Melody shrieked. “Heavens, that is not proper etiquette, my lady! Nobles do not throw themselves at their maids!”
“Well, this one just can’t help herself! Today’s tea party was perfect, and it’s all thanks to you!”
Two weeks prior, Luciana had been nothing more than a “could-have-been”—a young lady living in a haunted house who could have been quite exceptional. She still would be a “could-have-been” were it not for Melody.
“That’s all well and good, now let go!” Melody pleaded. “This is so unbecoming!”
Her mistress only giggled. “Oh, don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud. Who’s gonna yell at us?”
“I will! And who in the world taught you to speak like that?!” Words failed the poor maid. She had only one recourse. In a flash, her panic turned to cold stoicism. “Very well. I see it’s back to square one with your lessons, then.”
It was the lady’s turn to shriek. “Message received! Have mercy, please! Anything but that!” Luciana released Melody, her hands raised in defeat. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead as though Melody were holding a knife to her throat. “I-I can be good in public! You saw! Honest! Please, not again!”
“Do I have your word?”
Luciana nodded furiously. The lessons came back in flashes. She couldn’t relive those terrors. It was ghoulish. Out of the question!
“Very well.” Melody surrendered. “Now, let’s see to your hair.”
“Yes! A lovely idea!” Luciana agreed immediately, grateful to have escaped the ordeal with her life. It was a miracle she would not forget.
Luciana returned to her room, and Melody started to brush out her hair. In the silence, a question popped into Luciana’s mind.
“Say, Melody? What brought you here in the first place?” she asked. “You could have gotten a job anywhere you wanted.”
The Rudlebergs’ residence in the capital had but one helper: Melody. The work she did—nay, the feats she accomplished—would normally require dozens upon dozens of maids, yet she did it all alone. Luciana certainly wasn’t complaining, but it did raise the question of why Melody had chosen this as her place of employment.
The maid giggled. “I came here because you needed me.” Luciana tilted her head in confusion, and Melody smiled. “I love all aspects of my work. Most estates would divide the responsibilities among the staff. Here, my hands touch everything, and that’s just how I like it.”
“That’s…a good thing?”
“It’s perfect! I love what I do, and this way I get to keep all the fun for myself! It’s a dream job, I tell you. After all, the best maids are skilled at every aspect of this job!”
“O-oh. They are?” Melody was swooning over her work like a girl in love, and Luciana could not hope to understand. Heaven knew she tried, but in the end, she decided this was a good time to practice the “smile and nod” technique.
Meanwhile, Melody continued to burn with the fire of a hundred domestic servants. I’ve got a second chance at life, and I’m not gonna squander it! she thought. Watch over me, Mom. I’m gonna be the most perfect maid this world has ever seen!
For now, those flames smoldered in silence. But smolder they would, because this was not the tale of a fallen lady’s rise from the ashes—this was the tale of the maid who rekindled the fire!