How do Lothridge's staff feel about his growing figure (and any extra labour it causes)? Do they know/believe the magical cause?
i mean... i feel like they've got to know something is amiss. ordinary people wouldn't immediately jump to "this is an evil curse!!" because magic isn't so common in their world. lothridge takes advantage of it, so he kind of knows... but his staff, at first, would just think his lordship is under a great deal of stress. no wonder he's eating at all hours, and drinking more port than is good for him...
by the time he outgrows his second pair of trousers, though, they really begin to worry. perhaps it's something medical. that would explain his constant, ravenous appetite. besides the weight gain, lothridge hasn't changed. he's still indulgent with the children, still cool and authoritative with the servants... but when he declines an invitation to an exclusive card party because he has "a dinner engagement" ( alone at home, one man devouring enough for four people ) they know something really must be wrong.
hensley probably knows it's magic, because lothridge bitches to him about it. on the whole, hensley is tight-lipped about lothridge's business... but he whispers the secret to a serving maid he's particularly sweet on. soon enough, it's all over the house. his lordship has been cursed.
once cecelia joins the household --- not quite staff, more like a captive guest who's expected to work for her supper --- they eye her suspiciously. no one knows what to make of this brooding girl, who frankly looks frail and exhausted.
lothridge has a plan to change that, however. no more dining alone --- he invites cecelia to dinner every night. ( of course, these invitations are not optional. ) he plies her with wine and good food until she's slumped in her chair, head spinning, too stuffed to sit upright... and his lordship seems very pleased.
"she's his plaything, poor lass," one of the kitchen maids declares. "don't know how he got his claws into her. must have had some deep doings, to give him the advantage."
"i hear it's blackmail," another maid declares.
"aye, his lordship has a stack of bills," a footman contributes eagerly. "i saw them! and the lady turned pale as death when she read them... looked like she'd faint away. i was ready to catch her, i was."
"a true hero, george," the kitchen maid retorts bitingly.
"wouldn't dare touch the young lady, if i were you," one of the upstairs maids declares. "miss nose-in-the-air has a strange way about her. the way her hands twitch sometimes, or... or an odd smell, like oil paints. it hangs about her. i declare, it isn't natural."
for a long moment, the staff remain silent. they're all thinking the same thing --- lothridge's expanding waistline, his newfound girth, the appetite which never seems to cease. for weeks, they've whispered about curses. have they finally solved the riddle? found the wicked witch?
"why in god's name would he bring her into the house?" the youngest maid shrieks.
from that point on, the staff give cecelia a wide berth. she is the object of curiosity and whispers... but they don't know anything, can't prove anything. all they know is, this girl is certainly a hostage... and she seems to be encouraging his lordship's worst impulses.
that's its own kind of sorcery, they decide.
