mrs whitlow , the housekeeper , she of the clanking chatelaine and huge creaking corset that caused the chair of indefinite studies to swoon when he heard it , generally took great care to select staff who , while being female , were not excessively so , and tended to be industrious , clean in their habits , rosy cheeked and , in short , the kind of ladies who are never too far from gingham and an apple pie .