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gurugirl · 2 years

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The House Maid Chapter 1

Summary: Daisy and Harry both work at the Archer House and don't quite see eye to eye when they first meet. Eventually, they can't resist one another and start a risky relationship that could have them both jobless. However, when jealousy and insecurities set in, things get ugly for the young lovers.

AN/Warning: I will have a * by the parts when smut is included. This warning list is comprehensive for all parts, not all contain smut or listed warnings. NSFW, smut, oral (male and female), 18+ only (as always), angst. I did a tiny bit of research on this time period (1915-1925 in the UK) and this is what resulted. If I get some historical stuff wrong it's because I'm not an expert on the genre/era (sorry).

Pairing: 1920s era House Maid Daisy x Groundskeeper Harry

Chapter 1

Daisy had always started her workdays in the main room of the house as Missus Smith, the head housekeeper, explained the daily duty to her and any extra help that was needed for household chores on that particular day. Today was like any other. It was only her and Missus Smith who would be taking care of the house, no extra help needed today. Lady Archer was at her sister’s for the next two days (and what a relief to hear that the Lady of the house was out – she was a stickler for perfection and even though Daisy was good at her job, no one was ever good enough for Lady Archer) and Miss Archer (the youngest Archer child) would also not be home for the next two days.

Daisy’s duties began with tidying up the bedrooms on the second level of the house. The house she worked in was not a manor, nor a mansion. It was a large house, with a large garden and nearly three acres of land to tend to, but the family of the house didn’t require, nor could they afford, more help than they already had. The occasional extra help was called in, but it was rarely needed. The Master of the house owned the local accounting shop. He prepared taxes and performed audits for the wealthy gentlemen of the town and made a decent living in doing so. Sir Cyril employed his two sons; Mister Johnathan and Master Bradley; as well as three other accountants to help with the books, audits, and taxes for all the local shops and families.

Master Bradley was still in his room fast asleep when Daisy began her rounds. She and Bradley were on good terms and could even be considered friends despite their class differences. He would often tell her all about his scandals and his dreams (which were also scandalous as he wished to one day be a fashion designer). When Daisy creaked the door open she wasn’t too terribly surprised to find Bradley splayed out on his bed, mouth wide open and snoring off the previous night’s activities. What she was surprised to see was another man laying on the bed next to him, naked as the day he was born. Both completely out cold. Bradley was the odd one out of the Archer children. He had light brown hair, grey eyes, a compact nose, and was short and a bit pudgy, while the other two were tall and thin with dark hair, pronounced noses, and dark eyes. And of course there was the fact that Bradley preferred to keep the company of men than women (though, that’s not to say Bradley didn’t experiment with women from time to time). Daisy quietly retreated, slowly pulling the heavy oak door closed with the intention to return to his room later to finish the chore of tidying the youngest son’s room.

She moved on to Connie’s room, Miss Archer, as she addressed her by. Connie was to return in two days and requested fresh linens, flowers, and new curtains (her old ones were too drab and cheaply she decided). Miss Archer was the youngest of the children, the same age as Daisy, 22. She and Daisy rarely spoke but Miss Archer was usually kind, if not a bit pretentious and picky like her mother. Though she didn’t have the underlying bitter anger that Lady Archer had, not yet at least.

Daisy was a tiny bit jealous of Connie. Connie was the same age as Daisy but the different classes they each came from meant that Daisy didn’t have the opportunities that Connie afforded. While Connie’s parents weren’t extremely wealthy, they were comfortable and had privileges that Daisy’s family did not. Connie was able to study and travel abroad, while Daisy was stuck within a half day’s train ride from her family home, probably for the rest of her life. It was doubtful Daisy would ever be able to travel anywhere much further than that from home. Connie was tall and lithe, with dark hair and big brown eyes, but by most standards she was plain – not ugly by any means, but not a standard beauty with her large nose. She’d never had a true suitor, something her mother seemed to be endlessly worried about. That was the one thing Daisy didn’t envy Connie; the idea that a woman must be married before the age of 25 and Lady Archer’s unforgiving and overbearing expectations that she held onto for her daughter.

