Most of the laundry belonged to servants and maids working in noble households, though the occasional commoner who had saved up a decent sum would bring their things in to show off.
Once the laundry arrived, the real battle began. Pay was calculated by the volume of washing, so the more fabric you claimed, the more you earned. You also had to be clever enough to avoid delicate fabrics that would eat up your time. Adelaide always came out on top.
Anxious at the thought of getting stuck with pieces that took forever to wash and paid next to nothing, Adelaide slapped herself hard across the cheek to try to wake up. Smack! Smack! Her cheeks had gone bright red, and yet the Berthier lady’s room showed no sign of disappearing.
“My lady, I’ve brought water for washing. What happened to your face?”
This dream was even detailed and internally consistent. Bringing back the same maid from yesterday, even inside a dream.
“None of your business.”
“His Grace said an important guest is coming today. What are we going to do about your face…”
“A guest?”
“Yes. The head maid said this is someone we need to attend to with great care.”
Lionel. Adelaide knew instinctively that today was the day that boy would enter the Berthier estate.
“Let me at least bring a cold towel. Just wait a mo, eek!”
“Ugh…!”
The moment Adelaide saw the maid slip on the blanket Adelaide had kicked off in her sleep, the dream turned into a nightmare all over again.
“My lady!”
Adelaide couldn’t understand why she was the one pinned underneath the maid. Her knee throbbed from the hard impact. It was definitely going to bruise.
“My lady! Are you all right? My lady!”
“You’re so loud. Always fumbling around, and not a shred of use, are you.”
She snapped as sharply as she could, but it carried no real weight coming from someone who had just thrown herself forward to catch the maid.
Adelaide’s reflection shimmered in the water sloshing inside the silver basin. She dipped a hand in.
“It’s warm…”
She couldn’t quite remember the last time she had washed her face with warm water. This was a dream world, of course, but Adelaide decided she might as well enjoy the luxury while it was there.
When she woke, the reality waiting for her was washing her face with water cold enough to sting, barely enough to clear the sleep from her eyes, then scrubbing laundry until the backs of her hands cracked and swelled.
“I haven’t missed this place once in over ten years, and now here I am. What a completely random thing to dream about.”
Adelaide was born without the habit of looking back. She never agonized long before making a decision, and once she made one, she had to see it through to the end or she couldn’t rest.
“And of all days, it had to be the day that boy shows up.”
Even after all this time, Adelaide still couldn’t stand Lionel. What child in the world would welcome proof of their father’s affair?
“If it’s a dream anyway, I might as well act out all the things I held back then.”
Duke Berthier would have gone pale hearing that. Remarkably, seventeen-year-old Adelaide had actually held herself back to some degree, watching Duke Berthier’s reactions.
“I’ll never let him set foot in this house.”
Adelaide made that firm resolution and finished washing her face. When the water touched the cheek she had slapped trying to wake herself, a sharp sting flared up.
“My lady, I’ve brought an ice pack.”
“Set it down over there.”
“You’ve already finished washing? It must have stung. You didn’t have to wait for me.”
“You talk too much. Since when does a mere maid comment on what her mistress does?”
Even under Adelaide’s scolding, the maid kept her bright smile in place. And no wonder, given that Adelaide had just thrown herself forward to keep the maid from falling moments ago.
In the maid’s mind, the conclusion had already taken shape: Adelaide spoke harshly, but was actually a kind person.
“You’re just embarrassed, aren’t you? I always knew you were a good person, my lady. Oh, and your leg must have bruised too. Let me go get one more ice pack, oh my!”
Again. The maid’s carelessly swinging arm knocked over the silver basin, and every drop of water inside it landed squarely on Adelaide.
“My lady…”
Adelaide pushed the maid she had pulled into her arms away from her. The maid’s eyes welled up as she repeated her apologies over and over.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“Pardon?”
“Trying to see how far I’ll go.”
“No, my lady! I don’t know why I keep falling either. This has never happened before…”
“I wasn’t talking to you. Go on. You said you were going to bring an ice pack or something.”
It was directed at whatever unknown force had been controlling her.
“Did you not hear me tell you to leave?”
“Thank you, my lady. If it weren’t for you, I would have been badly hurt and had to take time off work. Thank you so much.”
The maid bowed deeply and left the room.
