CHAPTER 1
When Isabel Ravenshaw stepped into the hall with a slow, heavy sigh, she could see her breath fog up in the dim light.
She suppressed an urge to shudder. Instead, she fixed the heavier of two shawls around her shoulders so one might cover her head. The layer helped keep the worst of chill while she made her way down the hall to the front door.
Behind it stood her maid, Amber, who jumped when Isabel crept closer. It was hardly the behavior for anyone in the household belonging to an earl, but times had certainly changed this past year.
“Who is it?” Isabel whispered. She’d been working on a painting in the drafty parlor when she heard the banging at the door. Without her parents in town, it was up to her to welcome or turn away company.
Me and Aunt Wilhemina, who won’t step near this house. She’s not much of a chaperone, but perhaps that is for the best.
“It’s Cruthers and Brothers,” Amber responded in a hush. “What do I do, my lady?”
How ridiculous it felt to carry a title in a moment like this. Isabel considered laughing, but instead kept her lips shut. She had no reason to use a title in a cold house in the heart of winter even if she was the only daughter of the Earl of Darbyham.
“Don’t let them see you in the painted glass,” Isabel said. “We haven’t the change for them today.”
The shy maid, more desperate than the Ravenshaw family, hastily nodded. Neither of them moved for a tense moment.
Both of them jumped when there was another heavy knock.
“My lady?” Amber squeaked.
“Don’t say another word,” Isabel begged softly.
Painted glass trimmed three sides of their door. While only a single candle burned on a nearby table––Amber might have brought it––it might still be enough to see something. To see her. She prayed that was not the case.
But then the shuffling stopped. Quiet thuds could be heard, footsteps descending the front door.
“He’s gone,” Amber turned and told her eagerly.
Isabel shook her head. “Wait there in case he returns.”
For another three minutes they stood still, biding their time. But at least she felt safe. Straightening up, she nodded to her maid.
Shame washed over her. Cruthers and Brothers would receive their funds eventually. But not now. The little money Isabel had saved was for the limited daily coal and to pay off another creditor that was more urgent.
After this, I might have to begin pawning my jewelry. That will upset my mother. But if my parents won’t respond to my other letters…
“Is everything well?” Amber asked once they were alone again.
Forcing a smile, Isabel nodded. “Well enough. I’m sorry you must deal with this distress. It should have never come to this.”
The young girl shrugged. “You’re a lady. You don’t have to apologize to the likes of me for anything.” Pain flickered in the back of her eyes before she blinked. Her parents had been shipped off to Australia when she was barely ten, leaving her to look for work wherever she could. She had decent experience asa scullery maid in the countryside when Isabel asked her to train as her new lady’s maid three years ago when she first came out.
What a life that was. It seems an eternity ago, long before…
Everything was split in the middle. Before and after. Before her brother, the future earl, had financially ruined their family. After her parents had slunk away from London in shame.
“Thank you for staying,” Isabel whispered, trying to smile. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I’m here for you, my lady. Do you still wish to attend the ball tonight?” Her maid asked after an awkward pause, and bit her lip.
Right. This was absurd. Isabel felt her heart begin to pound for an entirely new reason. This would be the first ball she had been invited to since the season started four months ago. It was the first of December, and she’d only attended a few events.
I have to. No matter how humiliating it is. I won’t let London keep us living in scandal and shame. Someone must defend the Ravenshaw name; if my parents will not, then I shall.
“Of course I will attend.” Isabel tried to sound cheerful while shivering. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
