servant-of-all

Updated: July 20, 2025

"Then Peter went to sea again; and, by-and-by, my father died, blessing us both, and thanking Deborah for all she had been to him; and, of course, our circumstances were changed; and, instead of living at the rectory, and keeping three maids and a man, we had to come to this small house, and be content with a servant-of-all- work; but, as Deborah used to say, we have always lived genteelly, even if circumstances have compelled us to simplicity.

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - Cranford