Depending on the size of his household, he may well have a couple of maids, scullery maids or other female household servants. They wouldn't be the *only* servant, but if there were 4-6 staff, then there would be his manservant, a housemaid, a cook (probably male), a gardener/groom, and possibly a lower housemaid or boots. Or he could have a daily maid who came in every morning to do the rooms, collect and send off the washing, sweep, clean the front step, etc.
The big difference is that these are not "ladies" - they are "Women" and as such are not treated as ladies are. A lady might not sit in a room with a gentleman without a chaperone for fear of her reputation (and that was much stricter later in the Victorian era), but the maid would come in, stoke the fire, sweep the grate, ask if it was all right for her to do the rest of her cleaning while the master was there, and then leave afterwards.
If times were hard, and jobs hard to get, then she might find herself being fondled as she bent to sweep the grate. She might find herself trapped as she went to leave the room, and given a choice between submitting to the master's needs or finding herself on the street without a job or that much-needed reference. Of course, were they discovered, he would of course plead that she had thrown herself at him and was entirely to blame.
Just be careful, though. Unless she is (conveniently) without relatives (maybe she came into his employ in the city, and was brought out to his country estate?) she may have an unimpressed uncle or vengeful brother who would not take the defiling of their dear lass at all well.
Also, it wouldn't be unknown for a young lass in trouble to a wealthy gentleman to be quietly set up in a small house and given an allowance to bring up and look after the child. This was more likely to happen in a small village, as it was rather difficult to hide the fact that "our Maisie was working at t'hall until Midsummer, but she took herself off all of a sudden and nowt's been seen of her since". It would be a very rare situation for a young lass to obtain a marriage out of the situation.
As to later Victorian times, I have an almanac from 1916 (a little late for your time, but still relevant) where there are a number of advertisements for charitable institutions who would accept a small child for a sponsorship fee (one quoted about £15 per annum, no questions asked). Translation - when the baby's about 2 or 3, it would be brought up in one of these homes, taught a good trade or how to be a domestic, and then sent out to be employed ...
The big difference is that these are not "ladies" - they are "Women" and as such are not treated as ladies are. A lady might not sit in a room with a gentleman without a chaperone for fear of her reputation (and that was much stricter later in the Victorian era), but the maid would come in, stoke the fire, sweep the grate, ask if it was all right for her to do the rest of her cleaning while the master was there, and then leave afterwards.
If times were hard, and jobs hard to get, then she might find herself being fondled as she bent to sweep the grate. She might find herself trapped as she went to leave the room, and given a choice between submitting to the master's needs or finding herself on the street without a job or that much-needed reference. Of course, were they discovered, he would of course plead that she had thrown herself at him and was entirely to blame.
Just be careful, though. Unless she is (conveniently) without relatives (maybe she came into his employ in the city, and was brought out to his country estate?) she may have an unimpressed uncle or vengeful brother who would not take the defiling of their dear lass at all well.
Also, it wouldn't be unknown for a young lass in trouble to a wealthy gentleman to be quietly set up in a small house and given an allowance to bring up and look after the child. This was more likely to happen in a small village, as it was rather difficult to hide the fact that "our Maisie was working at t'hall until Midsummer, but she took herself off all of a sudden and nowt's been seen of her since". It would be a very rare situation for a young lass to obtain a marriage out of the situation.
As to later Victorian times, I have an almanac from 1916 (a little late for your time, but still relevant) where there are a number of advertisements for charitable institutions who would accept a small child for a sponsorship fee (one quoted about £15 per annum, no questions asked). Translation - when the baby's about 2 or 3, it would be brought up in one of these homes, taught a good trade or how to be a domestic, and then sent out to be employed ...
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