Page 13 of The Only One Left

But about Lenora Hope, my opinion of whom hasn’t changed. I still think she’s a killer. I also know it doesn’t matter what I think. She’s my patient. My job is to take care of her. If I don’t do my job, I won’t get paid. It’s that simple.

We leave the sunroom and head back down the hallway, toward the heart of the house. When we reach the portraits, I sneak another glance at the only one on display.

Lenora’s oil-painted eyes seem to follow us as we pass.

FIVE

Budgetary restrictions force us to keep only a small household staff,” Mrs. Baker says as we return to the foyer. “Outside work is done by Carter, whom I believe you’ve already met.”

I stiffen, slightly unnerved. How did she know that?

“I have, yes,” I say.

Mrs. Baker guides me past the Grand Stairs and into the hall leading to the other end of the house. “Inside the house is Jessica, who cleans, and Archibald, who cooks.”

“And what do you do?”

Another bold question. Accidentally so. This time, there’s no mistaking Mrs. Baker’s reaction. Definitely displeased.

“I am the housekeeper,” she says with a sniff so disgruntled it lifts her bosom. “I keep the house in the best condition possible under severely limited circumstances. All decisions are made by me. All decisions I make are final. With Miss Hope unable to serve as caretaker of this estate, I have assumed the burden.Thatis my job.”

“How long have you been with Miss Hope?”

“Decades. I arrived in 1928, hired to tutor Miss Hope and her sister in the ways a young woman should behave. Only nineteen myself, I’d intended to stay a year or two. That plan changed, of course. When the household staff was reduced following the... incident, I left and went to Europe for a time. When my fiancé died, I chose to return to Hope’s End and devote my life to Miss Hope’s care.”

Not the choice I would have made. Then again, I’ve never had a fiancé. Or even a boyfriend for any significant length of time. The job doesn’t allow it. “Get out while you’ve still got your looks,” a fellow Gurlain Home Health Aide once told me. “Otherwise you’ll never snag a man.”

Now I wonder if it’s already too late. Maybe I’m already fated to become like Mrs. Baker—a woman in black with white hair and pale skin, drained of all color.

“If you never got married, why are you called Mrs. Baker?”

“Because that’s the title given to the head housekeeper, dear, whether she’s married or not. It commands respect.”

Continuing down the hallway, I survey my surroundings. Double doors closed tight straight ahead, open doorway to my right. I peek through it to see a formal dining room, unlit but brightened by two sets of French doors that lead to the terrace. Between them is an ornate fireplace so big I could park my car inside it. A pair of chandeliers hang over each end of a table long enough to seat two dozen people.

“Hope’s End has thirty-six rooms,” Mrs. Baker says as we reach the closed double doors at the end of the corridor. “You need only concern yourself with three. Miss Hope’s quarters, your own quarters, and here.”

I follow Mrs. Baker as she cuts right, around the corner and into a kitchen large enough for a restaurant. There are multiple ovens and burners and a brick-lined fireplace, inside of which a small blaze crackles. Shelves full of porcelain containers line the walls, and dozens of copper pots hang from the ceiling on wrought iron racks. A massive wooden counter sits in the center of the room, running from almost one wall to another.

Decades ago, an army of cooks and servers likely scurried over the black-and-white-tiled floor on their way to the adjoining dining room. Now there’s only one—a man with a thick chest and even thicker stomach wearing checkered pants and a white chef’s coat. In his seventies, he has a shaved head and a slightly bent nose, but his smile is wide.

“Archibald, this is Miss Hope’s new caregiver,” Mrs. Baker says. “Kit, this is Archibald.”

He looks up from the counter, where he’s kneading dough for homemade bread. “Welcome, Kit. And call me Archie.”

“All of Miss Hope’s meals are prepared by Archibald, so you won’t be needed in that capacity,” Mrs. Baker tells me. “He also cooks for the rest of the staff. You’re free to prepare your own meals, of course, but I’d advise against it. Archibald is the best cook on the Maine coast.”

It dawns on me how quickly my life has changed. This morning, I woke up in the same bed I’ve had since I was ten. Tonight, I’ll be falling asleep in a mansion that has a professional cook. And a maid. And a terrace with a bird’s-eye view of the sea.

As if to silently bring me back to earth, Mrs. Baker moves on, guiding me to a set of steps tucked into a corner of the kitchen. The opposite of the Grand Stairs, these are steep, narrow, and dark. Clearly meant for servants. Of which I am one. I can’t forget about that.

“Archibald and Jessica have rooms on the third floor,” Mrs. Baker says, her voice echoing down the narrow stairwell as she climbs. “Your quarters are on the second floor, next to Miss Hope’s room.”

“She’s upstairs?” I say, surprised. “If she’s immobile, shouldn’t she be on the ground floor for easier access?”

“Miss Hope doesn’t mind, I assure you.”

“The house has an elevator?”

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