Luke's Wife by Evelyn R. Garratt

Luke was beginning to feel acutely the great necessity of a study. When / his mother had lived with him she had left the dining-room entirely for / his use in the mornings, and had been careful not to interrupt him by / going in and out. In fact, in those days they had kept no servant, and / Mrs. Greville had been so busy in the house that she had not needed to / use the room at all.

But since Luke had married and Polly had come as maid, things had been / different. Rachel was constantly in the room, and though she took pains / to be as quiet as possible, and sometimes sat so still working, that, / had it not been that Luke had heard her enter, he would not have known / she was there, he was more or less conscious of her presence, and this / very consciousness was an interruption.