Bella Rosa

Chapter 1 - Part 3

Maria arrived as the sun started to set – half an hour late, with two large luggages she carried easily. Instead of heading towards the main entrance where two fully uniformed guards stood, she went around to the left until she found the servants entrance. As she rang the doorbell, she braced herself for the worst. I am a silly, girly, giggling maid, she thought to herself. Not a murderer, not a spy, not a thief.

The door was opened by Mrs. Antonelli. "You are late," she accused bitterly. Before Maria could open her mouth in reply she was dragged into the grand mansion and was steered through the hallways and into a small room where the newly chosen maids stood, neatly clothed and squeaky clean. She suddenly noticed how hastily put together her uniform looked compared to the other girls. As she attempted to smoothen down her apron, the head maid pulled her over to the end of the line by the elbow.

"Next time have consideration for others and come on time, as any person with common sense would do." She sniffed in distaste. "We don't need any maids walking around clueless like a fly without a head."

Some girls tittered nervously even thought it wasn't funny. Maria could care less about what the Head Maid thought of her, but tried to at least look the slightest ashamed.

Mrs. Antonelli started to pace in front of them, much like a lion does in front of its prey.

"First, you all need to be aware of how to behave in this grand house of the D'Lyon's. We do not tolerate laziness, excessive gossiping, hoarders, liars, tardiness or disobedience." She pierced the girls with a withering stare. "If you do any of these, you will be fired on the spot without any second thoughts, and im sure you girls would like to keep your well-paying jobs."

Out of the corner of her eye, Maria sensed some movement in the shadows of the dark room. As she turned her head to look more closely something around the figures neck sparkled and in that moment she knew exactly who it was. But instead of acknowledging the person's presence, she turned away, pretending to be oblivious like everyone else.

Mrs. Antonelli continued to pace, her hands clasped behind her back. "By no chance are any of you to mingle with the houseboys, and absolutely NO distracting the guards from their work. You are to dress modestly, lower your eyes with talking with ANY of the Higher family members or close friends of theirs. We expect of you honesty, obedience, quiet speech, and non-clumsiness. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" She shouted the last words in the face of the closest girl, who flinched. Maria started to suspect she enjoyed scaring new recruits, and did the same thing every new batch of maids.

"Don't worry, I heard she's all talk and no action," whispered a girl next to Maria with curly, wild red hair. The girl smiled kindly at her.

"And absolutely NO TALKING when the HEAD MAID is INSTRUCTING!"

Mrs. Antonelli continued ranting rules at them until a little while later a voice spoke from the corner of the room.

"That's enough, Pamela."

The Countess stepped out of the shadows, the light from the stained glass windows catching on her diamond earrings and making them sparkle.

Vitoria D'Lyon was wearing a gown of blue shimmering silk and a richly decorated headband to match. On her hands were thin white gloves and at her neck was a choker of diamonds. But despite her stunning figure, her eyes were tired and her wrinkles seemed more visible than ever before.

Mrs. Antonelli bowed low, and the girls, still in shock, shuffled to do the same, their faces red as they realized that her Highness had been in the room the entire time.

Without even a glance at the maids, she told the Head Maid, "I will accompany you as you show the young ladies to their dorm."

"Of course, M'Lady," said Mrs. Antonelli flourishingly and turned to lead the way out the door.