I hadn't seen Mathias until supper when he arrived late, red faced and straw covered running in behind Jamie. Mrs. Brown reprimanded them while Cook served them smaller portions of mutton stew. Half way through the meal Mathias winked at me, our signal to meet each other, and signalled to the stables. I finished the stew and after Jamie and Mathias had returned to the stables I quickly excused myself and ran down to the Stable Block. I wandered through the building but I couldn't find him.
A hand grabbed my neck and pulled me into a stall.
"I saw how you asked about Mr. Collins. We're wondering that too. Sit down. We're going to find out," said a voice in a thick cockney accent.
"Jamie!" Lottie scolded, her eyes wide, "We don't know if we can trust her!"
"Look. I came here to meet Mathias. I wanted to talk to him about this but-"
"You still can." Mathis smiled appearing behind me and giving me a quick kiss. Relaxed by this, I sat down next to Lottie with my arms folded. Glancing around the room was Lottie, Mathias, a short, timid-looking blonde, the strange freckled boy who had grabbed me – Jamie and a girl who could have been Jamie's mirror image apart from her hair which had been allowed to grow down to her waist in a long, dark curtain.
"Sorry, but who are you?" I asked the blonde.
"Oh. Me? Millie. I'm a scullery maid," Millie said softly.
"And you?" I asked indicating Jamie's lookalike.
"Clara Lorelock. Age 15. Older than Jamie but still his twin. Laundry maid," was her swift reply. Her cockney accent was only slightly thinner than her brother's. I nodded.
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Jamie sighed.
"Never!" Clara laughed.
"So, what are we here to talk about exactly? Mathias asked, a look of annoyance on his face. "I could be having a walk around the garden with Harriet. What's the point in me being here?"
"This is a group of servants that would trust each other with their lives. A group that are interested in what goes on in this house and will stop at nothing to find the deepest, darkest secrets of those who live in it," Jamie whispered, trying to achieve a scary effect. That was ruined by Clara's constant giggling. "Hey! Shut up!" Jamie warned, glaring at her.
"Is that true?" I asked Lottie.
"To some extent. We do try and find out peoples' secrets, but only if we need to. I might, just maybe trust Millie but I don't think I would trust Clara or with my life. She'd probably just find something to laugh about and forget entirely about me!" she replied good heartedly.
"And Jamie wouldn't?" asked Mathias and slipped his hand into mine.
"No, Jamie is actually quite serious about something if you get him interested," Lottie answered dreamily while Clara pretended to vomit behind her back, Millie rolled her eyes. Jamie, however, didn't notice.
"Do you have any secrets then?" he said slyly.
"Well that was strange," Mathias remarked.
"Yeah. But they had the right idea about finding out about Mr. Collins." I replied as we strolled around the garden in the dimming light, hand in hand.
"What ever is going on here we're going to find out what is happening. But this time nothing bad is going to happen. We're going to be the best detectives but no-one is going to separate us. Not like you were separated from Hetty or I was from the boys. We stick together," Mathias promised, winding a loose lock of my hair round his finger.
"I love spending time with you, you know that? but we need to go in. I need to wake up very early and so do you," I sighed quietly.
"You're right, I guess. 'Night," Mathias said when we reached the house.
"Goodnight Mathias."
"Clara. Where are you and Jamie from?" I asked her in bed, curious about finding two so obviously English friends here in America. I was sharing a bedroom with her, Lottie and a scullery maid named Anna.
"We used to work for the Asquiths back in London. We were born in Stepney, and we lived there until we started working for the Asquiths. Most of their servants here are new but Lord Asquith took a real shine to Jamie and me. Mum and Dad died in a fire in the shop – they used to own a baker's." she finished quietly.
"Oh Clara. I'm so sorry."
"Jamie gets more upset about it than me really. We're allowed a day off on the day they died each year. That was last week. Jamie hid himself in a corner of the stables and cried all day," Clara explained. "He hides it well most of the time. Occupies himself with something else. But deep down it hurts so much for him. It does for me too, of course but he blames it on himself and..."
Days working as an under-housemaid were very busy and I found that I was surprisingly good at most of the tasks I was set. That is, apart from preparing fish. I found that just looking at a fish was enough to make me feel queasy, never mind skinning, gutting and taking the bones out. Unfortunately, Mrs. Garcia – Cook – found it funny to watch me turn greener and greener while I gutted, scaled, skinned, and filleted cod, mackerel, and salmon. Apparently, I looked like a lime by the time the fish was in the plate. I hadn't thrown up yet. Yet!
Most of our days were planned in the same way. We – the servants – were up by six in the morning and cleaning fire places half an hour after that. Then Lottie and more important servants than me would bring tea trays up to Lady and Lord Asquith which I would sometimes lay. Then I would sweep the dining room for breakfast. This is all before eight o'clock and my day kept on like this. Work, work, and more work! I was very grateful to be here though – Mathias and I had found friends in Clara, Lottie, Millie and Jamie and I was very happy. We normally met in the stables once every two days to lighten up and relax. I had realised that we weren't exactly supposed to do this but no-one seemed to object – there were too many servants for anyone to notice our absence. I'd decided that it was worth it.
I was staggering down a corridor under the weight of half-a-dozen tea-trays when Jamie darted out of a room and stuck his hand out in front of me, making a gold-rimmed teacup and silver teaspoon fall to the carpeted floor with a soft clatter. I was relieved that they hadn't broken. "Erm... Harriet. Can I talk to you?" Jamie whispered.
"Of course. What's the matter?" I smiled. Despite out evenings in the stables I hadn't talked to him much.
"Well, it's just I know you spend a lot of time with Lottie and..." He trailed off. "You know I was wondering..."
"Yesss..." I whispered, my eyebrows raised. "Don't tell me you fancy Lottie! She'll be thrilled!"
"Do not tell anyone else. Ever." He glared, turning crimson.
"Don't worry. I won't. I swear." I promised.
"Harriet! Where are those trays!" screamed Cook.
"Better go. See you later." I tried to wave but my hands were full of tray. I turned around to reassure Jamie that his secret was safe but he was gone.