After freshening Connie’s room and removing the old “drab” curtains from their pole tightly hung over the window, she moved to Mister Johnathan’s room. Throwing the old curtains into the bin near the door, along with the old linens, Daisy entered Johnathan’s room to find a flower and a note lying on his writing desk with a small candy atop the note. Daisy’s grin couldn’t be contained and she felt her heart rate hasten. She knew that this was meant for her. Johnathan was usually up before sunrise and working during the day at his father’s accounting shop. Johnathan was tall with lean muscles and long limbs, dark hair and dark eyes like his father. He had a long broad nose and a handsomely deep voice. He always smelled clean and never held back a bright smile when he saw Daisy. Daisy’s crush was a secret but Johnathan made it hard for her to pretend she wasn’t interested. It was forbidden, after all. Johnathan often gave Daisy small gifts when he saw her in person and would occasionally leave gifts for her to find when he wasn’t around to give them to her in person. He was generous and thoughtful, but never overstepping boundaries by giving her anything of monetary value that could be seen as immoral. He’d usually give her a flower, a note with kind, neutral words, candies or pastries – things of that nature.

Dearest Missus Marvin,

I found this growing in our garden and I just knew I had to give it to you. I wonder what it must be like to have the namesake of a flower, but perhaps the flower is named after you? I suppose it makes perfect sense that you share your name with a beautiful flower.

As well, Madame Hattie made confections yesterday and I snuck my favorite kind for you.

Please enjoy these tokens of my appreciation for all you do for the house.

Sincerely,

Mister Johnathan Archer

Daisy folded the note and tucked it into her bib and lifted the flower to her nose and inhaled. It was a lovely flower, that sadly she could not bring home without questions from the staff so she brought a vase and water and settled the single daisy inside near the window of Mister Johnathan’s room, hoping he wouldn’t mind, but knowing he’d understand the gesture. As she sucked on the hard licorice cream candy she finished tidying his room and felt her heart swell at his sweet intentions. It was innocuous, the note, the single flower, the one candy, but – it was something. She knew it. It could easily be disregarded as friendly but when he gave her these kinds of things in person she noted the way his skin heated starting from his neck, up to his cheeks and then ears. She understood his kindness to be kindness, sure, but it was more than just that. If they had not been in their current circumstance things might be different. He could perhaps be more forthcoming with his feelings toward Daisy and perhaps they could marry and live happily every after like he truly wanted. And she could maybe finally get a peek at what was underneath his trousers that easily displayed his generous sized bulge (she just knew he had a big cock with those big hands, that large nose, his deep voice – of course he was fully ample in that department, she just knew it). Okay, and yes, so maybe Daisy was a bit naughty with those types of thoughts but she enjoyed sex and men, what could she say? They were her own private thoughts she never shared with anyone else. No harm done in imagining.

The rest of Daisy’s day was typical and busy. After some hours she returned to Bradley’s room to tidy up (once he and his bedmate had long gone) and then she began to sew the new set of curtains that Miss Archer had requested but she would have time to finish them the following day as Miss Archer wasn’t due back for two more days (Friday). At the end of her shift Missus Smith reminded her to be early tomorrow to finish the curtains and for the beginning of planting season in case help was needed for the groundskeepers and gardeners. It would be things like getting baskets and seeds, or watering cans as needed. She may have to go into town to buy some things as well but it really depended on what was necessary for the new growing season. Her day would be very busy tomorrow so arriving to the house before sunrise was important as she had much work to finish.

