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[Complete] Old Money, New Flavours [Streets, Yards, and Homes]
Philanthropist

60 Posts
4 Threads

Pronouns: The Right Honourable Lord
Age: 50
Occupation: Baron, Politician, Philantropist
Registered: Dec 2019

#31
When he thought it was safe again, he picked up his brandy and downed the rest. "When you are ready, Miss Rosewine, I'll show you the kitchen."

He hoped that he could find it still. Arthur hadn't been in his own kitchen since the day he had viewed the house before buying it. And even then, he had not paid particularly much attention on the servant quarters. They were hidden downstairs, and the bedrooms of the female servants were up in the attic. And the connecting stairwell, as well as passages to each room that might need service, were all hidden behind the walls of the main house, so that the family never had to bother crossing a 'servant area' to get anywhere, or had to deal with the inconvenience of seeing a servant who hadn't been summoned. It was a maze behind the walls, probably, and he hoped he could lead them to the kitchen in one go.
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Member

117 Posts
3 Threads

Pronouns: her/she
Age: 22
Occupation: Private Chef
Plotter: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...hp?tid=366
Height: 5'5"
Registered: Sep 2020

#32
With the last sip of her Madeira, Vela nodded.  "That would be lovely, yes."  She set the empty glass on the table nearby and got up carrying her notebook and gloves in one hand. 

"How many kitchen staff do you have?  Do you generally hire extra staff for events such as this?"  She would need to know if she would have to include hiring extra hands in the cost for the job.  It was to be 10 courses and a large number of guests.  She was good at what she did, but not even she could do miracles.

"You have a lovely house, by the way, in case I forgot to say so earlier.  The grounds as well were a nice view coming up to the house."

She walked with him as he led her through the house.  "Has it been in the family?"  She asked glancing around looking at the decor.

She wondered where his wife was and if the doctor had seen her.  Surely, if it was serious, the doctor would have notified the Baron by now.  She reasoned this and tried not to think of the other woman.   She was a considerate person, blunt and straightforward, but had a good heart.
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Philanthropist

60 Posts
4 Threads

Pronouns: The Right Honourable Lord
Age: 50
Occupation: Baron, Politician, Philantropist
Registered: Dec 2019

#33
Arthur led her out of the room, holding the door open for her, and through the hall, down the broad, marble stairs into the entrance hall. "I wouldn't know the exact number, Miss Rosewine, but I will talk to the steward and let you know." He and his wife had had a hand in the hiring of the chef, the governess, the nurse, the valet, his wife's lady's maid, and the butler, as well as the steward himself. He knew the names of the gardener, the coachman, and the housekeeper. But he didn't bother himself with the lower servants, who came and went anyway, and who, if they did their job well, he would never see, unless they were summoned.

The entrance hall had a high ceiling, and grand rounded doors to the porch, white-washed walls, and large black and white checkered tiles on the floor. Light came in through two grand, high windows on either side of the entrance.

"Thank you," he said when she praised the house. "No, my family is from the York area, but it's not what it used to be, with the factories and trains polluting the air." At least it wasn't Leeds or Sheffield, or the pit of fire that was Manchester, but he still worried about the effect of such unhealthy air on the gentler sex. "When my first wife's health became poor, I decided to move the family to a more salubrious environment." Not that the old town was clean, with its consumption-plagued fishing families and jet workers living in their own excrement, but his house was located outside of town, at a safe distance.

Arthur looked around and then led them to an unobtrusive white painted door below the main stairs. He held the door open. A straight stairwell, steeper than the wide stairs above them, led down to a corridor. "Watch your steps, Miss Rosewine."
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Member

117 Posts
3 Threads

Pronouns: her/she
Age: 22
Occupation: Private Chef
Plotter: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...hp?tid=366
Height: 5'5"
Registered: Sep 2020

#34
She nodded at his response.  She wondered idly who handled the pay for the staff.  He likely had a house manager, though she had thought from the sight of his desk and items there she had assumed he was one of those who kept track of such things.  Some were more focused on the property and those that rented there.  Others were more involved in the house and the running of it.  Then still rarer, as she had been involved with, kept an eagle eye on both areas.  She was creating an opinion of which kind the Baron was as she was there and from his comments on various things.

"London is quite overtaken with various kinds of pollution."  She added agreeing in the dismaying state of the air and many areas of the city.  "One of the reasons I decided to go to a smaller community.  The ingredients would be cleaner and fresher, but living out here just feels much more healthy all around."

"Has living here assisted her health?"  She asked, hoping it had.  She disliked anyone having poor health. 

As she entered the more narrow and steeper steps, she put a hand to the side of the wall.  "Thank you."  She replied in appreciation for the warning of the steps.  If this was how the staff would bring the platters and plate up to the main floor for the dining room she would have to take that into account in her design of the display.  It wouldn't be good to have the staff fall or have to be worrying about their own stepping and a delicate or tall display of the dishes.
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Philanthropist

60 Posts
4 Threads

Pronouns: The Right Honourable Lord
Age: 50
Occupation: Baron, Politician, Philantropist
Registered: Dec 2019

#35
"She died, giving birth..." Arthur stated, aware of how that could turn things awkward very quickly. He was thankful for having to focus on finding the way. When they had come down the stairs and through the corridor, he looked around for the direction of where he knew the dining room was. It would make sense for the kitchen to be close to there. "Left, Miss," he indicated, since she was walking ahead.
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Member

117 Posts
3 Threads

Pronouns: her/she
Age: 22
Occupation: Private Chef
Plotter: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...hp?tid=366
Height: 5'5"
Registered: Sep 2020

#36
She had thought he meant the current wife, at learning the one he spoke of was a previous wife, she blinked and replied.  "My sympathies." 

