The Devil is The Duke

It was the day of the Duke’s return so the manor was buzzing with activities. Nobody dared put a foot out of line. Emeera was called in several directions to oversee the work done. The Duke got in that evening with a little girl in tow. He looked quite unhappy as though he had been saddled with an unpleasant task. After his bath, he sent his butler for Emeera.

“Is he in his office?” she asked the butler as they hurried away from the kitchen.

“No. He said you should meet him in his room,” the butler, Luis, answered and turned away to run other errands for the duke. Emeera was left alone to meet Alfred who was already in a foul mood. First, she stepped into her room and quickly brushed her hair, then she knocked on the glass door that divided the rooms and the duke opened it gently.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“Luis told me you wanted to see me, sir,” Emeera said.

“And you thought it wise to try to enter my bedroom through this door? What kind of guts do you possess? Are you my wife?”

“I’m very sorry your grace. But you showed me this door….”

“Because I didn’t want you to discover it one day as a surprise. I only informed you this exist. If you want to see me in my room, you knock on the outside door like every other worker. The fact that I let you sleep in this room does not mean you can barge in on me at anytime. Emeera, I am your boss,” he said. Emeera experienced mixed feelings at this. She liked the fact that the man considered her as just an employee. That dispelled everything Nancy had said about him wanting her for sex. But being talked to like that did not make her feel good. She swallowed.

“I understand that, your grace. It will not happen again,” she said. His face softened as though he knew he was being too harsh on the young woman.

“You can go. What I want to say can wait till after dinner,” he murmured. Emeera withdrew.

Few minutes later, the Duke knocked on her bedroom door and Emeera opened. “You have to plan a ball. I have not thrown one since I lost my wife.” He grimaced like it was painful to think of. “But now I have a proper woman to play hostess. Mrs. Fletcher will assist you in this task and if you need any more assistance-”

“Can I hire a consultant?” Emeera said, thinking of Nancy. The Duke shrugged.

“If that helps, of course. Just let the accountant know how much you will need. Oh. And make it a masquerade ball. Also get yourself a costume as you will be attending too,” he said and stepped out of the room. Emeera wondered why he did not seem it fit to mention the child he had brought home. He had handed the child to Mrs. Fletcher who took her away.

Emeera usually had her dinner in her bedroom same time the Duke had dinner in the dining room, waited upon by the butler. Mrs. Fletcher had mentioned that most times, he had guests over for dinner but other times, he ate alone. This was one of those days. That evening, after dinner, she went to the servants’ dining room to inform them they had a ball to plan. It was also a chance to familiarize herself with the domestic staff. It had occurred to her that the only maids she knew were Mrs. Fletcher, Lucille the chambermaid and Isabel. She met all the servants eating dinner downstairs. As she entered the room, everyone fell silent. Mrs. Fletcher got up and went to her. Emeera was surprised to see she ate with the other servants. It meant that apart from the butler, she was the only employee who had her meals served separately. She glanced at the faces that all stared back at her. Isabel was not in the room. Lucille too.

“Emeera, do you want anything? Did his grace send you down here?” Mrs. Fletcher spoke in a whisper. Emeera shook her head but took the older lady out of the room. As they left, everyone began to talk again.

“We have a ball to plan. It is coming up in six weeks-”

“Six weeks?! We need like six months.”

“We do not have six months. His Grace wants it done quickly and gotten over with,” Emeera said and Mrs. Fletcher nodded. Emeera wanted to ask after the strange child but decided to take Mrs. Fletcher’s advice and mind her business.

“Do you need any maid to work with specially on this?” Mrs. Fletcher asked.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Yes I think so. Now that you have mentioned it, I think I need Isabel.”

“She is new. Why not go for Lucille, the chambermaid?” Mrs. Fletcher asked. Emeera immediately agreed. Lucille was always in her room anyway. After that conversation, Emeera decided on getting some fresh air and went into the garden. As she walked into the orchard, she heard rustling and stopped, scared. The fruity fragrance from the cashew blossoms no longer appealed to her. She just wanted to go back to the warmth and safety of the house. But the voices she heard next assured her there was nothing to fear.

“Isabel you must listen to me. My affections for you remain unchanged,” a gruff voice said. Emeera knew she had heard that voice before. She needed to clear the mental cobwebs to remember where she recognized the voice from. There were so many things to think at once. First, it felt bad to listen in on such an intimate moment even when she argued she was not eavesdropping on purpose. Then Isabel was fairly new. How a man could make such declarations of affections to someone he probably knew in a short while surprised Emeera. She heard Isabel crying. The gruff voice comforted her. Instantly, the cobwebs cleared and she recognized the voice as Luis the butler. Sneaking away, she vowed to keep what she had just witnessed to herself. As she walked back towards the house, she saw someone else scurrying away in the cover of the darkness. It was Lucille the chambermaid. The Duke’s household was indeed interesting.

After her evening bath, Emeera sent for Lucille. It had been established that apart from her duties, Lucille was Emeera’s personal go-to maid. Lucille entered the suite with lowered eyes that confirmed she was the one from the scene at the orchard. Emeera sat in bed, her back propped against the pillows, watching Lucille’s discomfort.

“You sent for me, ma,” Lucille finally mumbled after an awkward silence.

“I saw you, you know? But that’s not why I called you. I just wanted to get that out before we look into the business of the night.”

“What business?” Lucille casted a fleeting gaze before turning back to study her fingers.

“First, the ball. We have a ball to plan and being that you’ve been here since the days of the last Lady Albert, I know you can teach me a lot of things. Please sit.” Lucille shifted some pillows and fell into the couch. Emeera got out of bed and went to the dresser. “How long has Isabel been here?”

“About eight months.” Emeera was surprised that after eight months, Isabel was still considered as the new maid. It only meant it could take years before they accept Emeera as one of them.

“And how long have you known about them?”

“I think six months. I’m not so sure.”

“I find that hard to believe seeing how you keep up with them. I noticed you were not even present for dinner today,” Emeera looked at the girl. She guessed Lucille was twenty-two years old if not less, yet she was already wise in the ways of the world. While Emeera at twenty-eight was quite naive.

“No please I don’t keep up with them. I went today because Isabel is …. emm.. ”

“Isabel is what?” Emeera asked. Lucille wanted to disengage from the conversation but one look at her manager and she knew she could not fool around.

“Pregnant. Isabel is pregnant for Luis, the butler.”

The revelation drove away all thoughts of the ball. The scandal blowing up would cast a shadow, not just on the ball, but the Duke and his household. Emeera knew she had to do something straight away but did not know what to do. Her new job was proving to be such a handful. She did not know if she should act on her own discretion or report to the Duke to handle it. Lucille told her the last time a maid brought disgrace to the family, she was sacked by the manor manager but, the circumstances had been different. That was between a maid and an unknown butcher. But this was the duke’s butler- his highest ranking domestic worker; second to none but Emeera. And even though Emeera was the overall manager, Luis’ role in the duke’s life was so high and so unique that Emeera never had to tell him what to do. Luis was more than an employee. He was on a somewhat personal level with the Duke. There was no way the Duke expected her to sack his butler. She had to report. Despite her constant eavesdropping, Lucille did not even know how far along the pregnancy was. Emeera finally decided to let sleeping dogs lie. After all pregnancy could not be such a scandal in the twentieth century; not when they had seen the inventions of cars and telephones. Uneasily, she finally fell asleep.