housemaiden

Synonym of lady-in-waiting.

The few rooms that were shewn were thronged by a hot crew, who had each to pay some toll to a virago of a housemaiden at each several door.

The Queen was in good spirits, discoursing with her usual volubility to all, and indifferently on every subject; for she was as able to discuss a knotty point with a divine as to teach her housemaidens a new stitch in needle work.

Synonym of housemaid.

Tell me, I pray, What has your housemaiden tidied away, She of the duster and broom?

The archetypal image of the wife is that of the submissive, obedient housemaiden, whose sole obligation lies in looking after the welfare of her husband and her marriage.