August, 1908
A tear slid down Daisy's face and would have landed in the cake batter had she not wiped it away as quickly as she did.
"What's the matter with her?" Thomas asked O'Brien in the stairwell, having just passed through the kitchen and noticed the girl's red eyes.
"They're moving her out of Anna's room. Got a new housemaid starting, apparently, so they're moving Daisy into Stella's room so the new girl can bunk with Anna. You should've heard her this morning when they told her. Girl was bawlin' her bloody eyes out. Thought she'd never shut up."
"Hmm...who's Stella?"
"The kitchen maid, you noodle."
"Oh, right."
Back in the kitchen, there seemed to be no end in sight for Daisy's tears. She was crying quietly now, so quietly in fact that Mrs. Patmore had assumed the tempest had ended hours earlier. She popped the turkey in the oven and, wiping her hands on her apron, went over to see how the cake batter was coming along.
"Ooh, Daisy, my little lamb, your face is a mess!" Within seconds she had her handkerchief out and was mopping the girl's face. She smiled, satisfied. "That's my pretty girl. Now, finish putting together the batter and then go sit down. What do you say you and I have some hot cocoa later, after the dinner mess is all cleaned up? Would you like that?"
Daisy sniffed and struggled to find her voice. "C-can Anna have cocoa w-with us?"
"Whatever will make you happy."
Daisy smiled.