The New Girl: Worldly-Wise

Mrs. Kelly Stowner.

Retired Governess by age 40, she was getting on in years as due to how dangerous London was unknown to people and its consumerism mentality, people did NOT live past 50, if you're a working class or worse, poor.

She lived well as a governess, working for the gentry Jones Family, being a Governess to all of Richard Jones' children, ever since their mother was gone. She was paid well every year by Mr. Jones and saved up her money till she retired as young Colin was too young to be taught. Thus her last student, was Vivian Jones, a precocious, cheeky girl.

Welp, thanks to her fluency in French and skill in the piano, she earns 60 pounds a year, with free room and board, to prepare for her incoming retirement.

She has a total of 1200 pounds on her own work, plus a retirement fee of 500 pounds out of Mr. Jones' generosity, some of which, spent on new clothes and shoes, if she sees its beyond her sewing skills, or if her own shoes wore down enough. Thus has a healthy retirement fee left in her. She rents it for 5 pounds every six months, complete with a living room, dining room, kitchen, baths and a room for one person plus a servant. Perfect for unmarried women and...widows like her. She furnished it with knickknacks of sensible prices as hey, she's retired, OK? She cannot afford to splurge so much. So yes, her retirement fee came in handy now!

And now, she took in a child who applied for a maid of all works, receiving a letter.

Dear Mrs. Stowner,

My name is Emma. No last name as I have no idea who my father is, and mother
died young. Currently ten years old this year and my previous job was part-time
Laundry Maid for seven employers, but recently laid off as financial situation went
down south for them. But I did get recommendation letters from them. I hope to
be accepted for the job post as your Maid-of-all-Works. I can bake, cook, and clean
well. I can write and do math enough not to get swindled, but sleazy merchants still
try and not succeeding any time soon. I hope for your acceptance.

-Emma

A ten year old maid.

Then again, child labor is exploited by society as they're easy cheap pay yet the work they do is the same as that of an adult's which isn't really fair.

But this intrigued her.

This letter is indeed, written by a child as she would know how adults write. Adults know cursive, which is required for getting employed properly as the ability to write in cursive shows professionalism, even if their penmanship could do better. Girl writes in non-cursive in pencil.

Would a child be able to afford ink? Surely not.

She went to the girl's address. It was a cheap apartment just outside of West End, a slum.

She spoke to the Landlord Mr. Keller for the girl's background.

'I check on that kid every three days.' he said. 'The only things I know of her is she's an orphan and works seven laundry jobs, one per day. She only owns cookware and two bed mattresses and one desk. As far as girl is concerned she didn't care much for furniture, just for a roof over her head and a place to sleep as she comes home by sundown, carrying cheap vegetables.'

'Cheap vegetables?'

'Yeah. S'all she ever eats, along with bread. How can she eat those hard things is beyond me. She's tidy with her space so if she ever moves out, she won't give me problems like most of my tenants.' he grunted. 'I kick them out when they can't pay anymore and their space afterward is a pigsty! And to think an orphan kid is more responsible and neater in her space I hardly will have to do anything! Her food worries me though. Who taught that girl how to cook that she eats those things with bread?' he shivered.

OK, Kelly thought. She would put the girl's skills to the test in the kitchen...or she may have to teach Emma how to cook.

So she accepted Emma because hey, how far can education go eh?

xxx

Upon arrival of the girl who wore a simple outfit and a pair of boots, her hair was in two low braids and carrying a suitcase...which was handcuffed to her right wrist, by the way!

'Er...?'

'Snatching incidents in London happen lately, so I asked Mr. Policeman for his spare cuffs and the keys.' said Emma, noticing where Kelly's eyes are. That got Kelly scratching her head.

'Does it now? Goodness, looks like money should be in pocket from now on...'

Emma was well-dressed and well-groomed. She'd never think she was an orphan, if she didn't talk to the landlord who's impressed with the girl. Responsible enough to save up for necessities that she looks like a girl from a well-off family. She was also beautiful.

Then again, not all beauties live in mansions.

'Mm...do you have a maid uniform on you dear?'

'I bought one, three maid uniforms for each season ma'am.' said Emma politely, astonishing Kelly. How prepared is she?

She took Emma in, and saw for herself Emma's uniform when she took it out of her luggage.

Since she is still a young girl, the skirt is legally short. She has white stockings and a pair of boots. A black maid dress, and a cute apron and bonnet. Just how much did she save, to have it?

Well, she's impressed.

'Now then, what can you cook?'

'Anything to do with eggs, beans and cheap vegetables ma'am.' said Emma. 'Oh, and regarding bread I only do wholegrain bread, I don't do refined bread.'

'How come? Refined is pretty to look at.' Kelly pointed out. 'That was what I used to eat in my younger years.'

