"This is pointless, I'm not going to learn how to serve a table correctly in half an hour. There is no way Mr Warrington didn't do this just to catch me out, can't we just come up with some sort of excuse, so I can get out of it?" I asked, slumping back against the chair.

"No, we can't. As much as that would be the preferred solution to this problem, Alexander has already seen you and knows there is no reason for you to miss out on serving luncheon. Just be careful when you pick anything up, and if possible, only use your right arm. I think you're right that they have done it on purpose, but you can't give them what they want," Miss Jenkins said, standing behind me and readjusting the bonnet she had pinned in place.

"The sooner they go to India, the better," I grumbled.

From across the room, Esther chuckled to herself though she said nothing. Both her and Miss Jenkins had been attempting to teach me the art of serving at the luncheon table, but it had yet to be a success. I had never done it before, Doctor Ealing decided to wait until the burn on my arm healed a little more before I did anything like that. Mr Warrington would have known that. We all knew the real reason why he had requested me to serve. It wasn't because he wanted to see if I was capable, he wanted to prove to Doctor Ealing that I wouldn't stay on with the family, he wanted to catch me out, but I wasn't going to let him. 

I had to treat Mr Warrington like the foreman, someone who was determined to find a way to hurt me no matter what they did. Avoiding the foreman was difficult, he was continuously doing things that he would then use against us as a reason for punishment. However, I could easily avoid Mr Warrington and whatever tricks he had up his sleeve to try and get rid of me. Besides, he might have been able to get away with soaking me, but there was little doubt in my mind that Doctor Ealing would allow him to get away with much. All I had to do was keep my head down and hope he would step over the line just enough for Doctor Ealing to step in and ask him to leave.

Whether or not he would go that far was a different story entirely.

"You'll be fine, Rosie. Most of the time it's just standing around until you're asked for. Take a deep breath and do everything he asks you to, he can't find fault if you do nothing wrong. Esther will be there if you need her and if you need rescuing, I give you permission to use your arm as an excuse to leave," Miss Jenkins said, placing her hands lightly on my shoulders.

"I'll have to do it eventually. Besides, it's not as though I can hide from them and I don't want to use my arm as an excuse. It'll only emphasise his point more. I've done far worse than serve at a luncheon table, I can handle Mr Warrington, whether or not he can handle me is a whole other story," I said, laughing.

"If you say so." Miss Jenkins smiled and handed me a cloth that I was to hold on to during luncheon, just in case anything was knocked over and needed cleaning up. I always thought that was what napkins were for, I was wrong.

Together, the three of us managed to move the pies, vegetables and potatoes upstairs and lay them out across the table ready for serving. Once the table had been set completely, Miss Jenkins returned to the kitchen and Esther produced a small, bronze bell from the cupboard and rang it twice, the sound echoing through the room. It didn't sound loud enough to reach any other part of the house, but it seemed to have worked as the sound of footsteps travelled down the stairs and towards the dining room. Esther put the bell back in the cupboard and stood beside it, her hands clasped behind her back. I followed her lead, standing beside her as the family and the Warrington's flooded in.

I kept my head facing the ground as Alexander shuffled past me, getting uncomfortably close as he went. Standing my ground, I allowed him to get as close as he wanted without flinching, he was going to try and intimidate me by almost walking on my toes, he was far from the mark. It would take more than that to intimidate me, and he knew that. Once everyone was seated, I felt Esther move beside me and followed her actions, copying everything she did. I observed at first as she started to take plates from in front of people and spoon vegetables, potatoes and pie onto the plates whilst the conversation moved around her.

Miss Jenkins had suggested that Esther deal with the food whilst I simply poured the water, a task even a dunce couldn't get wrong. So, whilst Esther spooned out the food, I grabbed a jug that we had kept on a small tray away from the table and followed Esther as she moved from person to person. Whilst she gave them food, I filled the glasses up with the water. I stuck to the rules I used my right had to hold the jug and my left to simply support the bottom of the jug. It felt a little awkward having to lean over everyone to reach their glass and fill it up. Were it not for the burn, the job would have been a little easier. Then again, a lot of things would have been easier without the burn.

Once we were finished, the two of us stepped back to the far end of the room. I put the jug back down on the tray and stood beside Esther, my hands grasped tightly behind my back, my vision directed to the ground to avoid any possible eye contact with the Warrington's. Neither of the twins were seated for the luncheon, most likely being looking after by Miss Jenkins. I wished I could have been serving them rather than dealing with Mr Warrington's watching eyes. Even without looking up, I knew he was watching me. I could feel his gaze as though he was trying to burn holes through my entire body.

"It's nice to see both of your servants working for once. I was beginning to wonder if you had two or not," Mr Warrington said, his voice somewhat muffled by food.

"Both Rosie and Esther do their fair share of work around the house and we're grateful for the effort they put into to keeping the household running smoothly," Doctor Ealing said.

"Hm, I'm sure they do. Though I must confess, I still have some reservations about you taking a servant in off the streets, someone you don't even know. It seems like too much of a risk."

