On top of that, when he was cooped up in his study for too long, even the littlest things would set him off. There weren’t many people who lasted very long as his assistants, so he was always having trouble keeping the position filled.
One day, Victoria Sellars saw his job posting at the employment agency and came to have an interview with him. She told him she could speak four languages and was good at cooking and cleaning. This struck him as a bit too convenient, but it turned out to be true.
“Mr. Fitcher, I have the translation of the texts you requested yesterday.”
“You got it done in just one night?”
“Yes. Please go ahead and check for any mistakes while I go ahead and finish up the cleaning.”
Victoria handed Bernard the papers and then began tidying his desk. She truly had a knack for cleaning. She never put the messy stacks of documents out of order when she organized them; instead, she sorted through the pile of texts and separated them into three piles depending on content, clipping them neatly together and adding a note on the front to make them easier to find.
Because Bernard had weak lungs and lived in this dusty old house, his niece often said he was committing “slow suicide,” but once Victoria began working for him, she tidied his whole house. Now there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight.
She’s the best maid and assistant I’ve ever had; I’m not letting this one go! Bernard thought several days ago.
At first, when Victoria mentioned she would have to bring a little girl along who wasn’t even related to her, he’d thought that was positively out of the question, but Nonna turned out to be a very intelligent child who spent her time quietly reading in the corner of the kitchen. Victoria was teaching her how to read and write.
Bernard had always disliked children, but now he thought perhaps they weren’t so bad after all when properly behaved.
When Nonna was helping Victoria clean one day, he mustered up the courage to ask her, “What’s your favorite food?” That was the only question he could think of, as he considered speaking to a child at all adventure enough.
The girl pondered his question for a moment, then answered, “Vicky’s roast lamb.”
Coincidentally, Bernard also loved roast lamb. The next thing he knew, he said to Victoria, “If you don’t have any plans tonight, would you make me roast lamb? You two can join me, of course.”
“Oh, I’d love to! Thank you for asking,” Victoria said with a smile, then quickly went shopping for the ingredients.
Bernard offered to cover the food and give her overtime pay, but she turned him down, saying, “It’s a good experience for Nonna to dine with someone other than just me, so I couldn’t possibly accept your money.” He insisted over and over, but she wouldn’t budge.
“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you?” he said.
“I get that a lot.”
It had been a long time since he’d had such a personable conversation with someone, and he quite enjoyed it.
Victoria skillfully prepared the roast lamb with carrots and green pea pottage, along with creamy mashed potatoes. While she was cooking, Nonna requested some crunchy buttered toast, so she added that as well.
This was the first time he’d eaten such a feast at home since his wife passed eight years ago. And his previous chef had never made something so elaborate. Ever since the chef quit, Bernard had been eating lunch and dinner out at nearby restaurants, choosing the same things off the menu each time and finding everything quite bland.
Both Victoria and Nonna ate the meal heartily and engaged in enjoyable conversation with him. Victoria said she came from Randall, but she also had a wealth of knowledge about this kingdom as well. When Bernard spoke about history, she always listened to him attentively and with great interest.
After Victoria and Nonna cleaned up and went home, the house felt very quiet to Bernard. He had always regarded the presence of others as a nuisance, so he found this change quite bewildering.
“I thought she wouldn’t want to indulge me, but I’m glad I wasn’t stubborn about it and tried talking to her. I never imagined I would have so much fun at dinner. And the food was absolutely delicious.” In the silent room, Bernard spoke to the portrait of his late wife.
From that day on, Victoria and Nonna would occasionally eat dinner with the old historian.
Bernard’s niece, Eva, came to check on him once a week. A caring woman in her thirties with reddish-brown hair, Eva was the daughter of Bernard’s younger sister.
The moment Eva opened the front door today, her eyes widened, and the more she looked around, the more astonished she grew.
“The house is spotless! Even that dank dungeon you call a study has been completely transformed! Now it finally looks worthy of a scholar. Uncle, what in the world happened? Did you get a nice housemaid?”
“You’re always so noisy, Eva. I put out a job posting at the employment agency for an assistant and found someone very capable indeed.”
“An assistant? Not a housemaid?”
“My assistant knows four languages and can clean and cook!”
“How much are you paying them, Uncle? Please don’t tell me you’re only paying them an assistant’s salary.”
Bernard didn’t know much about social graces and could be a bit oblivious when it came to common sense; just as Eva said, he’d only been paying Victoria an assistant’s salary.
He began to panic. Have I been thoughtless? His late wife had often scolded him for being ignorant of the ways of the world and lacking common sense.
Bernard nervously smoothed down his hair, which was more white than brown, and fell silent.
“Uncle, this capable assistant of yours is clearly doing the work of three people! If you keep paying them such a pittance, someone else will scoop them up right out from under you.”
“Absolutely not. I can’t have that! I need her.”
“Her? They’re a woman? Introduce her to me. I simply must thank her and apologize!”
The next morning, Victoria came to work with Nonna in tow and was immediately greeted by Eva. She bowed her head and said, “Please forgive my ignorant uncle for underpaying you,” then offered to triple her salary.
“Triple? Oh, I couldn’t possibly. That’s too much!”
“It isn’t. Before you came around, my uncle not only had an assistant but also two other housemaids, and his house was never this clean! And they only lasted three months each. Uncle says you even listen to his stories and have conversations with him. We should pay you four times as much! He has nothing else to spend his money on. Please don’t be shy.”
Eva became very animated when she spoke, and she was gesturing so wildly that she nearly knocked over a vase on the nearby table. However, Victoria, who was sitting across from her, quickly reached out and caught the vase without so much as blinking. She kept her eyes on Eva the entire time.
“Why, I’d even love to hire you for myself! But I’m sure Uncle wouldn’t dream of parting with you now.”
Several days had passed since Eva met Victoria.
Eva had told her that Bernard was going to be having a party for his sixty-fifth birthday at his house.
“All our relatives will be there. Though, there’s really only four of us—me and my husband, Michael; and my two cousins. I’ll pay you overtime if you cook. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate.”
“Sure, I’d love to,” Victoria agreed with a smile.
Eva was the wife of an earl and had a lot on her plate, so that was music to her ears.
They were also connected in an unexpected way; one of the two cousins Eva had mentioned would be attending was Jeffrey, captain of the Second Order of the knights. However, Victoria wouldn’t discover this until the day of the party.