Introduction
"It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn." — Emily Brontë
Appearance
Notable Features
Expressive brown eyes; a tendency to wear her emotions on her face, especially her mouthPersonal Style
Relaxed — Probably too much so, considering her position. Tess has long admired the fanciful, expensive gowns favored by the women of the ton, but has nearly as long viewed them as one might fine art: Apart from herself, to be admired only. (She is particularly entranced by shoes, and would love to own just one truly exquisite shoe, to keep on a shelf.)Her blonde hair is nearly always pinned up, but Tess is not fussy about it being perfect. She knows she cannot be a mess whilst representing her employer, but her innate practicality overrides a lot, and if she's in the midst of getting something done, the last thing she's worried about is how she looks.
Mrs Newman
Circumstances
Currently
Tess has almost a decade employed in the London home of the Viscount Briarewe, working her way up from lowly housemaid to head housemaid, second only to the housekeeper — A housekeeper who was recently killed in an unfortunate carriage accident. Tess now finds herself thrust into a position with a much greater scope of responsibility in the midst of a household in upheaval — They are on their third Viscount in just the time she has been employed there, after a devastating nautical disaster. She is meant to provide solace and constancy downstairs and advice to the new Viscount up, while she is scrambling to approximate competency at both.Health & Capabilities
Hearty, to a point: Tess is not a big person, and far from stoutly built, but she's been in service half her life and is much more physically strong than she looks. She likes the scent of her father's pipe but does not smoke herself, and has never been reckless enough to indulge much in drink.Her most notable strengths are her mental health and emotional steadiness. Tess has a very strong will and excellent moral compass.
Socioeconomics
Tess grew up in a working-class family. Her father is a watchmaker, after his own father, and Tess' little brother Adam is meant to do the same. Her mother is an excellent homemaker, and taught Tess from the youngest possible age how to run an efficient, cost-effective household. The principle tenets of the Newman household is to bloom where one is planted, and appreciate what one is given; combined with her own innately practical nature, Tess has never been a woman who felt it worth envying what she could not have.Skills & Talents
An innate practicalityStrength of will
Healthy sense of humor
Excellent singing voice and perfect pitch
Modesty and willingness to learn
Present Relationships
David Newman, fatherAgnes Newman, mother
Adam Newman, brother
Stella Newman, sister
Nadine Newman, sister
Pearl Newman (Perle Neuman), grandmother
Daniel Wheeling-Hare, employer
Identity
Hobbies
As a newly-minted head housekeeper to a viscount, Tess doesn't presently have much time for hobbies. She does enjoy a well-crafted novel of mystery, but finds the newspapers either overly grim or overly shallow to bother with. She knits sometimes, when her mind needs quieting, and donates her finished scarves and mittens and etc. to local houses of worship for distribution to the needy.Background
History
Tess' paternal grandparents, Abraham and Perle Neuman, immigrated to England from their Jewish enclave in Paris in 1840. Having faced lifelong discrimination in France, they Anglicized their surname and Perle's given name in an attempt to better assimilate into British culture, but continued to quietly observe their religious traditions.Their eldest son, David, learned the watchmaking trade from his father, and found moderate success — Enough that when he fell in love with a gentile woman of Swedish heritage, she consented to marry him without too much trouble. David insisted on keeping to the most important Jewish traditions as he and Agnes raised their family, but Tess grew up with the constant tension of pride in her heritage against the ever-present need to conceal said heritage to avoid discrimination.
Independent-natured from birth, Tess entered service at fourteen as a weekend scullery maid at a variety of upper middle-class households. With her mother's pale hair and fair complexion, she has steadily climbed the ranks of household staff without a single question about her background, and joined the household of the Wheeling-Hare house in Mayfair at age 19 as a housemaid. Since that time, her excellent work ethic and practical manner allowed her to rise to Head Housemaid, and she was particularly proud to enjoy the respect of her colleagues in that position.
Then came the second half of 1887.
It felt as though the household had scarcely adjusted to the illness and death of "The Old Viscount" (as the staff now referred to him) and the shift to his heir, than nearly the entire family perished in a terrible nautical disaster whilst returning from France in July. Their new employer — Third born son and ill-prepared for the title — struggled under his new responsibilities, and the staff were expected to bolster him in his time of most extreme need. Tess felt they were doing their very best, which was nothing to sneeze at despite the seismic shift to their own lives and routines, and then tragedy struck the downstairs most acutely.
In November, the Housekeeper of the London house, a strict but well-tempered woman called Mrs Scrivens, was struck by a carriage pulled by a spooked horse. The physician assured them that her neck was broken instantly and she felt nothing, which was a blessing at least. Tess, second-in-command amongst the household's women, now found herself in charge of them all.
So Tess, now formally Mrs Newman, is juggling a household of mourning staff, a mourning employer, and the greatest period of upheaval any of them have ever seen. If she can navigate through this, she is fairly certain she can get through absolutely anything.
