“What’s wrong, Mrs. Dobson?” I asked. She looked at Doris and then back at me. “What is it?”
“Mrs. Heaven-stone just informed us we’re terminated.”
“Terminated? You mean . . . fired?”
She nodded. “We’re being given two months’ salary, but we have to leave today.”
“That can’t be so,” I said.
“A messenger from the store just delivered this.”
She pushed an envelope on the table in my direction. I stepped forward and pulled the letter out. It was on official Heaven-stone stationery. It did not offer any reason for the termination. It merely said, “Your services will no longer be required.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I had no idea.”
“Neither did we,” Doris said. “Two months’ salary is fine, but it’s not going to be easy or even possible to get a job as good as this one. And what did we do to deserve this?” she cried, holding her arms up.
“Now, now,” Mrs. Dobson said. “There’s no point in getting yourself sick over it.”
Doris looked down.
“I’m calling my father,” I said. “You just wait.”
Mrs. Dobson smiled at me as if I were talking about going to Mars.
“I am!” I insisted, and hurried out of the kitchen and down to Daddy’s office.
At first, his secretary told me to call back, but I shouted at her that I had to speak with him right now. I was sure they all knew that I had once been in serious therapy. She mumbled and told me to hold on. Moments later, Daddy was on the phone. Through my tears, I told him what Lucille had done and how terrible it was. He was silent.
“She can’t do this, Daddy!” I cried when he didn’t respond the way I had expected he would.
“Lucille is now in charge of the house, Semantha. You know that I was never really in charge of how the house was run. Your mother handled all that, and now Lucille is the one who does it. She thinks it’s best to start fresh. You should understand how she might feel about it. She wants her own stamp on things. We can’t deny her that, now, can we?”
“But Mrs. Dobson and Doris have done a wonderful job with Heaven-stone. You’ve said so yourself many times.”
“They have, but Lucille wants to do more. She wants us to have a Cordon Bleu chef, and she wants more than one housemaid. She felt Heaven-stone wasn’t maintained as well as she would have liked while we were away. Now, this is her bailiwick, Semantha, not mine and not yours. I’m making sure both Mrs. Dobson and Doris get excellent recommendations.”
“Don’t let her do this, Daddy,” I pleaded.
“Please be grown-up now, Semantha,” he said gruffly. “You shouldn’t be focusing on the hired help, anyway. You should be thinking about your own future. I have to get back to my meeting. Don’t do anything that would make me ashamed of you,” he warned. “I don’t want Lucille upset, especially so soon after our wedding. Is that clear? Is it?”
“Crystal,” I said, and hung up. For a few moments, I sat there feeling numb. I decided to call Ethan. As soon as he was brought to the phone, I rattled it off, again through my tears.
“There’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.
“Can’t you talk to her, tell her how wonderful they’ve been while she and Daddy were away?”
“I doubt that would do any good, Semantha. Besides, she might resent my putting my nose in places it doesn’t belong. I’m a guest at the house, remember?”
His reluctance and acceptance moved me quickly from sadness to anger.
“You’re afraid of her, aren’t you? You’re afraid of challenging any decision she makes.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s not a matter of my being afraid. It’s not my business. I’m an employee here, that’s all.”
“I thought you were more,” I said.