Ruined

Prologue

"Eva, this is getting ridiculous! We are embarrassingly short-staffed as it is, and you still refuse another chambermaid," Miss Pattison said, banging her spoon down onto the table.

She was exasperated. Every time this argument had played out, the maid had won. 

"We're managing, aren't we? At any rate, Mrs Pickins is the housekeeper, not you, so I'd be ever grateful if you kept your mouth shut," Eva replied sharply, sending a stern warning with her eyes. 

"In a house as rich as this, why manage when you could instead flow with ease? Divide the work! Why do you insist on treating yourself, and all the other maids, like donkeys? It's simply  unfair,"

"I've always respected your opinion, old friend, but not this time, for you are ignorant to the workings of this house and what goes on, down in your little kitchen. You know absolutely nothing! Our Lord is a disgusting, cruel, vile man! It's so well-known, nobody with the right prestige (and a right mind) wants to get a job here. Do you not wonder why a house as rich as this doesn't have job-seekers knocking on every door and window? Because this place leaves you ruined, and they know it! Nobody leaves here whole,"

Eva could usually manage being a stoic professional, but the cook had been aggravating her all week, and she'd finally snapped. All the other staff had been on edge, patiently waiting for the outburst. It had seemed everybody but Miss Pattison had seen it coming.

Eva was known for a short fuse hidden behind a  collected face, much like a Trojan horse. When she got irritated, it happened quickly and ferociously - a flash flood in it's power. After her last assistant, Julianne, had ran out in tears two weeks ago, her furies had only become more frequent with the added stress.

Everybody else  in the servant's dining room stood silently, without the slightest idea of what to expect next. Nobody had ever challenged Eva before. And Eva had never so loudly insulted the Lord. Every one half-expected an angry man  stomping up the stairs any second, even though he never had business close enough to servant's quarters to be able to hear her.

"Rose, Margaret, Lily, have you cleaned all the guest rooms?" Eva snapped at the gawping girls.

"Just this morning, Eva," Rose offered, a sympathetic smile on her face. 

"Well, I suggest you double-check them. And the rest of you who, unfortunately, aren't under my command can scram out of the pure kindness of your heart. Now, be a dear, Mary and fetch Mrs Pickins if you're not attending. I think it's time you understood all, Miss Pattison,"

A fake smile plastered the red-head's face as the words escaped her mouth, her green eyes directly concentrated into the cook's own. 

Following the meeting, Eva spoke no words to the cook or housekeeper for days. 

She had been adamant to her argument, but she couldn't overrule Mrs Pickins,  and she couldn't burden the maids under her management forever. 

And so, Eleanor Hill arrived at the house just 2 weeks later.