“And you’re an early riser?”
“Oh yes, mum, it upsets me stopping in bed after half-past five.”
“You know we do the washing at home?”
“Yes, mum. I think it so much better to do it at home. Those laundries ruin good clothes. They’re so careless.”
“Are you a Unitarian?” continued the lady.
“Not yet, mum,” replied the girl, “but I should like to be one.”
The lady took her reference, and said she would write.
The next applicant offered to come for three pounds—thought six pounds too much. She expressed her willingness to sleep in the back kitchen: a shakedown under the sink was all she wanted. She likewise had yearnings towards Unitarianism.
The third girl did not require any wages at all—could not understand what servants wanted with wages—thought wages only encouraged a love of foolish finery—thought a comfortable home in a Unitarian family ought to be sufficient wages for any girl.
This girl said there was one stipulation she should like to make, and that was that she should be allowed to pay for all breakages caused by her own carelessness or neglect. She objected to holidays and evenings out; she held that they distracted a girl from her work.