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‘We have two house We do not require any more’

‘Yes, le in front of the staff was impossible Tess stood up, dropped a neat curtsy and waited for the footo immediately, if you have finished your current tasks, MacDonald’

‘It’s a very good agency,’ MacDonald confided as they stood outside the door with its neat brass plate ‘His lordship gets all his staff here’

Twinford and Musgrave Doency Est 1790 It certainly sounded established and efficient, Tess told herself They would guide her, which was a good thing, because she had only the vaguest idea of the details of a lady’s maid’s duties

MacDonald opened the door for her ‘Mrs Ellery fro a lady’s maid,’ he informed the own, pelisse and ood-quality clothes or presumably she would have been directed to join the queue of applicants lined up on the far side of the hall herself

‘Certainly, h to the office? My assistant will discuss your requirements and review the available—’

He was interrupted by a baby’s wailing cry The door opposite opened and a young wo the child to her breast ‘But, Mr Twinford, I can turnI’ll wash, I can sew, scrub—’

She was of h not war an anxious look at the baby athed in what seemed to be a cut-down pelisse

‘You’ve turned your hand to irl’ The voice froall to expect an agency with our reputation to recommend a fallen woman to a respectable household?’

‘But, Mr Twinford, I never’ The woman was pale, thin and, to Tess’s eyes, quite desperate

‘Out!’ The door slammed in her face and she stumbled back

‘I do beg your pardon, Mrs Ellery Shocking!’ The clerk moved round the side of the desk ‘Now, look here, you—’

‘Stop it You are frightening the baby’ Tess stepped between them ‘What is your name?’