She enters the mansion

Lisa nervously adjusted her skirt as she waited in the patrons dining room. She had traveled for three days in a horse-drawn carriage to get here and had never met the great farmer Karlsson herself, for whom she would now work. Her father and two sisters were currently on their way across the sea to the New Land, defying wind and water for the chance at a new life. But the money had not been enough for the whole family, so her father had written to Sigvard Karlsson, a friend since childhood. Lisa had gotten her hands on the letter before sending it and had sobbed as she read the **** words from her father, who was practically asking on his bare knees for a job for Lisa. Karlsson's answer had come quickly, with a promise of work and housing for as long as Lisa needed it. And so she was here now, dusty and tired after a long journey.

She heard footsteps outside the door and made one last attempt to straighten a tangle in her curly blonde hair. When the door opened, she stood with her fingers firmly in her curls, and with blushing cheeks she clasped her hands in front of her belly and nipples, her gaze on the floor.

"Ah, welcome, young Lisa," said the master farmer with a friendly smile. "I hope the trip was gentle?" He was a tall man with broad shoulders shaped from a life of hard work. While many peasants struggled during these times, life had been good for Mr. Karlsson, who wore fine, clean clothes and looked to be in good spirits. Next to him stood a younger man, perhaps only slightly older than Lisa herself, and on the other side of the farmer stood a young girl of Lisa's own age — eighteen or at most nineteen years old. She was struck by how beautiful and clean they all were. All three seemed to be well-fed and freshly bathed and she felt a scent of soap spread in the room. She herself had not seen a glimpse of a bathtub for several months and the last time she washed herself had been a couple of days earlier in a cold river at the side of the road. Her blush deepened.

"The journey was pleasant, but long, Mr. Karlsson," Lisa said without raising her eyes.

"I understand that," said the farmer. "And I really think a bath would be nice, right? And maybe a hot meal?"

Lisa's stomach churned in response and the farmer's warm smile widened, though she could sense something sad in his eyes. "Let me introduce my son, David, and Sara, who also works as a maid here. You two will share a room and I expect you to be good friends. Right, Sara?"

"Yes, Mr. Karlsson," the young girl replied in a low voice.

"Sara, why don't you take young Lisa and help her pour a hot bath and we'll start preparing the food in the meantime?"

"Yes, Mr. Karlsson," the young, blonde maid answered, taking Lisa's hand while leading her out of the room. Lisa felt both her patron's and David's eyes following her as she left.