'It smells...wrong.' said Emma with a slight frown. 'It doesn't have the sweet aromatic fragrance of wheat. I wasn't sure why but if whatever they do to make it look pretty but smell bad in turn, well...I like my life more.' said Emma with a shudder. 'I buy wholewheat flour for pancakes for breakfast.'

How can she tell Kelly about her modern knowledge? That she knows Victorian Food, is freaking adulterated with what will kill you? Brrr...

You see, in the 19th Century, Victorians loved PROFIT in an era of new...techniques and tons of consumers at the end of the line, so Merchants would use cheap alternatives and adulteration became popular for nasty merchants. They add weight and increase profit margins. Food Adulteration has always gone on in this era, but the new manufacturing techniques made it a big business.

Manufactured goods have a very high chance of being adulterated. The most common cheated food product, was bread.

Other cheated products, are milk. Tea. and 2500 more...

Kelly looked thoughtful.

'Well, I have some flour here, what do you smell? Come this way...' Kelly took Emma to her kitchen and had Emma smell the flour.

Girl looked grossed out.

'...chalk powder, plaster paris...had you passed by a construction site or smelled chalk closely, you would know these smells...' Emma squeaked, shaking her head in disgust. Kelly, frowning, smelled the flour.

The smell of wheat was barely-there and smothered by powdery-elses which Emma identified.

She threw it in the trash bin.

'So what do you usually eat within your affordability as an orphan back then?'

'If I wanted tea, I'd go to the oriental quarter.' said Emma. 'India is a British Colony so they make tea, but while India delivers sacks of pure tea leaves, when it reaches shops, it's no longer pure when customers gets their hands on it. China does business too so if I wanted black tea I'd buy from them first. Affordable and a lot better as opposed to London's expensive nasty mixes. I'd never dare to buy milk, nevermind cheese. Anything processed in London, is not healthy.' she said. 'Have you read Mrs. Beeton's book about Household Management?'

'Not that I heard of...'

'One of my employers, Mrs. Sutherland treats it like the bible and holds lectures during tea time...milk easily goes sour, especially in summer but to make sourness go away, people will add borax to get the sourness away...but it doesn't exactly change the fact that milk is expired...and Borax is a cleaning agent I used in the laundry and cleaning toilets.' Emma deadpanned. 'I couldn't trust cheese either. It's why kids these days are sick a lot because people aren't meant to swallow expired milk laced with a cleaning product.' she said softly. 'Honestly if one wants to feed their kid if a woman ran out of breastmilk, just buy a bag of oats! Oats can't be adulterated as oatmeal, but as flour, it can be cheated with too. So I'm very...particular where I buy my goods.'

Due to that, Kelly took Emma out, and Emma showed her the Oriental Quarter.

Emma buys her tea, spices, soy sauce and other cooking condiments here. And her flour. The only things she buys in London, are vegetables, fruit and oil. Nobody can cheat oil!

'Always smell before buying. The smell of food here is always strong, compared to the smell in London Markets.' said Emma. 'The smart people buy here too before they reach London Stores. Some people catch on, but sadly, its one voice against millions who wants life easy, cheap and convenient even if it meant getting sick...so in the end, all they can protect, are their families. Well, if one wants pretty white flour, this is the place to be. Refined flour it may be but it has the fragrant aroma of the grain they came from because it's pure grain, not adulterated.'

'Namaste young Emma!' a middle-aged man greeted. 'You're a maid for real now it seems!'

'Namaste Mr. Lal.' Emma smiled back in her greeting. 'This is my new employer Mrs. Stowner. I thought I'd show her around.'

'Namaste Mrs. Stowner. This Mr. Lal will guide you well.' Mr. Lal offered Kelly who chuckled.

'I'm sure you will. Now I'd like to take a look at your flour...'

xxx

Back home...

Emma baked two loaves of bread. Using 'london flour' and 'oriental flour'.

Once done, Kelly can see the difference immediately. The product out of oriental flour, is prettier to look at while the one made from london flour, looked like cracked...something...

Emma lifted the one made of London Flour and dropped it on the table, making a heavy THUNK sound. She did the same with the other bread and it made no sound.

'This one's heavy like I'm used to because it's dense and retained water from baking yet this one is so light...' she said. 'Let's wait for the good one to cool before I can slice it, while this evil thing can be sliced even if its fresh from the oven.' Emma sliced the bread and gave a piece to Kelly. 'Now smell it. As flour its not obvious but when you smell it when cooked...'

Kelly was horrified.

'...why do I smell rubber?! I never notice as I put Jam in my bread so the jam actually masks the smell all this time...' Kelly shivered. 'My god...throw it away! Uggghhh!' Emma cheerfully did just that. Once the good bread cooled down for slicing, it was fluffier, airier and smelled very wheaty. When Kelly took a bite and masticated it in her mouth, it's a lot tastier! She could actually taste the sweetness of wheat in white refined flour!

