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“So Emma came away, and was not, on the whole, too sorry.”

“But do they get servants to come to them, this type of mistress, do you think, Mrs. Wilkins?” I asked.

“They get them all right,” said Mrs. Wilkins, “and if it’s a decent gal, it makes a bad gal of ‘er, that ever afterwards looks upon every mistress as ‘er enemy, and acts accordingly. And if she ain’t a naturally good gal, it makes ‘er worse, and then you ‘ear what awful things gals are. I don’t say it’s an easy problem,” continued Mrs. Wilkins, “it’s just like marriages. The good mistress gets ‘old of the bad servant, and the bad mistress, as often as not is lucky.”

“But how is it,” I argued, “that in hotels, for instance, the service is excellent, and the girls, generally speaking, seem contented? The work is hard, and the wages not much better, if as good.”

“Ah,” said Mrs. Wilkins, “you ‘ave ‘it the right nail on the ‘ead, there, sir. They go into the ‘otels and work like niggers, knowing that if a single thing goes wrong they will be bully-ragged and sworn at till they don’t know whether they are standing on their ‘ead or their ‘eels. But they ‘ave their hours; the gal knows when ‘er work is done, and when the clock strikes she is a ‘uman being once again. She ‘as got that moment to look forward to all day, and it keeps ‘er going. In private service there’s no moment in the day to ‘ope for. If the lady is reasonable she ain’t overworked; but no ‘ow can she ever feel she is her own mistress, free to come and go, to wear ‘er bit of finery, to ‘ave ‘er bit of fun. She works from six in the morning till eleven or twelve at night, and then she only goes to bed provided she ain’t wanted. She don’t belong to ‘erself at all; it’s that that irritates them.”

“I see your point, Mrs. Wilkins,” I said, “and, of course, in a house where two or three servants were kept some such plan might easily be arranged. The girl who commenced work at six o’clock in the morning might consider herself free at six o’clock in the evening. What she did with herself, how she dressed herself in her own time, would be her affair. What church the clerk or the workman belongs to, what company he keeps, is no concern of the firm. In such matters, mistresses, I am inclined to think, saddle themselves with a responsibility for which there is no need. If the girl behaves herself while in the house, and does her work, there the contract ends. The mistress who thinks it her duty to combine the roles of employer and of maiden aunt is naturally resented. The next month the girl might change her hours from twelve to twelve, and her fellow-servant could enjoy the six a.m. to six p.m. shift. But how do you propose to deal, Mrs. Wilkins, with the smaller menage, that employs only one servant?”

“Well, sir,” said Mrs. Wilkins, “it seems to me simple enough. Ladies talk pretty about the dignity of labour, and are never tired of pointing out why gals should prefer domestic service to all other kinds of work. Suppose they practise what they preach. In the ‘ouse, where there’s only the master and the mistress, and, say a couple of small children, let the lady take her turn. After all, it’s only her duty, same as the office or the shop is the man’s. Where, on the other ‘and, there are biggish boys and gals about the place, well it wouldn’t do them any ‘arm to be taught to play a little less, and to look after themselves a little more. It’s just arranging things–that’s all that’s wanted.”