back stairs

stairs at the back of a house, as for use by servants.

a means of intrigue.

Origin of back stairs

First recorded in 1620–30

So she would have had us come to amuse her, and go in and out by the back-stairs.

The Virginians |William Makepeace Thackeray
It forms a private entrance, as it were, to the two gulphs; and I named it Back-stairs Passage.

A Voyage to Terra Australis |Matthew Flinders
I remember the misery of sitting on the back-stairs in the morning and having it in a tea-cup, with milk and sugar.

Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 |Augustus J. C. Hare
They hurry in a frenzy up the back-stairs about 1.25, and they pace up and down in a frenzy till half-past one.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920 |Various

Front-stairs; the back-stairs only reached the second floor.

The Catholic World. Volume III; Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. |E. Rameur