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Authors: Deeanne Gist

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Maid to Match (37 page)

BOOK: Maid to Match
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The maternity baskets – true. Walls of windows in the basement – true. Central heat and electricity for the servants – true. New furniture bought specifically for the servants’ bedrooms – true. Indoor plumbing for the servants – true. The giving of gifts at Christmas – true. The newspaper account I included (of the Christmas celebration) was a real article and one of many that showed up, year after year, describing how Edith made her list and checked it twice. As a matter of fact, she did not send her lady’s maid to do the shopping, but did all the shopping herself. She also made sure it was done locally so as to boost the economy. Then they invited all the families that worked for them and had a big Christmas morning celebration where they gave a gift to every staff member and every child. That would be impressive if done today. In 1898, it was unheard of.

If you are an expert on the servant class of the late 1800s, you might have thought I didn’t do my homework. I want to assure you I did; it’s just that the American servant class differed from the British servant class. For example, in Britain, the butler was at the top of the food chain, but in America, it was the housekeeper. In Britain, they called the leaders of the domestic corps the Upper Ten; in America, they were called the Swell Set. In Britain, there was no talking during staff meals. In America, they were a bit more relaxed. So if you find something that doesn’t jibe with what you know to be true in England, it’s likely that we backward Americans just did it a little differently.

As for the orphanage, I made that whole thing up. I could find no record of Asheville having an orphanage, nor did George Vanderbilt build one. That was merely a device on my part. (Though a local businessman did have a Swat That Fly contest in an effort to solve the fly problem the city had, and the owner of the mortuary really did parade a corpse down Main Street in an effort to drum up business.)

All in all, Biltmore was a great place to set a book. I hope you can join me live at Biltmore this coming fall. We’re going to have a great time. Again, all the details are at
GetawayWith
Dee.com
. See you there!

Deeane Gist has a background in education and journalism. Her credits include
People, Parents, Parenting, Family
Fun,
and the
Houston Chronicle
. She has a line of parenting products called I Did It® Productions and a degree from Texas A&M. She and her husband live in Houston, Texas, and have four grown children. Deeanne loves to hear from her readers at her Web site,
www.IWantHerBook.com
.

Books by
Deeanne Gist

A Bride Most Begrudging

The Measure of a Lady

Courting Trouble

Deep in the Heart of Trouble

A Bride in the Bargain

Beguiled

Maid to Match

BOOK: Maid to Match
5.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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