She made a decision in an instant.

Kelly then tested Emma's cooking skills. Girl is vegetarian because for one thing, she could never afford meat on her measly salary. Thus she was reliant on tasteless eggs, the product of chickens, and tofu from oriental quarter as substitute. She has seen Emma's Costing of Goods and what she cooks with them. She buys cheap vegetables by far yet she looks healthier than any ten year old she's seen.

Maybe girly is onto something.

xxx

Kelly wakes up to her first morning, with a bowl of hot water ready for face-washing.

She sees Emma toss the nasties of her chamber pot outside out of her windows...after she looked left-and-right, that is, and kept her pot inside for use before breakfast if she intends to use it before breakfast.

She did just that.

'Breakfast is French Toast with Rhubarb Jam, Peeled Oranges, and Darjeeling Tea.' Emma informed her.

'Mm. Get it ready on the table Emma. Have you eaten breakfast?'

'Yes, so I could get started on my other jobs.' said Emma with a sweet smile.

Emma, for being ten, proved to be a very competent maid.

Her house always smells fresh and clean. Keeps windows open to let air in. And she's onto something with her cooking, just by buying food off the oriental market. She makes pickles, their own bread spreads and anything that can be done homemade, she does it than spend 'for one's death' in London Shops. Anything manufactured, is adulterated and therefore, deadly!

Emma has a fear of dying young. Life for kids was hard, if you weren't smart enough to get around it.

She's starting to feel better when before, she usually feels...sluggish with stomachaches...

...And starting Emma's way of cooking, she er...emptied her insides a lot but after that, felt a lot better and easier to breathe in her corset now...

'Oh that? Wholegrains, Vegetables and pickles, are good for cleaning bad stuff out by making the body push it out, see?'

So yes, overpriced goods in London, were cheaper in oriental quarter. They enjoyed healthy, tasty lives that Kelly felt she got lucky with this girl.

She began tutoring Emma at home as the girl was brilliant, its a waste to let her stay as she is now.

xxx

Emma found herself comparing Mrs. Stowner, to Professor McGonagall.

Kelly was understanding, open-minded, patient and generous with her. She was someone she could go to and confide in.

Professor McGonagall was someone Heather could not come to, as she was set in her ways in a time when adults were never there for Heather Potter, and worse than useless. In her hard times regarding the Stone, Tri-Wizard Tournament and Umbridge, she wasn't reliable when it comes to Heather Potter yet reliable to other students, which she found grossly unfair. Heather blamed it on her Girl-Who-Lived Hero status where she was expected to suck it up and suffer alone and do things alone.

One thing the two women had in common, were how serious they are in education.

Kelly trained her hard in neat, cursive writing. Mathematics. Etiquette proper for a Maid and Young Lady of middle class, Good Morals and Virtues a girl should have, Religion, French, Music, Dancing, Sewing and Embroidery, Literature, and Chess.

Years passed by...until Emma grew up a tall beauty at age twenty...

Her waist was naturally small due to their diet of wholegrain bread for home but 'pretty bread' for guests, vegetables, eggs, tofu and pickles and even then she makes all those DELICIOUS. She was also skilled with cakes. Her corset didn't need much tightening. She was also naturally slim without being too bony like most dieters who go too far. She was also...quite big upstairs, that she tightens corsets up there, than her waist. She would make any future husband happy and lucky with her.

Girl has a lot of suitors, but she pretends they don't exist, while maintaining her sweet and polite personality.

When Kelly asked?

'I've seen how hard life is for families if you're not smart about it.' said Emma. 'I don't want my children to live the life I lived until I got lucky, but not all children are lucky.' she would tell Kelly. 'It may sound shallow of me, but I value survival and giving my future children what I never had growing up. I want my husband capable of being both a loving husband, a doting father and capable of giving us a good life. And for that to be possible...sadly, money makes the world go 'round.' she said. 'I want my husband to at least, earn 1000 pounds a year minimum since love can be downright unpredictable.' she said. 'Our own home no matter how small, our family can wear good clothes and eat good food, and actually have a future.'

'Well, that's practical thinking indeed.' said Kelly wryly. 'A hard life will make anyone want a brighter future.'

It was why Emma was really great at pretending her suitors don't exist by pretending to be oblivious.

For her, good looks don't matter, if you can't even support your own life. Emma also wants to avoid the rich as much as possible to avoid social class drama and troubles she'd NOPE herself out of. It was why she would want a middle-class husband which is a lot safer for her own sanity.

Maybe she reads too much novels these days...but even then, it makes perfect sense.