"Who I hire is none of your concern, Gregory, it never has been. I would prefer it if you didn't talk about my staff around them, or in front of the children."

"I'm just saying, Albert. How you can trust this girl is beyond me. She came from the workhouse, you don't know anything about her family or why she was there in the first place, you barely know anything about this girl, yet you invited her into your home and you allow her to spend time around the twins! She could be a criminal for all you know."

"Rosie's not a criminal, now I would prefer it if you dropped the conversation and stopped talking about my staff to their face."

"When this blows up in your face, don't say I didn't warn you."

Silence descended around the table as the conversation came to a halt. The only sound was cutlery scraping against plates and glasses being picked up and put back down. It was one of the most uncomfortable luncheons I had ever had the pleasure of standing through and I couldn't wait for it to come to an end. Since Miss Jenkins had told me I was to serve, I knew Mr Warrington was up to something and within the first few minutes, he had made it abundantly clear what. He had made his assumptions about me quite plain, but it wasn't as though I could deny it. For once, he had a point.

Doctor Ealing had taken me in despite never having met me before, never speaking to me and not even knowing my reasoning for being in the workhouse. He trusted me when no one else would, but even I had to admit that it was a little odd. A well-known Doctor didn't just take in injured street children. That's why there were so many orphaned children on the streets, people just ignored them to avoid catching something. I might not have put much thought into it before, but the whole situation was strange, though I was never going to say that to their faces. Doctor Ealing had saved my life, I wasn't going to assume he had some other motive behind his actions.

Beside me, Esther fidgeted slightly. I glanced up slightly and she sent me a reassuring smile, her way of letting me know that nothing bad was going to happen as long as Mr Warrington kept his mouth shut. So far, he had made a few rather valid points, but I doubted that it was going to remain that way. He would not have requested me if he was just going to make some comments and leave at that. There was more to come from him, and from Alexander as well. I just didn't know when, or what and it made the whole thing that much more nerve-wracking. The waiting was always the worst part.

"You, my glass is empty," Alexander said, I glanced up to see him waving his hand in my direction. "Aren't you supposed to do this without prompt?"

"Alexander," Doctor Ealing said, his voice low as though he was warning him.

"What? It's not my fault your servant can't do her job properly. Hurry up and refill my glass, I'm parched."

Taking a breath, I picked up the pitcher from the tray and carried it around the table. Alexander was seated beside Robert who watched my actions carefully, his fork lying forgotten on his plate as his eyes narrowed on Alexander as though making sure he wasn't going to do anything. As I poured the water into the glass, my eyes were fixated on the pitcher, trying to keep it steady against my already shaking hands. Being in close proximity with Alexander whilst holding a jug of water was not on a list of things that I wanted to be doing, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Once the glass was full, I slowly lifted the pitcher backwards, grasping the bottom of it with my left hand to keep it secured. Thinking I had successfully completed the task Alexander thought I was going to fail, I took a small step back from the table, my leg elbow just grazing the top of the table, but not hard enough to do any sort of damage. I was optimistic that no one had noticed, especially as it was the smallest of knocks. Of course, Alexander was watching my every move and the moment my elbow touched the top of the table, his fingers reached out slightly and managed to topple the glass over, sending water across the table cloth.

"You clumsy girl!" Alexander exclaimed, jumping back off his chair to stop any water dribbling onto his trousers.

"Rosie didn't do anything! You were the one who knocked the glass over, I saw you," Robert said. He grabbed a fistful of napkins from the middle of the table and started to use them to soak up the water that was pooling across the table.

"Robert, please," Doctor Ealing said, sounding exacerbated as he took a sip of water from his own glass.

"It's true! Rosie only brushed the table slightly, he was the one who knocked it over."

"Enough, Robert."

Robert opened his mouth to reply, but quickly bit his tongue and continued to help me dry up as much of the water as possible. By the time the table was somewhat dry, my pocket was stuffed full of damp napkins and the cloth Miss Jenkins had given me earlier was soaked through. Stepping back from the table, I returned to Esther's side where I deposited the napkins onto the tray to stop them soaking through my dress, I also placed the pitcher down. My hands were shaking slightly after what had happened, but I took a moment to steady myself, my back turned to the table and by the time I turned around, the shaking had stopped.

"Now I can see why she hardly does any work, you don't punish the girl, Albert!" Mr Warrington said.

"It was an accident, Gregory. I doubt Rosie knocked the glass over on purpose."

"That shouldn't matter, if you don't punish her then she won't be careful next time. That's how they learn. This one needs a much heavier had considering where she came from, she'll be running rings around you if you don't show her who's in charge."

"I'll handle my staff my way, thank you, Gregory. I doubt it's going to happen again, it was an accident."

"And if it does happen again? What will you do then?"

"If that happens, I'll deal with it."

