Photo of a Victorian Sitting-room.
by Nicho
594 words

“Ohh..! the Master has had his artwork out again!”  Eliza threw her hands up in frustration. She’d only ‘bottomed this sitting-room two days ago, and it wasn’t as if Sir Alistair didn’t have a studio to work in…
Eliza got out her cleaning tools, pulled on her ‘dirty’ apron and her sleeve protectors and started on her Master’s sitting-room.

She dared not move the paintings which were stacked against one wall – God forbid she damaged one! – so she cleared away the tea-things that had been left out from earlier. She’d be having a word with young Cissie, the under-maid - they should have been cleared away as soon as Master had finished with them.

She’d not need to dust the wall-paintings or skirtings as she’d done those on Tuesday, all it needed today was a tidy up and a quick swipe with the duster, although why he needed so much furniture in one room, she couldn’t fathom! It’s not like they had a horde of children or anything. She could not work it out at all.
Left to her it would be very different!

It got so cold in here in the winter. Why the master had put that cabinet in front of the fireplace she knew not but at least she didn’t have a fireplace to clean out and reset.

She loved the little cabinet though – it was a golden yew wood and polished up beautifully.
Sir Alasdair had introduced another peculiar thing into the room. She had no idea how it worked but, apparently, it was meant to make the room warmer? She had no idea how, but she was going nowhere near it because it – once again apparently – was something to do with the mysterious ‘electrickery’.

He'd had that new-fangled ‘electrickery’ installed a few months ago, so at least she didn’t have to mess with the old gas-mantles or – even worse – oil lamps and candles.  Eliza wasn’t sure she trusted it but it was very useful in these huge dark rooms. This room did have a window to the side, but it didn’t let in a great deal of light due to the huge trees outside.

She gave the armchair a good wipe and polished the arms with beeswax so it smelled better – his pipe and cigar smell didn’t half pong!

She carried on cleaning the room until it shone to her satisfaction. She took pride in her work and actually enjoyed it, when it wasn’t too heavy. She was worried about when it did get too much for her. She didn’t know what would happen to her when she was dismissed, as she surely would be, when it became impossible to disguise her pregnancy any longer.

Sir Alasdair had been visiting her small attic-room for months now and would not take ‘no’ for an answer.   He would look after her, surely?   Her Mistress must already know – she’d been unnecessarily short with her several times recently, when she’d always been pleasant to her before.
Eliza just hoped she wouldn’t have to go into a home, or the Workhouse where they would just take the babe away from her at birth, yet what would SHE do with a babe? And no job?

She looked round the room – it was all spic and span and tidy again. She hoped it would be enough.

Sir Alasdair was a doctor – he would know what to do. She would ask him how the baby got out of her belly because at 14 years of age, Eliza certainly didn’t know….