hours left to prepare. Normally, I would've listened to her with amusement but instead I tried to calm her down.

If anything, a small problem at the Calendar household was nothing compared to the horrors of Matron. I was relieved to see the back of that face; once again. Just as we were reassuring one another, Lady Grenford scolded us for idling. She pointed out the untidiness of our aprons and our hair, before reminding us of the delivery of Mrs Calendar's dress for the christening.

We soon walked off to our duties without a second glance; I realised how much I'd changed since arriving at Calendar Hall. Normally, I would have had no problem with standing up to others, demanding justice whereas now it was clear that any disobedience would result in unemployment. I would have to pick my battles more carefully than I had done before.


Jack POV

With the christening in full swing, and the work that Gideon and I had put in during the morning - I was definitely looking forward to a nice meal to snack on, a few 'leftovers' from the party. Nevertheless, Cook still managed to shoot us an impenetrable glare as we strolled into the kitchen, while the maids were hard at work.

"What do you want?" she asked dejectedly.

"We've been working hard..." I began, "Gideon was saying how some elevenses wouldn't go amiss right now..."

"There's no elevenses!" Cook stated like it were obvious, "And there's no time for you layabouts; 'working hard' be off with ya!"

I'd clearly underestimated the stress the kitchen was under - it seemed as though we weren't going to be spared a morsel. I didn't get it; all this fuss over a baby whose name had already been decided as William.

"Sorry I asked..." I muttered.

Sheila glanced up from the stove, "Jack, Gideon - Master Edwin wanted to see you about some horrid beetle thing..."

I glanced at Gideon who was already looking towards me; we so loved to converse with the young Master, who despite his own disability, continued to show us up with his energy. I rather often felt him to be on the same level as us; made to be an outcast from Lady Grenford, whose only hopes were pinned on maintaining the reputation of the family - whatever that was.

However, after the fall of last time - it was a risky bet to take. We'd been warned against it from other members of the family but Gideon had a point. If we disobeyed him, then we would be deemed insolent servants. Either way, we'd end up in trouble and Master Edwin was nicer to us than he needed to be. I found myself following Gideon a little cautiously; I couldn't risk losing my job.

Not again.

We made our way into the library; via the secret entrance we'd discovered a while ago. As we reached the library; we were a little bewildered to find that we didn't need to snub out the light in our lamps. Master Edwin was residing in darkness and I had an inkling that Grenford had something to do with it.

Edwin didn't dwell on the issue though. He'd found a beetle which he'd kept in a jar and now wished to release it back into the wild with our help. It was unadvisable given what had happened last time we'd taken the boy out, but he insisted that it needed an expert's touch.

I wouldn't have minded but it seemed Grenford had removed Edwin's wheelchair; but Gideon seemed to come up with a solution. We decided to place him in the trolley that we normally used for carrying plants around the gardens; and Edwin seemed more than comfortable sitting there with his legs stretched out.

"Not too dusty for you sir?" Gideon asked as we strolled through the secret corridor.

"It's not the dust I'm worried about," Edwin replied mysteriously.

"Spiders?"

"Ghosts..."

Gideon smirked, "There's no such things as..."

Edwin let out a horrified scream causing Gideon to scream in fright as well; I chuckled, that was a rather humorous prank to play. It turned out that Gideon was perhaps more afraid of ghosts than he let on.

I relaxed a little; maybe this wasn't so bad after all.


Hetty POV

I could've run from London and back to amount of times I'd hurried around the house. Mrs Calendar was nowhere to be seen and William had disappeared too. I'd managed to cover for her to Lady Grenford but my time was running out. If I didn't find her then it would be all my fault.

Just as I'd managed to catch my breath, I saw a figure sitting outside in the gardens and sighed with relief when I realised it was her and the baby. She was sitting on a desolate bench to the side of the house, letting a few tears run down her face and still in her nightclothes.

I approached her gently and sat down beside her.

"Hetty, I spoke so harshly to you... I'm so sorry..." she replied, but in all honesty - I'd already forgiven her. It wasn't unusual to let your feelings run away with yourself and I didn't blame her for taking it out on me.

"I'm not like them really. I'm not one of them..." she continued.

"You're better than all of them.." I told her earnestly, "The guests are here; we should get you ready. William's christening..."

"William"

She smiled a little bittersweetly - recalling how the guests knew him as her 'first-born son' but she and I knew different. I understood this was confusing and awful for her. She felt like once again; she was stamping over her son's memory.

My heart twisted and I began to tell her of my own story; of being Hetty Feather. The horrors and fun moments of being at the hospital, but most of all when I'd discovered Ida. The worst part had been the not knowing, the uncertain, that my mother was not who I'd dreamed of being. It helped to know your true family and I shared this with Mrs Calendar, as she listened intently.

I told her sincerely that I'd never once felt a hatred for the mother who abandoned me as a child. There was that instinct in a child, that hope that kept you going and in life I'd found many mother figures. Knowing who Ida was had been a dream come true, but even still, I had managed just fine without.