I glanced up from the floor only briefly to see a small smirk grow on Mr Warrington's face, an idea forming at the back of his mind for how he could prove to Doctor Ealing that I wasn't worthy of my position. Before, he had simply annoyed me. Been a pain in my side and just an inconvenience to my job, but that look on his face scared me more than I cared to admit. He had tried mind games and they hadn't had the desired effect, so he was going to attempt to step it up. To do something that would get Doctor Ealing to notice and listen to him. I had a vague idea it would involve another glass of water.

Luncheon continued without any sort of incident. Those at the dinner table made small talk that I quickly paid little attention to and Alexander and Mr Warrington didn't try anything else. After standing around for what felt like forever, Esther made a gesture to me and we both started to collect the dishes from the table, grabbing the used plates, cutlery and dishes and putting them on the trays. Once the table had been cleared, Esther and I took the trays down to the kitchen, to replace them with a desert once they'd been cleared.

Miss Jenkins was already in the kitchen when we returned, she was standing next to the sink, but was facing the door, anticipating our arrival and an update on what had happened so far. When she saw the stack of damp napkins on the tray, her face fell. Esther was the one to fill in the blanks, I didn't want to disappoint her again for doing something stupid, even if the stupid thing wasn't my fault.

"She wasn't the one who knocked the glass over, it was Alexander. I saw him," Esther said, taking the plates and dropping them into the sink.

"It was stupid, my elbow brushed the table and he used that as a reason to tip the glass. I should have been more careful," I muttered.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Rosie. They were going to find a way to do something sooner or later. I expect he would have toppled the glass whether your elbow brushed the table or not."

"Still, I gave him the ammunition and I doubt Mr Warrington is going to let it slide. Did you see his face when he asked Doctor Ealing if he would punish me if it happened again? He's up to something."

"There is only dessert to go, you'll be fine. Just watch your elbow next time. If you don't make contact with the table, they can't accuse you of anything if you were nowhere near the table," Miss Jenkins said.

Whilst Esther and I emptied the trays of the dishes, Miss Jenkins placed small pieces of cake onto the now clear trays, ready to be handed out once we returned upstairs. As we finished up, Miss Jenkins ushered the two of us upstairs, wanting to make sure we weren't going to get in trouble with Mr Warrington for being slightly late with dessert. The two of us carried the trays up the stairs, being extra caution on the stairs so nothing dropped. Esther was far steadier than I was, I found my hands starting to shake the closer we got to the dining room, nerves getting the best of me.

Taking a breath, I followed Esther into the room and placed the tray down where it had been before. I then carried the small plates of cake to the table, gently placing it in front of them whilst making sure that no part of my hand or arm brushed past the table. As I moved, I could feel Mr Warrington's gaze on me, waiting for me to slip up. I was glad to put the last plate down in front of Matilda and be able to flee from the table back to Esther who gave me a reassuring smile. All I had to do was wait for them to eat the cake and I would be safe. When I would finally able to retreat to the safety of the kitchen and away from Mr Warrington's gaze.

Everyone seemed to be eating at a remarkably slow pace that afternoon, but the moment the plates were cleared, Esther and I approached the table to collect them and carry them back to the kitchen to be washed. As I finished clearing the table, I went to take the plate from in front of Mr Warrington. I kept my arm up and away from the table, the plate steady as I pulled it back. When it had cleared the table, I felt myself deflate slightly as the pressure of knocking anything over cleared. However, the moment I took a step back from the table, Mr Warrington's hand shot forward and toppled his glass, pushing it towards him so the water flowed all over him.

"I told you, Albert! I said it would happen again if you didn't punish her," Mr Warrington said, jumping back from his seat and attempting to brush the water off his trousers.

"Rosie, what happened?" Doctor Ealing asked, turning to look at me.

"I-I don't know. I stepped back from the table when the glass fell, I was nowhere near it," I said.

"Are you saying I did it?" Mr Warrington exclaimed, his eyes narrowing.

"N-no I ju-"

"Aren't you going to do anything, Albert? Your street rat of a servant is suggesting I knocked the water over myself, just as your son accused Alexander. Aren't you going to do anything?"

"Come here, Rosie."

Doctor Ealing pushed himself up from his seat and waved a finger at me. I put the plate back on the table and slowly approached Doctor Ealing, my heart feeling as though it was going to jump out of my chest. I thought he was just going to yell at me, he never seemed like the type to do anything beyond a few strong words.

Until I felt the sting of his hand across my cheek. 

~~~

A/N - Dammnnn, that was unexpected! Welcome to the final countdown! Okay, maybe not quite yet, we still have a few chapters to go, I'm just not sure how many. Watch this space, I'll be giving out an estimated number of chapters in the future, once I've figured it out!

Before we get into the chapter questions, I want to thank you all so much for helping me hit 10K READS! I set a goal of 10K by the end of the year and we have already reached it which is pretty huge! Thank you all so much!

Anyway, what did you think of the chapter? Did you think Rosie was right to question why Doctor Ealing too her in? What about that slap?! Bet you didn't see that coming!

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to MissZQueen who went on a vote spam a few weeks ago! Your support means a lot :)