Filed To Story: Alessia Mistaken as Mistress Book PDF Free
Morning came way too soon. The other women went about their routines of dressing and leaving for their various jobs. The woman who’d spoken to Alessia the night before came to stand at the end of her cot as she changed William and worried where she’d wash out his flannels from the previous night.
“That position I told you about?”
She looked up. The woman wasn’t much more than a girl, with wide violet eyes and honey-colored hair pulled back in a neat roll. “Yes?”
“It’s working for Mrs. Hargrove over at the Hotel Gold.”
Someone behind her chuckled. “And you think the war wagon’s gonna let her bring a baby?”
“One of the other girls has a baby.”
“Well, she ain’t gonna last.”
“What does the job involve?” Alessia asked, worried it was something she wouldn’t know how to do.
“Hotel maids is all. Making beds, heating water and such. Trouble is nobody will put up with Hargrove when they can make more money at the factory.”
“Well, I can put up with her. I can put up with whatever I have to.” She had no choices.
“I think you can.”
“Hotel Gold, you say?”
“It’s a fair walk from here. On the nice side of town. I’ll point you out the way.”
“I appreciate your help.”
By seven, she stood nervously in the kitchen of the Hotel Gold, waiting for Mrs. Hargrove. The cooks and other servants bustled about, barely sparing her a glance.
At seven-thirty, the woman appeared, looking nothing at all like Alessia had expected a tyrant to look. She had mousy-brown hair shot with gray, and a tall, wiry body. Everything about her appearance was stark, from her bland expression to her black dress and white collar.
“You want a job?” she asked tersely in front of the others.
She ignored those who couldn’t help but listen. “Yes.”
“What can you do?”
“Anything you ask of me.”
“That your baby?”
“Yes. His name’s-“
“What are you planning to do with him?”
“I need a job where I can have him with me. He never cries. He’s no trouble at all.”
“What’s your name?”
She had no reason to lie about that now. No one would know the difference. And it was one thing she could say that was the truth. “Alessia-Alessia Thornton.”
Mrs. Hargrove looked her over critically. “You a widow?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How long?”
“Almost four months.”
“I guess I won’t have to worry about you consorting with the guests then, will I?”
Alessia felt her face grow warm. “No, ma’am.”
“I’ll try you today. If you don’t measure up, no pay, and you’re out. If you work out, you’ll get two uniforms that you’ll launder and press yourself, one meal a day, and the starting wage. Do you accept that?”
She had no choice. “Yes.”
“There’s a schedule by the desk. It tells which rooms are occupied, and what times the guests wish to have them cleaned.”
Alessia nodded.
“Speak your understanding,” she said harshly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I will inspect the rooms you’ve done. I expect square corners on the beds and not a speck of dust. The chamber pots must be emptied and washed, the chimney lamps cleaned, and fresh towels placed on the hooks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alessia said hurriedly.
“Now come with me. If you can’t read the schedule, you will have to-“
“I can read.”
She raised both eyebrows. “I’ll show the book to you.”
As Alessia turned to follow, she glanced at one of the girls standing at a nearby table, and the girl flashed her an encouraging smile.
Mrs. Hargrove explained the schedule to her as succinctly as she’d explained everything else. Then she turned and left her on her own.
Alessia fashioned a sling from two of William’s blankets, and tied him to her chest. By one o’clock she had cleaned seventeen rooms. The Gold was an enormous and well-appointed hotel. Alessia had stayed at a few hotels with her father when he’d allowed her to accompany him on business trips, and this was as splendid as any her father had patronized.
Mattie, the young maid who’d smiled at her in the kitchen, showed her how Mrs. Hargrove preferred beds made, and Alessia needed to be shown only once.
She’d never dusted or swept or done any of the things she did that day, but doing them gave her a sense of satisfaction. It was honest work. She would earn her pay.
When Mrs. Hargrove found her at dinner with the other servants, she spoke to Mattie, rather than Alessia.
“Alessia did her rooms adequately, Mattie. Give her uniforms.”
She left the room as abruptly as she’d arrived.
“That means you passed the test,” another maid named Hannah said. “The uniforms are black, as you can see. I’ve worn black for so long now. I don’t know if there is another color. I had a husband who was killed in a mining accident before my baby was born.”
Hannah seemed so young, it was hard to believe she’d been widowed already. “I’m so sorry,” Alessia said, wondering where the young woman’s baby was now.
Hannah nodded. “It’s hard. My folks are gone, and I only have my sister. Sometimes I want to leave this place and take my baby and run away, but I don’t know where I’d go that would be any better.”
“The first days are the hardest,” Mattie said to Alessia. “After that you’ll get used to it.”