"But today is William's day..." I reminded her, "He needs you..."

I watched on as Mrs Calendar soon changed her mind. Sometimes, we all needed help even when we didn't know it. I realised that Mrs Calendar needed our support now, more than ever.


Jack POV

I could sense danger ahead.

Once we'd liberated the beetle; Edwin had insisted on us wheeling him around for leisure. I knew it was risky; if he got hurt again, we'd be damned. But stubborn as he was, and as bored as we were... I found myself agreeing reluctantly and soon we were all laughing amongst ourselves freely.

We'd been travelling at top speed when Gideon tripped over himself and landed face-first into a pool of mud. I tried not to laugh, but he looked a right mess with his apron soaking.

Edwin was giggling the loudest; and I found myself laughing along too, having barely seen the Master so happy in the past few weeks. He'd been locked up in the house like a nuisance but in truth, he was the most outgoing of them all.

"You think this is funny?" Gideon asked outraged, "You really think this is funny?"

I nodded, unable to stop myself from giggling. Gideon's face seemed to change and he glanced toward the mud pool then back at me. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was going to do.

"Gideon no!"

Before I could stop him, both Edwin and I were soaked in the mud. I had my own reservations about my clothes; but getting mud on a noble - was risky business. He stared back with an unflinching gaze and I opened my mouth to apologise when Edwin smiled at me.

"Defend me, Jack!"

Grinning widely, I grabbed a handful of the liquid and chucked it at Gideon who splashed us back in enjoyment. I'd rarely had this much fun at Calendar Hall; only ever truly enjoying myself with my brother Freddie when I was younger.

We wheeled Edwin out around to the front of the house and skidded to a halt as we saw the guests posing for a family photo. Edwin seemed to find the whole thing amusing but Gideon and I realised we'd made a huge mistake. Suddenly, we were hyperaware of the mud sticking to our clothes and hair; and the sight of Edwin in the same condition, being hauled around in a trolley.

We were done for.

"Hello, Father!" he called out cheerfully.

Lady Grenford came storming up towards us, her arms crossed and her eyebrows almost vanishing from her forehead.

"You two are dismissed from service immediately, now go!" she demanded.

Master Edwin frowned, "But Lady Grenford, I gave them my word that they'd come to no harm!"

"Then you have learnt not to make promises you can't keep," she snarled, "I said be gone, or I'll set the dogs upon you!"

Exhausted, we took Edwin back towards the library and we headed back to the servant's quarters to clean up and pack up our belongings. The job I'd worked so hard to keep; gone in the instant of an afternoon.

He told us to stop, "Before you leave; may I say how sorry I am. Today I had more fun than I had in ages. You don't deserve to be sent away..."

Gideon and I sighed; we kept our mouths shut, Edwin had cost us our jobs. He'd never truly understood that; and perhaps he finally did now. He asked for a photo; a reminder.

"Of what it's like to step out of line?" Gideon asked sarcastically.

"Of what it was like to laugh with friends..." he replied upset. It was true; we'd surpassed the bond of Master and Servant and simply became dear friends. Perhaps that had cost us our job but there were faults on both parts.

As the picture was snapped, Mr Calendar came to greet us.

"I've instructed the housekeeper to give you extra duties by way of penance," he began. Wait? So did that mean...

"We're not dismissed?" I asked surprised.

"Against my better judgement," he sighed guiltily, "Now be off with you..."

We hurried back to our quarters before he could change his mind. Mr Calendar was known for being a forgiving man and the stars had aligned in our favour this time.


Hetty POV

By some stroke of luck, the party had been a success. Edwin was let off the hook and joined the guests; looking rather muddy but somewhat more energised after his garden trip - and I heard from Sheila that the boys were keeping their heads down doing some basic chores, thank god.

I didn't blame them for what happened but they'd almost risked everything - I simply wouldn't lose Gideon, he was my brother and I'd grown to trust him with my deepest secrets. Jack, despite his initial behaviour had proved himself to be otherwise and we'd all grown together to be our own family of sorts.

Except for Brody. She'd been made the permanent housekeeper and I had a feeling she was onto me; somewhat commissioned by Grenford to keep things running.

She approached me at the end of the gathering, commending me on my effort to reassure Mrs Calendar about the christening. She seemed to understand that she was feeling tired and reminded me that as a servant I should be able to confide in her about anything. I almost told her about Charles, but a gut feeling held me back.

Mrs Calendar had trusted me with this information, and I knew how catastrophic it would be if the family found out. Besides, I'd had enough experience from Matron to smell a rotten egg and Brody, despite her obedient act, seemed to be more clever than she let on.

There was a more pressing matter - Mrs Calendar had requested my help in finding Charles and wanted to send him a message that she had no say in the matter. I empathised for her; and agreed, not realising that the one place to start was in my old nemesis.

Matron.