Daisy’s walk home was inconsequential, like most days. She would have loved to have found a room in a home closer to the Archer’s home but then she wouldn’t be able to afford much else even if she had. The Archer’s home was in a small neighborhood full of beautiful middle-class homes with perfectly manicured generous sized gardens. Her room was in a home that was a third of a residential building that was about a 45 minute walk away. Each third had four rooms and one bathroom. Her unit was in the middle and her room was on the third floor, where the bathroom was on the second floor next to the large room with the large window. She rented the small room on the third floor of the unit and shared the rest of the unit with four other women. In the largest room on the second floor a pair of sisters lived, in the other room on the third floor next to Daisy’s, an older woman lived who Daisy rarely ever saw and in the bottom of the house in the basement lived another woman who had left her husband in secret. No one knew the woman’s name but everyone respected everyone’s privacy in living quarters such as this. Each woman must pay their rent on time at the end of each week and Daisy was always on time with money left over to buy herself snacks and send money home quite often.

The air was still quite cold out but the season was changing and soon spring would show itself with wild flowers, tree blooms, and fruits, as well as vegetables and hopefully later a wonderful fall harvest. Daisy felt herself lucky most days. Even with the long walk to and from the Archer’s her pay was good and she was allowed to go home every evening which wasn’t always the norm for her position. Missus Smith stayed at the Archer’s all the time and they didn’t need Daisy one day per week so she even had a full day off to sleep in, drink wine or sherry at the pub (the dingy one that didn’t mind women drinking in their facility as long as they paid their tab) and of course, hopefully finding a good fuck for the night, so long as he was cute with a big enough cock (she had some standards of course). Daisy was no saint. She enjoyed drinking and sex, and sometimes would sell off small wares she’s scoop up from the Archer home so she could buy a new frock or a whole bottle of gin to keep in her room perhaps. She didn’t feel great about it but she didn’t feel too guilty either. She’d been working for the Archer’s for nearly two years and saw them throw away money on useless things so a pretty jeweled barrette snatched up from Connie’s room (a barrette that Connie never once wore by the way) could get her shoes repaired and buy a book or two as well as some toffee pudding to snack on. She didn’t steal from them all the time, just when it was convenient and it was an item she knew wouldn’t be missed, and of course as long as it wasn’t something too valuable.

Daisy had eaten a big portion of the stew Hattie made and stole a bit of bread to dip into it when no one was looking during her break at the Archer’s so she wasn’t hungry and didn’t feel the need to stop on her way home to purchase food. When she arrived to her unit she entered the quiet and dusty house feeling relieved to be indoors, as her fingers and nose were cold from the cool air outside. She added a lump of coal to the stove before heading up the stairs to the bathroom to bathe and get herself ready to settle in with a book and some wine she hid in her room. She wished that Johnathan had given her a few more pieces of the candy so she could have a bit of something sweet as well but she couldn’t be too picky since she neglected to stop at the market on her way home, mostly out of laziness than anything else.

After washing herself and applying her face cream (that she was lucky enough to be able to afford thanks to her job) she went to her tiny room on the third floor and locked the door behind her. Pulling out the large bottle of cheap red wine and the book she had begun reading a few days prior, she snuggled into her bed and pulled her covers over her lap.

Her window faced the alley and didn’t let much light in but she could see it was already nearing dark out. She’d need to be up very early tomorrow so she could only indulge in a bit of wine but she intended to read until she dozed off like every other work night. She usually woke in the morning to her book either haven fallen to the floor or just next to her on the bed, and always with her place lost as she never folded the page back before falling asleep.

The candle flickered thanks to the small draft from the small window and the crack under her door, making shadows dance on her wall. She heard some noise downstairs and knew the sisters were home now too. She hoped they remembered to add coal to the stove before settling in for the night but they never did. As she read page after page her eyes began to grow heavy and the candle was nearing it’s end. She needed to read only a few more pages before the end of the chapter but her body didn’t allow it. She was fast asleep before the end of the chapter with the last bit of the candle going out only shortly after she’d fallen asleep as the book slid onto the mattress off of her lap.

Chapter 2

#1920s era #harry fic #harry smut #harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles smut #1920s era Harry

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