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.There was other furniture in the room beside the bed and, although the wooden floor was bare, it was polished and clean and there were several small mats.There was also a washstand and Jabina took off her black serge gown and sponged herself all over.Then she put on the only other dress she possessed, which was the thin cotton one she had been told a femme de chambre would wear in the morning when she had rough work to do.Jabina might be reversing the process, but the gown was cool, clean and very much more becoming than the black dress she had worn all day.It had a full skirt over a coarse cotton petticoat and the neck was cut low and tied with a drawstring.It had short sleeves and there was a high-fronted apron to wear over it.A mop cap in which she could conceal her hair completed the outfit.Because she felt, now that they had almost reached the end of their journey, it was unlikely that she would be dismissed, Jabina brushed the remaining dark powder from her hair so that it glistened and shone in the fading light coming through the casement window.Far from dismissing her Madame Delmas had actually expressed some words of approval when Jabina had been massaging her back.“Your hands are soft,” she said, “I cannot imagine that you have done much hard work, Maria.”Jabina had stiffened, wondering if Madame Delmas was suspicious, but the Frenchwoman had gone on,“I want you to keep your hands like that.I hate being touched by rough fingers.My own skin is so sensitive.”“It is indeed, madame,” Jabina murmured.“I shall therefore inform the household when we each Le Havre that you are attending exclusively to me,” Madame Delmas said.“I will get housemaids to see to the cleaning, the lighting of fires and the washing.I want you to concentrate only on me and my clothes.Can you sew?”“Yes, madame.”“That is good.Even if we are away from Paris, there is no need for me to lose my chic or to degenerate, as so many Army Officers’ wives do, into proverbial scarecrows.”“I am sure you could never look like that, madame,” Jabina said knowing that the compliment would please her employer, which it did.But nothing anyone could do could alter the fact that Madame Delmas’s hair was sparse and an unattractive colour.‘No amount of brushing could make it glisten with fiery tongues like mine,’ Jabina thought.Then she remembered that the Duke would be waiting for her and, hastily stuffing her red hair into the mob cap, she went downstairs to find him.She had not realised that it was so late and discovered him in the kitchen trying to hurry an old woman into getting the General’s dinner ready.“Come and help me!” he said to Jabina.“The General is becoming impatient.The innkeeper is serving drinks to other travellers and I cannot get this old woman to bestir herself.”“I will help her,” Jabina said.She politely proffered assistance, which was gratefully accepted, and soon the old woman, who she discovered was the innkeeper’s mother, had handed over to her the making of an omelette, while she herself prepared a coq au vin and the cold meats which were to follow on the menu.“Go and lay the table!” Jabina said to the Duke.“Give the General plenty of drink to keep him in a good temper.”“I have been doing that already,” the Duke said with a smile.But he obeyed Jabina and when he came back the omelette was ready.Jabina turned it out onto a plate and said,“Hurry! Make him eat it while it’s still hot.I will dish up the chicken and you can come back for the cold meats.”Because on his return the Duke was laden with a pigeon pie, roast of veal and some large garlic-flavoured sausages, Jabina found herself carrying the dish containing the coq au vin into the private parlour where the General was waiting.It was quite an attractive little room, she noticed, with a huge Breton cabinet against one wall, an oak dresser on the other and a long carved settle with a cushioned seat in front of the open fireplace.The ceiling was heavily beamed and the flagged floor was liberally covered with rugs and indeed the whole scene was very picturesque.The General was seated at a small refectory table and there were several empty wine glasses near his elbow.Turning to Jabina he said,“Jacques tells me, Maria, that you cooked the omelette.”Jabina nodded.“It’s very good.I can see that we shall have to promote you to a place in the kitchen when we reach Le Havre.”“I am afraid Madame will not agree to that, monsieur,” Jabina replied.“She has already told me that she wishes me to attend to her exclusively.But at the same time, monsieur, I would not wish you to go hungry.”“There appears to be no chance of that tonight at any rate,” the General smiled.The Duke piled dishes on the table around him and Jabina offered him the coq au vin.He helped himself generously and then Jabina remembered the salad that had been prepared and hurried to the kitchen to collect it.There were no puddings to follow since the old woman was quite incapable of preparing such delicacies, but there was cheese and fresh fruit.The General expressed himself well satisfied and no longer hungry.He commanded the Duke to fetch him some cognac from the bar and Jabina piled the dirty dishes onto a tray to carry them away to the kitchen.“You require coffee, monsieur?” she enquired.“Yes, I would like coffee,” the General replied, “and see you make it yourself.”“Of course, monsieur.”Jabina went back to the kitchen and met the Duke in the passage carrying a bottle in his hand.“I have something to tell you,” he said in a low voice, “as soon as you have finished.”“The General wants coffee,” Jabina told him.“Well, hurry and take it to him,” the Duke ordered, “and if he wants anything further, then he can fetch it himself!”“Are you prepared to tell him so?” Jabina teased.She hurried to the kitchen to brew the coffee, set a cup and saucer on a tray, find a bowl of sugar and finally to carry it all back down the passage to the private parlour.The Duke was still with the General, who with a glass of cognac in his hand was standing with his back to the fireplace discoursing on some tactic he had employed in a battle, which had obviously been extremely successful for him.“Ah! My coffee!” he exclaimed as Jabina came in.“That will be all, Jacques.Take my sword and see that it is cleaned by the morning.I thought today that the hilt was not as bright as it should be.”“I will do it at once, mon General,” the Duke answered deferentially.He picked up the sword from the side-table where the General had discarded it, attached to his brightly coloured sword belt.Putting down the coffee, Jabina would have followed him, but the General stopped her by saying,“Pour my coffee for me
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