Chapter 1
Through the window it stood, tall and imposing. An estate that she might not have imagined, were it not before her very eyes.
Victoria Jamison sighed from within the carriage that had been sent for her by the Earl of Hanover. Mentally preparing herself for everything that was to come, she waited for the coachman to open the door before she alighted from the coach.
She paused and took a deep breath, wondering what was to come for her. Would she be happy? Would this work out? Was there any chance that she might be able to keep her past a secret?
She gazed at the estate with wide, blue eyes. She knew well that there would be days in which this house might bring her sadness and pain; the pain of memory. But she could handle that. She was ever striving to be better than both her circumstances and the past which she was trying so hard to forget. A past that had completely changed three years prior.
This was to be her new home. This was the place in which she would spend her days as a governess. Of course, it was much like the one she had grown up in, having a governess of her own and a place to call home.
But the estate in which Victoria had grown up no longer mattered. It was now in the hands of a grand Duke who had taken over it with his name far greater than her own. The titles that were once bestowed upon her family no longer existed and she was simply another woman in England searching for employment.
Having happened upon this opportunity had been good fortune indeed.
“Miss, I shall take your bags inside,” the coachman told her as Victoria reached for them herself.
“Yes, thank you,” she replied.
“I believe one of the maids is going to come and show you about the estate. But I shall make sure these reach your bedroom first,” he told her.
Victoria nodded, somewhat shyly.
“Are you nervous, Miss?” he asked.
She looked at him and smiled as calmly as she could.
“I should think anyone might be nervous at the prospect of a new home and new work. Life is not always kind and we cannot control the fullness of our circumstances,” she remarked.
“That is true. But I think you should be happy here. Honestly, it is a good place and the Earl is a good man. True, there are times when it can be difficult working for nobility, but you should do well to remember that this estate is…well, it is a good place indeed,” he told her.
Victoria was relieved to hear all of this, but it did not change the small, nagging feeling inside her.
She allowed the coachman to take her things ever though it was strange to allow someone to do something so simple on her behalf.
Indeed, she had learned a great deal about taking care of things on her own and not relying on others for help. She had been forced to in the midst of all that had happened of late. There was very little that she wished to rely on others to handle for her.
Since the fall from grace that her family had experienced several years ago, nothing had been the same for Victoria. That rude awakening that she had gone through was more than enough to give her a strength that she previously hadn’t thought herself capable of.
No, indeed, now Victoria was at a loss and her name meant nothing to anyone of importance. That was a thing she did not mind so much.
Brushing the thick, brown curls behind her ear, she hoped that the rest of her hair had held in place, pulled back tightly as a proper governess should have. But with the wildness of her own hair, she had never managed quite to tame the locks that framed her face.
Victoria wondered what the Earl might be like. Was he a good man? Would he judge her for her appearance? She had grown rather thin in the days since her family had lost their place in society. What if he deemed her weak as a result of it?
She could not help but think back to those days of luxury, now that she was once more faced with the luxury of others. When she had exquisite foods set before her and gowns far superior to the simple dress which she wore now.
Truly, Victoria had tried to move on from that loss, but it was not easy when she found herself missing those things and now having to understand that she would not be the owner of them again. Rather, she would be working for those to whom they belonged.
Her father had been such a fool. A man of the landed gentry, known for his wealth and position in society, he had been an indulgent and foolish man in the end. Squandering the family fortune on his vices, he had housed his mistresses better than his own family. And his gambling habit had been his great downfall.
By the time he owed money to half the nobility of England, everyone knew that he was done for. Victoria’s mother had done all she could to get her daughter out of the environment, but it would have cost her own reputation. After all, a woman who left her husband would be deemed the villain.
Thus, she was left to figure out her own path.
Having been tutored by the best in the country, highly educated and intelligent, it seemed only fitting for Victoria that she might seek work as a governess. She could hardly find a match with a nobleman of her own considering the shame of her family.
And without the prospect of marriage and hardly having the option of remaining at home, Victoria was content to spend the remainder of her life working for others. She was prudent enough that she felt confident she could save money for her old age.
