Suddenly , the master boomed.

“Oh, these are very good fried potatoes. I have not had them this good since I was in the army. Who made those?”

Mary stepped forward and pointed to Malee.

“Malee made it, sir. She just joined us last week to help the young master.” said Malee with a slight bow. Malee followed likewise.

“Good. You were helping George this morning? Well done! Make more later.” praised the master with a smile towards Malee before resuming his lunch before the mistress turned to him.

“You know, darling. Talking about good things, George did the drawing in front of us. Isn’t it wonderful?” said the mistress. A few things happened as she spoke.

Malee’s body became stiff. Mary’s heart beat faster. George nearly choked on his vegetables. Georgia laughed. Everyone turned their attention towards Georgia, who was laughing uncontrollably.

“What is it, honey?” asked the master.

“No nothing, pa. Yes, it is a good drawing, George. You had finally learnt to draw well. Congratulation!” said Georgia, pointing her finger at George, who was staring at her. George slammed the wine cup in his hand and stood up, moving the chair towards the wall.

“George, sit! And Georgia, behave yourself.” commanded the master.

“Yes, pa.” said the brother and sister in unison. The rest of the lunch was uneventful, with master and mistress leaving, followed by George. The servants slowly cleaned the tables and brought the plates and cups to the kitchen. Malee was picking up Georgia’s plate as she was leaving the room when suddenly Georgia grabbed her hands.

“Nice hands. Good for kitchen work. Tell me, where did you learn to draw?” asked Georgia as if she was interrogating Malee.

“I drew nothing..” whispered Malee with her head down.

Georgie chuckled and let go of Malee before leaving the room as Mary came in to clear the last of the plates. She saw Malee’s face white with fear and saying nothing, took the plates from her hand and left the room. Malee stood there for a while before joining the rest of the servants in the kitchen with the chores. Then she left with Mary to take a rest before coming back to the house for the art lesson with the professor.

“What would happen if they know I did the drawing and not George?” Malee blurted out to Mary as they were crossing the garden on the way to the servant’s house for lunch and rest.

“Georgia told you? Don’t worry. She is playing with you. She won’t say anything.” reassured Mary to Malee, who was apparently frightened. “They are twins and whatever she said to you, she loves George very much. She won’t do anything to make him upset. They had always been this way since young. Fighting over every small issue.”

Malee felt her fear disappearing with reassurance from Mary and looked forward to the lunch. They had lunch with the rest of the servants in a rather muted environment. Malee wasn’t sure if it was because they had more dishes to prepare and clean or because of Georgia’s arrival. With the lunch done and all, they went up to respective rooms to take a rest. Malee noticed that Mary went back to the house, rather unusually for her, but since she wasn’t asked to be followed, she went to her room for a nap.

She woke up an hour later for a quick shower before leaving the house. As she was crossing the garden, she met with Michael who told her that his mother left a message for her to take care of the young master as she was busy with something else. Malee nodded before quickening the pace towards the house and climbing the staircase. As she stood in front of George’s door, she stood still as she heard someone speaking inside. She wondered who George was talking since the professor wouldn’t be arriving for another 30 minutes. She knocked twice on the door as Mary would have done and pushed down the handle to open the door.

“Leave us.” said George, who was speaking to Georgia.

“No. come in.” said Georgia.

Malee realized they were arguing over some issues. She wondered if she should just leave as the brother had ordered or come in as commanded by his sister. She got a hint of why the servants were so apprehensive about Georgia coming back. Pleasing one master is hard enough, two is impossible. Especially if they do not agree with one another.