The house was a great house. Pembina’s expansive landscape had, without equal, beauty, optimism, and charm, like the Edwardian era it belonged to. The “Skivvy” woke in the early morning hours. She was the lowest of the lower five, though the number of servants who made up the lower five was considerably more than the term implied. Her simple uniform of black and white dress and apron was bought herself and took a few years of savings before the material could be purchased. Female servants slept in the attic away from the males, who resided in the basement. The unheated attic kept multiple hard, aged, iron bedspreads in an open area, walls that had patches of whitewash fallen off, and meagre pieces of furniture too old to be seen in the main part of the manor. Going about the sparsely furnished basement halls, the skivvy made ready for the day. A portrait of Queen Victoria and stitch work that read Humility is a servant’s true calling hung in the hallway.
The next to arise was the hall boy, who slept on a straw pull-out in the hall. The two would wake their respective superiors: the kitchen and scullery maids along with the footmen. A footman’s livery was given to the lad by his masters and cost more than the earnings he made in a year. By this hour, the maids-of-all-work, laundry maids and the outdoor servants — the gardener, coachman, and stable master — would be at work. The housemaid and footmen would take tea, toast, and jam to the upper five: the housekeeper, lady’s maid, chef, butler, and valet.
Rickety, steep, narrow, and dimly lit staircases, involving several staircases from basement to attic, were climbed numerous times daily. The lack of natural light would end for servants at the green baize door that opened onto the main floor of the manor. On the other side of this door was marble flooring and towering windows under ornate frescos. Edwardians fancied natural light and sunshine, at distinct variance to Victorians, who nearly lauded darkness with small windows, dark furniture, and bric-a-brac everywhere. The butler and lady’s maid would greet their master and mistress with a morning tray each and draw their baths to start their leisured day. There were tens of fires to light and tend to, shutters to be thrown wide, and shoes to polish.
One’s rank was of the utmost importance upstairs as well as below stairs. The housemaid would refuse to acknowledge any girl who worked in the kitchen, and the skivvy was ignored by everyone below stairs. All basic cleaning had to be completed ahead of the family’s breakfast and before the servants were allowed to have their first meal. The lowest orders were not permitted to dine with the upper five but dined in the Steward’s dining room. In smaller estates, they ate under complete silence and the watchful eye of the butler, who had absolute authority. The lower five were given cold meat and tea while their betters ate roast chicken and dessert.
In the mid-morning, the chef would meet with the mistress to set the day’s meal plan. Preserves, cold meats, and cakes were freely given to the youngest servants, most around the age of twelve, to take to their families. Male chefs were a status symbol for Edwardians and they could ask for greater than double the butler’s salary. They were the highest paid servants. Mid-morning found the master and butler going over the day’s plans, the estate, and the finances.
In church, servants sat before their masters so they could be monitored.
Away from those dreadful Roman Catholic Latin masses in Regina, Aubrey could better understand the Rev. Tomryn as he droned in English, “You are a chosen generation, God’s special possession, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light.”
The carriage, with the servants walking behind, passed Lansdowne, the Westbrooks’ residence. Lansdowne was the estate to the west of the Kingstons’, whereas Vauréal was situated to the east. Of those in the area, Pembina was the most distant manor from Ottawa. The Kingstons had returned from Muskoka the day before. At the resort, Aubrey and Lady Bird began a rumour about Genevieve Desrosiers on account of neither being invited to Genevieve’s debut. They spread word that she was a fallen girl. Their ruse worked so well that Genevieve was sent to Quebec to stay with relatives until the storm blew past.
There was news of Austria’s Archduke, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, who had been assassinated by the Serbian terrorist group, the Black Hand. The death brought little interest to the dominion. The gentlemen agreed that the small European matter would come to naught. Great Britain would not honour a trifle and forgotten piece of parchment, anyhow. Emmett usually played a round of golf with the Prime Minister at Muskoka. But he was unable to this summer due to Sir Robert Laird Borden’s early return to Ottawa to attend to this very matter. The gentlemen did agree the most pressing distress Parliament needed to consider in autumn would be senate reform.
The summer months involved countless balls, dinner parties, ballets, operas, races, and tournaments of cards and sports. Masters rang for service at any hour of the day or night, and servants were to be in complete compliance with their masters’ wishes. Servants were fortunate to be allowed one afternoon a week and one day a month without work as respite from their habitually sixteen-hour workdays.
The main job of the hall boy was to light, trim, and put out the numerous lamps in the manor and candles in the chapel. The majority of this servant’s waking hours were spent fulfilling this one chore. The last flame at Pembina was extinguished. The final great house fell to darkness.