The New Maid

Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything of the Downton Abbey series. Also, I apologize in advance for any typos or grammatical errors.  I just write this story for fun. I hope you will enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoy writing it!

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She took a deep breath, flattened her dress, placed her hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door. She stepped into a long corridor. The place was buzzed; servants were all over the place, trying to get their job done in time. She put her suitcase down and stroke a tiny lock of her hazel brown hair back behind her ear. She walked towards the end of the corridor, into the servants' hall. She found several servants sitting there; some young boys (probably hallboys), a laundry maid and two other young men. One was very tall and red haired, whilst the other was dark haired and was smoking a cigarette. She cleared her throat softly, making the people in the room looking up at her.

"Hello... I am Katherine, Katherine Turner... The new lady's maid." She said and smiled a little.

The man with the cigarette gave her a bit of an arrogant look. "Well, well." He spoke, not bothered to rise up from his chair. "I am Mr Barrow, the under butler." He said, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Barrow." Katherine said and smiled at him. Although, she did not get one back in return.

"Don't mind him, he's just being grumpy as always." A fairly tall young man said as he stood in front of her, blocking her view of the under butler.

The young man looked very handsome with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I am Jimmy, Jimmy Kent, first footman."

"It's nice to meet you, Jimmy." Katherine answered, smiling politely.

"Don't call him that in the presence of the family or Mr Carson," Mr Barrow said whilst putting out his cigarette. "It's James then."

"James... Alright." She said and nodded.

"Shall I show you around?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, very well. Thank you, James." She emphasised his name and giggled a little. Jimmy grinned at her and led her out of the servants' hall, exchanging a quick glance with Mr Barrow.

Jimmy showed Katherine around, starting in the kitchen. He introduced her to the kitchen staff: Mrs Patmore, Daisy and Ivy. Katherine was around the same age as Daisy and Ivy. Maybe they will be able to get along well in the future, she thought.

"Forgive me if I'm bold, but aren't you a bit young to be a lady's maid?" Jimmy asked whilst they walked to the boot room.

"Well, Mrs Hughes hired me," Katherine answered, sounding harsher than she meant to be. "I have work experience, a good reference."

"May I ask what experiences?" Jimmy said.

"I started when I was 16, as a laundry maid and worked my way up to house maid in about a year. Then I dropped out to take a course, improving my skills like sewing and hairdressing. And now I am here. It's my first time as a lady's maid, though... It makes me quite nervous." She said and gave him a nervous smile at the end.

"I see, no wonder Mrs Hughes hired you," he said. "And no need to be nervous, if you perform your job just as lovely as you look, it will all be fine." He gave her a cheeky smile, which made Katherine blush and giggle a little. "Oh well..." She wasn't quite sure what to answer.

"Jimmy," a strict voice said which made them both turn around. Mr Barrow had appeared. "You are needed in the drawing room."

Jimmy looked a bit annoyed and smiled at Katherine one more time before making his way upstairs.

"I hope Jimmy wasn't inappropriate?" He asked.

"Oh no, not at all." Katherine answered.

"Good," he simply answered. "Shall I show you your room perhaps?" Mr Barrow asked.

"Oh, that would be lovely, thank you. I will just fetch my suitcase, I left it at the front door." Katherine said.

"Oh no need to, I will go get it." He said and grabbed her suitcase. "If you will follow me, miss Turner."

They made their way upstairs to the servants' corridor.

"Have you been working here for a long time, Mr Barrow?" Katherine asked.

"For about 10 years now, maybe a bit longer." He answered whilst he led the way to her bedroom.

"That's quite some time. Did you start as a footman too?"

"You are not very curious, are you, miss Turner."

"I am sorry, I did not meant to be." She said a little embarrassed.

Mr Barrow opened the door for her and placed her suitcase on her bed.

"Oh, this looks lovely!" she said whilst she inspected her bedroom.

"If you just get changed, then I will see you downstairs before dinner." The under butler said.

"Of course, thank you, Mr Barrow."

He gave her a simple nod and left the room. 

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I hope you liked the first chapter!I'm sorry it is quite short. Feel free to leave a comment! 😊