Continue helping the household staff while there's still time.

Rather than return upstairs, you decided there was still time to make yourself useful.

Kingsmere Hall showed no signs of slowing. If anything, the pace had quickened as the hour of dinner drew ever closer.

You found yourself carrying crates of wine down to the cellar, helping a pair of footmen move an impossibly heavy sideboard into the dining room, and fetching fresh candles for one of the housemaids preparing the drawing room.

No one had asked your name.

No one seemed to care which household you belonged to.

You were simply another pair of willing hands, and that was enough.

As you crossed the servants' corridor once more, Emily hurried past carrying a stack of neatly folded table linen.

She caught your eye just long enough to offer a warm smile and a small nod before disappearing through another doorway.

You returned the gesture with a smile of your own.

"You!"

The voice came from farther down the passage.

A young woman stood outside the kitchens with her hands planted firmly on her hips beside two bulging sacks of potatoes.

Unlike most of the servants bustling through the corridor, she seemed entirely unconcerned with whether anyone thought her impatient.

"You look as though you've still got some strength left."

You couldn't help but smile.

"I've managed so far."

"Good."

She pointed towards the sacks.

"Prove it."

You stepped over and lifted one onto your shoulder.

"Heavier than it looks," you remarked.

Without waiting for an invitation, she picked up the second sack herself.

"I'm Martha. Martha Green."

"Thomas. Sir Edward Harrington's valet."

"So you're the new fellow."

She nudged the kitchen door open with her foot.

"Come on then. If we stand here chatting, Cook will have both our hides."

Together, you carried the sacks into the warm bustle of the kitchens.

Within moments, another servant was asking for your help, and then another.

By the time the dinner bell finally echoed through the house, you'd lost count of how many small jobs you'd lent a hand with.

One thing, however, had become perfectly clear.

Word travelled quickly below stairs.

And those willing to help rarely remained strangers for long.