house. Mr Jasper had fallen asleep in an armchair until being lifted by two footmen to a spare room where he was probably still asleep. No one would think of requesting Mr Jasper's presence at church.
With the family, and most of the staff, at church it was a chance for Felicity to relax a little. She did a thorough check of the whole house, noting anything that was not as it should be and either making it so or intending to check it was done it later. In the upstairs corridor she happened upon a dishevelled and hung over Mr Jasper, he came to the door of the spare room, leaning heavily on the door frame, and looked a little confused.
She went to hurry on her way but he spotted her.
"William put me up last night, did he?"
"Yes sir." she said with a small bobbed curtsey.
"Good egg our William. They're all at church I suppose?"
"Yes sir. Can I get you anything? Breakfast? Strong coffee?"
"Don't suppose you'd pop in and keep my bed warm?"
"No sir."
"I'll settle for the coffee then."
"I'll see someone brings it up to you."
After her tour of the house she went back to the kitchen where she asked one of the footmen to take coffee up to Mr Jasper. It was best to keep him at a good distance from the maids. She then settled into the housekeeper's parlour for a brief, quiet cup of tea. This was the only two minutes she would get to herself all day.
When the family returned from church Felicity and her staff were on hand to relieve them of their winter wrappings. There had been a brief shower of rain which Miss Grace had taken for snow.
"I swear it was snow, Milly!" she told her sister, "It's going to be a white Christmas after all! Tell her William!"
The young master smiled at his sister. "I think we shall have to wait and see. Now take off your things, the maids are waiting."
Felicity herself helped the mistress off with her coat, trying to disguise the woman's weakness. Nothing however, escaped the old mistress's eyes. Felicity knew the woman was worried about grandchildren, about an heir. In truth the staff knew more of the marriage than the family. How could they not when they were the ones cleaning the sheets and pretending they were not there? Felicity did what she could to stifle most of the gossip, but it would always thrive below stairs no matter what she did. All the staff knew the master and mistress quite simply did not have the kind of marriage that would produce children.
"None of your family joining us?" the old mistress snapped to the young.
The younger woman wobbled, Felicity steadied her with an arm around the waist.
Tactless.
Coats, cloaks, hats and gloves stowed away the family were led through to the parlour for mulled wine and canapés to take the edge off their appetite. Dinner would be an hour away yet. There were still people to arrive.
"Make sure all the guests are shown in directly," the young master said to her. It was a mistake to make that request to her.
"I shall make sure Mr Jakes knows," she said overly formerly.
"Of course, of course. Thank you."
She nodded without making eye contact and withdrew from the room. It would be over to the maids and footmen now to keep the canapés and drinks flowing. She caught the head footman on the way out.
"Make sure Miss Millicent and Miss Grace's drinks are well watered, it wouldn't do for them to take on too much of the Christmas spirit."
Her place was in the dining room, making sure everything was just so. It was wise to avoid the kitchen until Mrs Carr had a chance to slow down. Her temper would be as hot as her temperature at the moment.
The front door bell seemed to chime every other minute and brought a dreadful gust of wind into the house so that the floor needed constant attention. Guests were shown into the parlour where the noise level was gradually rising.
The table was finally set to Felicity and Mr Jakes' standards - with one side pushed a little closer together to allow for the thirty-first guest. All was ready. It looked beautiful. The candle light reflected on the polished silver and glass, each place was set with festive garlands and the latest novelty - crackers. Felicity could not help but compare it to the scene downstairs, the messy frenzy of preparation that would be finally cleared aside for a much humbler celebration.
The two and a half hours of the meal passed in a busy blur. There was always something to do and it was only when the family retired back to the parlour that the servants could sit to their own dinner in the kitchen. Felicity was at the foot of the table, Mr Jakes at the head.
Mrs Carr had surpassed herself, the meal was declared by all to be the best so far. She even agreed to pull a cracker with them and, although she declared the sweets inside poor quality, she did deign to wear the paper hat, for a while at least.
"Did you like the bird?" she asked Mr Jakes, who was expected to answer about the quality of the goose on behalf of the whole staff.
"Most succulent," he replied.
"And the family - did they like their bird?"
"I did hear one of the family say it was a most pleasant change."
Mrs Carr sniffed.
The master had insisted on trying a turkey this year, a bird Mrs Carr had never cooked before.
"Modern ideas," the old woman muttered as she took herself off to the scullery, paper hat still fixed to her head.
The party went on late into the night. Gradually, one by one, the family drifted off to bed. The young master waited up to make sure his cousin Jasper got to bed and everyone was safely taken care of. It went without saying that most of the staff, including the housekeeper and butler, had to wait up with him.
"That's all for today," he said when Jasper had been safely escorted to the spare room, strung between the shoulders of two burly footmen.
"Thank you sir."
The master smiled a tired smile. "Thank you both for your hard work today. It was a great success."
Felicity nodded and took herself off to her room to change for bed. She felt sticky and unclean so she washed thoroughly using the jug of water one of the maids had put out ready for her. She then put on her nightdress, dressing gown, slippers and lamp in hand began one last patrol of the corridors. It wouldn't do if Mr Jasper enticed one of the sillier maids into his bed or one of the young misses wanted to pursue an unwise flirtation by night.
In the guest corridor she did catch sight of one of the younger maids, in her white nightgown.
"Off to bed with you," she said firmly, "don't waste your honour on a drunken adventure."
The maid bit her lip and retreated.
When it was Felicity's turn to get into bed she was grateful. She was exhausted. The sheets felt so clean and soft against her skin. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.
"Goodnight," he said, "you are - as always - an amazing woman. But I've always known that."
His hand unconsciously traced the lines on her back. He still felt bad for that, although she had never held it against him. It had taught her a valuable lesson. Never be seen to consort with your betters. Know your place. Stay in the background.
"Look out the window," he said with surprise, "I think Grace was right after all - look - snow!"
He took her hand and led her to the window. He opened it wide. He was right, thick white flakes were falling past the window. A white Christmas. She put out her hand to catch one.
As she sat back in the bed she realised her hands had unconsciously come to rest on her stomach. She started and glanced anxiously to William, but he had not noticed anything. She could feel the small rounding of her normally flat stomach. She parted her lips to speak, but stayed herself. That was a problem that could wait for the New Year.
###
Merry Christmas everyone!
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