Miss Kenton and my father had arrived at the house at more or less the same time

- that is to say, the spring of 1922 - as a consequence of my losing at one

stroke the previous housekeeper and under-butler. This had occurred due to these

latter two persons deciding to marry one another and leave the profession. I

have always found such liaisons a serious threat to the order in a house. Since

that time, I have lost numerous more employees in such circumstances. Of course,

one has to expect such things to occur amongst maids and footmen, and a good

butler should always take this into account in his planning; but such marrying

amongst more senior employees can have an extremely disruptive effect on work.

Of course, if two members of staff happen to fall in love and decide to marry,

it would be churlish to be apportioning blame; but what I find a major

irritation are those persons - and housekeepers are particularly guilty here -

who have no genuine commitment to their profession and who are essentially going

from post to post looking for romance. This sort of person is a blight on good

professionalism.

 

But let me say immediately I do not have Miss Kenton in mind at all when I say

this. Of course, she too eventually left my staff to get married, but I can

vouch that during the time she worked as housekeeper under me, she was nothing

less than dedicated and never allowed her professional priorities to be

distracted.

 

But I am digressing. I was explaining that we had fallen in need of a

housekeeper and an under-butler at one and the same time and Miss Kenton had

arrived - with unusually good references, I recall - to take up the former post.