Zane Swain is a footman so correct in all things that other households cite him to their own staff as a reproach. He is punctual to the chime, precise to the crease, and fond of the rules with the particular fondness of a man who has read them all and found them good. No house he has served has ever had cause to complain of him, and several have had cause to wish they could.
He keeps the secrets of every establishment he serves — keeps them, it should be said, in the older sense: holds them, maintains them, does not trade upon them. He is twin to Fifi, the lady's-maid, and if the two of them between them know everything that passes in two houses, Cairnholm has yet to catch either one saying so.