Estelle felt rather breathless in the midst of the maid’s lively chatter.
“Am I going to be expected to dress for dinner?” Having come from parents who ran a farm for a living, Estelle had never dressed for dinner in her life. The very thought of the social etiquette required to attend such a function left her quaking in her boots.
“Well, the master isn’t as much of a stickler as he used to be. Not since Myles in any case. He is more down to earth than any of them so won’t bat an eyelid if you don’t dress for dinner, especially because he knows it isn’t your fault that you are in this situation,” the maid replied with surprisingly blunt honestly.
Estelle nodded her thanks.
“I am sorry, but what’s your name?” she asked, eager to have at least one friendly face in the midst of such overwhelming change.
“Oh, Bobbi, miss,” the young girl replied.
“Bobbi?” Estelle asked with a smile.
“Yes, miss.” The maid bobbed a curtsey. “My mama wanted me to have a posh sounding name so called me Roberta, but nobody ever calls me that. Everyone calls me Bobbi. The other maid who will tend to you is called Katie, but she is working down in the kitchen right now, miss.” She looked at Estelle a little shyly. “You can too if you like?”
“Work in the kitchens?” Estelle asked in confusion.
Bobbi looked horrified. “No, call me Bobbi,” she repeated.
Estelle felt her cheeks blush. “That would be wonderful, Bobbi. You may call me, Estelle.”
Whatever else she was about to say was stopped by a shake of Bobbi’s head. She heaved a sigh and hurriedly finished making the bed. Estelle, unsure if she had offended the girl in some way, turned her attention to her dress.
“Here, let me help you with that,” Bobbi murmured once Estelle was in a clean set of undergarments, which fit surprisingly well. “You don’t want to catch that bump on your head now, do you?”
“It doesn’t ache as much as it did last night, although I still can’t remember much detail about what happened.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Bobbi asked. “I mean, if you got run over and everything, why would you want to remember it?”
Estelle had to concede she had a point. “I don’t really, but I should like to remember, just to know that I can.”
Bobbi looked a little confused. Estelle decided not to bother to try to explain, she suspected the maid couldn’t understand because she had never been in Estelle’s situation. Still, at least she was prepared to help. Right now, Estelle needed as much help as she could get, especially if she didn’t want to make a complete fool of herself partaking of meals downstairs.
“Will this be alright to go down for breakfast?” Estelle asked once Bobbi had finished tying the laces in the back of her dress.
The fine material, liberally sprinkled with small rosebuds, fit her perfectly and felt sublime against her bare skin. Estelle twirled in it as she studied herself in the mirror and delighted in the delicate feel of the silken fabric against her bare legs.
“It’s wonderful,” she breathed.
“It’ll do,” Bobbi replied with a critical eye. “It is a little long, but that Miss Beatrice is a bit bigger than you.”
“Ah, there you are,” Mable, Mrs Cranbury, said from the doorway.
“Yes, mum,” Bobbi replied as she bobbed a small curtsey. “I was just telling the miss here that we need to get her some more clothing out of the attics. She feels well enough to go down to breakfast, mum.”
“Well, if you are sure?” Mrs Cranbury stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
“Thank you for this,” Estelle murmured as she waved to her dress.
“Aye, well, I think Bobbi might be right. You do need more clothing because the storm has closed in now with a vengeance. You are not going anywhere today, that’s for certain. So, I will get Cranbury to go and get you some more. I am sure Miss Beatrice won’t mind. I don’t doubt she will have forgotten all about them in any case.”
Estelle nodded, even
though she had no idea who Miss Beatrice was. Before she could ask them, a faint gong echoed through the silence.
“That’s the call for breakfast, miss,” Bobbi explained. “You had best hurry. There is a full house today, so you get the chance to meet everyone.”
“If you are sure that this is going to be alright?” Estelle asked nervously. When she had said she would go downstairs she hadn’t stopped to consider what she actually faced.