Adelaide stripped off her wet clothes and tossed them aside. The lukewarm water that had felt just right for washing her face sent a chill through her now that it soaked her clothes.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
Adelaide shouted at the empty air. No answer came back, of course.
“If this is a dream, let me wake up already! If it isn’t, send me back to reality right now!”
Only after ending up soaked to the bone did Adelaide begin to think that this might not be a dream after all.
Everything was too vivid. The wet clothes clinging to her skin, the ache in her leg from the collision when she caught the maid, even the burning on the cheek she had slapped herself.
“Adelaide Charlotte Berthier!”
She thought for a moment it was a sign from above, but it was Duke Berthier. He had begun to wonder if his daughter, who caused nothing but trouble every single day, had finally lost her mind.
“What in the world do you look like?”
“…”
“A Berthier lady, shameless enough to stand there half-undressed and screaming at the top of her lungs. Are you trying to bring every person in this estate running?”
“You’re raising your voice too, Your Grace.”
“How dare you look me in the eye and talk back!”
“I have eyes. I don’t see why I should keep them closed.”
“Adelaide!”
Duke Berthier grabbed the back of his neck, trembling. It really does feel like being seventeen again. The moment she faced Duke Berthier, a hostile response shot out of her like muscle memory.
“My lady, I’ve brought the ice pack.”
The maid startled at the sight of Adelaide standing half-undressed and arguing with Duke Berthier. She scrambled to grab a blanket and draped it over Adelaide’s shoulders before dropping into a curtsy before Duke Berthier.
“Your Grace, my lady has been injured!”
“Injured?”
“She bruised her leg badly, catching me when I fell. I don’t know what my lady may have done wrong, but please let her be treated first. I’m begging you!”
Adelaide let out a scoff of disbelief. For a mere maid to cut off Duke Berthier mid-sentence and say her piece took no ordinary courage. No, it was outright recklessness.
“Sounds like you’re itching to get yourself thrown out.”
“My lady…”
Duke Berthier glanced briefly at Adelaide’s knee, hidden under the blanket.
A stranger might have mistaken it for a look of concern, but Adelaide was certain Duke Berthier was only trying to catch her in a lie.
“If you don’t believe me, shall I show you?”
“That won’t be necessary. You, what’s your name?”
“It’s Amy, Your Grace.”
“Very well. When the guest arrives today, Adelaide must be present to receive them. Make sure she’s properly treated so she doesn’t use an injury as an excuse to shut herself in her room.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Adelaide found it deeply suspicious that Duke Berthier had backed down so easily. The maid, Amy, carefully sat Adelaide on the bed and folded up her chemise.
“What if it leaves a scar…”
“Then it leaves a scar. And what business is it of yours to get involved?”
“Don’t worry, I’m known for being good at my job, and the head maid is quite fond of me.”
“I wasn’t worried. Just hold the ice pack properly.”
Amy laughed and secured the ice pack in place. Adelaide wondered if the girl might be a little simple. Smiling away even after being scolded. It wasn’t the reaction you’d expect from someone with all their wits about them.
“What dress shall our lady wear today?”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child. I’m a good ten years older than you.”
“Pardon? But I was under the impression you were seventeen, my lady…”
She caught herself. Before Adelaide could correct it, Amy clapped her hands together with a bright “Oh!”
“You’re so funny, my lady. That was a joke, wasn’t it? Not that you’d care, but I’m nineteen.”
“You knew and still had to go on about it. What does it matter that you’re nineteen.”
“Nothing in particular, just saying.”
Watching Amy laugh and browse through the dresses, Adelaide felt a strange sensation settle over her. Until Duke Berthier had asked Amy’s name, Adelaide hadn’t even known it herself. It hadn’t crossed her mind to ask.
All she had done was stop the girl from falling a few times, and from that alone, Amy seemed to have gotten it into her head that Adelaide was a good person.
“You’re going to get taken advantage of living like that.”
“Taken advantage of?”
“I’m saying don’t let your guard down and go around grinning just because someone was decent to you once or twice.”
“I’m not like that, my lady. I’m sharper than I look.”
“Hardly. Not that one, use the other one. The lilac.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The dress with the thin lace accentuating the neckline was one her late mother had loved to wear. After her mother passed, Adelaide had inherited it and altered it to fit her own figure.
Duke Berthier disliked seeing Adelaide in that dress. Knowing that, Adelaide had kept it, had it updated with each season’s fashions every few months, and wore it often, purely to get under his skin.
