Jane in Search of a Job

By Agatha Christie

An essential Agatha Christie short story. Presented here as it was originally published in The Grand Magazine, August 1924 (Issue 234).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andura Publishing
• Release date: May 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9788835832850

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

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Jane in Search of a Job

By Agatha Christie

Jane Cleveland rustled the pages of the Daily Leader and sighed - a deep sigh

that came from the innermost recesses of her being. She looked with distaste at

the marble-topped table, the poached egg on toast which reposed on it, and the

small pot of tea. Not because she was not hungry. That was far from being the

case. Jane was extremely hungry. At that moment she felt like consuming a

pound and a half of well-cooked beefsteak, with chip potatoes, and possibly

French beans. The whole washed down with some more exciting vintage than

tea.

But young women whose exchequers are in a parlous condition cannot be

choosers. Jane was lucky to be able to order a poached egg and a pot of tea. It

seemed unlikely that she would be able to do so tomorrow. That is unless -

She turned once more to the advertisement columns of the Daily Leader. To

put it plainly, Jane was out of a job, and the position was becoming acute.

Already the genteel lady who presided over the shabby boarding house was

looking askance at this particular young woman.

And yet, said Jane to herself, throwing up her chin indignantly, which was a

habit of hers, "and yet I'm intelligent and good-looking and well-educated. What

more does anyone want?"

According to the Daily Leader, they seemed to want shorthand-typists of vast

experience, managers for business houses with a little capital to invest, ladies to

share in the profits of poultry farming (here again a little capital was required),

and innumerable cooks, housemaids and parlourmaids - particularly

parlourmaids.

I wouldn't mind being a parlourmaid, said Jane to herself. "But there again, no

one would take me without experience. I could go somewhere, I dare say, as a

Willing Young Girl - but they don't pay willing young girls anything to speak

of."

She sighed again, propped the paper up in front of her, and attacked the

poached egg with all the vigour of healthy youth.

When the