She wondered how he was dealing with the way the current wife was appearing to be ill.  From the way he had acted, her fainting was a regular issue, and this one had been fairly bad.  Poor man.  Vela wondered how long ago, and how old the child would be now.  Or had the child been lost as well?  Questions running through her head, but not questions that were appropriate.  Those were private details and likely hard to share.

She slowed at the directive and turned to the left.  Looking around as she entered the new area to memorize things to help her not get lost when she was there without him guiding her steps.  She was also looking for any staff, as she would need to make their acquaintance if she was to work there.  The staff and how they acted around the employer gave her a good idea of how to proceed with them or how to expect them to interact with her.
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Philanthropist

60 Posts
4 Threads

Pronouns: The Right Honourable Lord
Age: 50
Occupation: Baron, Politician, Philantropist
Registered: Dec 2019

#37
[Content warning: Sexual content]

"Thank you. It is some five years ago now." He wanted to move away from this awkward topic.

As they turned the corner, Arthur was pretty certain he remembered where they were. "It's the large door at the end of the corridor," he told her. He wondered why he didn't see any servants passing them by. He would expect to meet at least some of them on the way to a chore, and especially moving to and from the kitchen.

Alas, little did he know that the chef had sent everyone away from the kitchen. All but one. If poor Vela opened the said door, she would open it on the maid sitting on a table with her skirts up, the chef right in front of her with his trousers down. They were mid-action.
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Member

117 Posts
3 Threads

Pronouns: her/she
Age: 22
Occupation: Private Chef
Plotter: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...hp?tid=366
Height: 5'5"
Registered: Sep 2020

#38
Vela nodded headed down the corridor.  Opening the door, she blinked and was in shock for a moment, then turned back down the corridor towards the Baron.  Her eyes wide and her face quite pink.  More red than pink to be honest.  She blinked rapidly trying to capture her own breath.  She had not seen a man in such a state, let alone with a woman in such a manner. 

"Oh, my goodness!"

She was a young lady raised properly despite what the Baron and some others might think.  Putting her hand over her lips, she leaned against the wall just inside the door unable to speak.  It would be clear that she was beside herself and not sure how to react.  She worked to catch her breath and get a hold of her self.  One hand over her lips and the other at her chest in reaction.

She was capable of directing a kitchen staff with strength and confidence.  However, this situation was not a typical situation.  It would take her a moment or two or three to gather her typical professional manner.  Not to mention try to figure out how to respond to the situation.
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Philanthropist

60 Posts
4 Threads

Pronouns: The Right Honourable Lord
Age: 50
Occupation: Baron, Politician, Philantropist
Registered: Dec 2019

#39
Arthur was surprised when the young lady turned on the spot, and disturbed by her reaction. "Miss Rosewine..." He pushed passed her to see what was going on, only to find the chef lifting his trousers hastily, and a maid running away through the backdoor. It required little imagination to understand what poor Miss Rosewine had just witnessed.

Arthur was mortified. He turned red. Purple.

"My Lord..." the chef began in a thick French accent. "It was the maid! She seduced me! La vérité!"

"OUT!" the baron thundered. "Out with you!"

He did not have to say it again. The chef ran out the back door as well, still holding his trousers up with his hands.

Arthur wasn't sure if he had ever felt this embarrassed. It was bad enough to find out that the servants were having intercourse in the same place as where his food was prepared three times a day (if he wouldn't have been so overwhelmed, he would have retched), but to lead a lady - an intended chef at that - straight into that scene; to have her witness such a scene under his roof; his own servants in his own kitchen... Arthur did not know how he could ever overcome that humiliation.

He turned back to the corridor to find Miss Rosewine leaning against the wall, clearly shaken. It was a good thing that she was made of tougher stuff than Evaine. His wife might have dropped dead on the spot from horror. "Miss Rosewine..." he said, his normally confident voice shaky for once. "I am so... terribly sorry... I never... You are shaken, Miss. Please let me help you to a chair." He took put his hand under her arm, and if she let him, led her into the kitchen to sit down on a chair by the wall.

Some servants had come to see what the commotion was about, but seeing the baron, they turned on their heels and sneaked away as quietly and swiftly as they could.
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Member

117 Posts
3 Threads

Pronouns: her/she
Age: 22
Occupation: Private Chef
Plotter: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...hp?tid=366
Height: 5'5"
Registered: Sep 2020

#40
Vela leaned on his arm and allowed him to lead her to a chair.  Sitting down, she cautiously looked around to be sure the couple was covered properly.  Seeing them gone, she looked around more freely and shuddered thinking of what they had done on other surfaces of the kitchen.  Getting herself together, she took a firm breath and stiffed her shoulders to slip back into a more professional behavior.

"Your apology is accepted."  She gave a proper nod with her chin.  "It can't be unseen, but I will survive.  I am made of sturdy stuff.  It just gave me a start."  She closed her eyes as if still trying to unsee it.  Then opened her eyes with another deep breath to gather herself.

"I will not work in this kitchen however until it has been cleaned... scrubbed...from top to bottom before I return to start prepping for the event.   And that maid will not be allowed to work with me if she was one of the kitchen staff that is.  As to the chef...." she shook her head at the unprofessional manners of the bloke.

She looked around to see how else the other chef might be lacking in his professionalism.  With what she had seen, she was now quite doubting the chef's ability to maintain a proper chef appropriately.
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