A Girl Prepares February 16, 2007

The Hertwick Family

“I have no wish to remarry,” Garret Hertwick, Marquess of Avonshire, commented to his father Zachariah, Duke of Sartwich, in the elder’s study. Garret’s eyes shifted around the room, taking in the intricately carved bookcases and finely upholstered furniture. It had been his childhood home before he married and moved to an estate that he had inherited from his aunt Clara. Now he was back, living with his father, the pain of his wife’s death too much to bear.

Zachariah sighed in annoyance. This younger generation was far too headstrong. “I understand that you loved your wife, but you need to provide a mother for your children and you must have another son. If Matthew becomes ill and dies, you’ll lose our estates to some distant relative,” the older gentleman said. Even though his words were harsh, he truly felt for his son. Zachariah remembered how he had felt when his Eva had died. He had been distraught by the loss of his lifetime companion. But at the time of her death, their children were already grown and married. They were no longer dependent on a mother’s guiding hand, as Garret’s children now were.

Garret mulled over the valid points his father had made. His children deserved a mother, especially Virginia. She was about to make her debut in Society and needed someone to guide her. Garret nodded brusquely and said, “I will hire a governess for now and will consider marriage later.” Zachariah inclined his head in silent consent and removed himself from the room. Garret immediately sat down at his father’s desk and began to write a correspondence making inquiries about acquiring a suitable governess.

Virginia was the last to learn that she was to make her debut at the Royal Ball. The small family sat around the large oak table, silently consuming dinner. The last dish had been served and all of the servants had left the room. Garret turned to his daughter and said in a strict, controlling voice, “You are to make your debut into society at this year’s royal ball. A governess will be arriving and she will help you to prepare. My sources have informed me that she is very skilled at just this sort of thing, but she had less than a fortnight to prepare you, so I presume that she will receive no problems from you.”

Virginia nodded in understanding and excused herself from the table. She did not feel ready to be presented for marriage, but she knew that she could never disgrace her family by becoming a spinster. She retreated to her room where she prayed for the strength to be a proper daughter and learn what it would mean to be a proper wife. The night was long and restless, but eventually Virginia fell into a fitful slumber.

The governess arrived much later that night, when all but the servants were asleep. She was welcomed into the home by a haughty butler with a portly frame and a hidden mirth simmering beneath his cold exterior. He directed her to her bedroom, which she was surprised to see was in the main part of the house. For a brief moment, she thought the servants had decided to play a terrible trick on her, until she walked into her room and saw in the dim glow of candlelight that it was sparsely furnished.

She sighed with relief as her eyes lit upon each piece of old, worn furniture, but she grew even more relieved when she saw that the room had its own fireplace. She squealed with delight, quickly lit the fire, and crawled into bed, where despite all of her worries about her new job, she fell asleep immediately.

She awoke with the soft rays of sunlight falling languorously on the floorboards, heralding dawn’s approach. Quickly she washed and donned her nicest dress. It was a pretty red and green plaid dress that had once belonged to her mother. She scurried down the stairs, where she was informed that the Marquess wished to see her in the drawing room. She gulped and her hands fluttered nervously as she approached her employer. “My lord,” she greeted timidly, sinking into a deep curtsy.

Shock registered on Garret’s face as he gazed at the beautiful creature before him. She may have been a mere governess, but he wondered how she hadn’t been snatched up yet. Dowry or no dowry, this woman was a stunning catch. Quickly trying to hide his obvious attraction, he flashed her a charmingly aloof smile and said in his haughtiest tone, “Miss Delilah Bertino, the governess, I presume?”

She nodded with cool composure, even as she tried to calm her thrumming pulse. She considered to stare down at the exceedingly handsome man before her, taking his proferred challenge and staring him directly in the eyes.

Garret immediately was thrown off guard. He felt as though she could see straight to his soul. And the disdainful look she was bestowing upon him just now told him that she didn’t like what she saw. Garret rose unexpectedly and strolled from the room, calling over his shoulder that Miss Bertino was to meet Lady Hertwick in the sitting room in one hour.

Delilah sighed as she sank against the welcoming embrace of the settee. She could tell that this was going to be a long and turbulent two weeks.

Delilah sat before a dwindling fire in the sitting room. She had arrived as was instructed of her and had been waiting for nearly half an hour. She sighed mentally ticking off the moments as they slipped by, growing more impatient by the moment. She knew that it was like the nobility to arrive fashionably late, but such a large amount of time had elapsed, that Delilah realized that this young girl must be trying to put her in her place. Her temper snapped and she rose from the chair, eager to find Virginia Hertwick and tell her just what she thought of spoiled little rich girls.

Virginia was sitting in the nursery with her brother Matthew. He was playing with the wooden figurines in the toy chest, pretending he was a great and might horseman. She smiled tenderly at the little boy, sensing the great man he would one day become. She was trying to write a letter to her mother’s sister in Paris, begging the woman to come collect her. If she went to Paris, she wouldn’t have to marry the first eligible bachelor who asked for her hand. She would have time to consider her options and decide whether or not she even wanted to marry at all. She felt a sting of shame at the thought of disgracing her family, but she could just never imagine being an insipid, obedient wife to a man she didn’t love.

“I hope you have a very good reason for averting your meeting with me,” Delilah Bertino practically growled from her stance in the doorway. She stepped lightly across the room and regarded her charge with a stern look of disapproval.

“I don’t care if you are my governess. I am trying to write a letter and wish for some privacy,” Virginia said, holding her chin high as she met Delilah’s gaze. She almost faltered when she saw the rage brimming in the icy blue eyes glaring at her, but she quickly blinked and turned back to her parchment. Delilah stood with her back turned away from the girl, waiting deliberately for her to finish her letter.

“Let’s go,” she said, and guided Virginia into the sitting room with an iron clench on her elbow. “Your lessons are long overdue.”

Virginia glared at her governess and retorted, “My lessons? You’re the one trying to get my papa to marry you! I saw the way you stared at him in the drawing room!”

Delilah laughed as she sat down on the couch in the sitting room. The fire had been extinguished and the room was cool and foreboding. But Delilah felt high in spirits when she realized her young charge just thought she was trying to take the place of her mama. “My dear,” she began. “Whatever you thought you saw in there, you were wrong. Your father is a very attractive man, but his station is far above mine. Besides all that, how could I ever think about replacing your mama when I want so much for us to be good friends?”

Virginia began to relax in Delilah’s presence and soon they were chatting merrily about all of the gorgeous dresses that would be made for her by the local seamstresses and precisely how she planned to wear her hair. Virginia smiled as she thought about the beautiful ladies she always saw strolling about in the parks. Maybe this debuting thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.