A Footman for the Peacock
Rachel Ferguson1940

Sir Edmund and Lady Evelyn Roundelay live surrounded by a menagerie of relations and retainers. The Roundelays' history of callous cruelty is literally etched on a window of the servants' quarters with the words "Heryn I dye, Thomas Picocke. 1792". Sir Edmund reflects cheerfully on the running footmen who have 'died off like flies' in the family's service.

But now--amidst digressions on everything from family history and servant woes to the villagers' linguistic peculiarities and a song immortalizing the footman's plight--war threatens the Roundelays' smug superiority. What's more, it appears that the estate's peacock is a reincarnation of Thomas Picocke, and may be aiding the Nazi cause ...