Chapter 6
****
Luckily, she passed. The iron gate swung open, and a maid who had been waiting nearby rushed out.
"You must be the teacher who came for the interview?"
Just as Louise was about to introduce herself, the maid quickened her pace and overtook her.
"The headmaid has been waiting for you since morning, welcome."
Louise's lips curled back into a smile. Seeing that she was interviewing with a maid, not a countess, she wondered if there was more than one gate.
A dry sob escaped her nervous throat.
***
"I’m Verena, the headmaid."
After walking through the seemingly endless gardens, they reached the main house, where the maid, who was about the same age as her late mother, ushered Louise into the parlor.
"The elder Margrave has stepped down from his duties to recuperate, and his son has been acting in his stead for several years now, but he is now publicly known as the Margrave, and he will be taking over the title soon, so you should know that."
Despite her regal tone, her position in the manor was evident in her attire.
Even Verena's apron was made of finer fabric than Louise's dress.
"However, the young lady is still unmarried, so I am in charge of her upbringing."
As she explained, the maid's eyes scanned Louise's dress. She didn't even ask about the obvious formal attire.
She began simply.
"So, what is your name?"
She flipped open the letter of introduction, clearly labeled with her name.
Still, Louise responded as politely as she would to an employer.
"I'm Louise Henriette Ermoli."
Verena smiled meaningfully.
"Are you the same Ermoli I know?"
"Maybe ..................."
The rise and fall of Ermoli was known to all the nobility of the Empire, so it was only natural that her employer should know as well. Verena nodded, even though Louise didn't need to explain.
Louise hastened to add.
"I recently taught two sisters, fourteen and twelve years old, at the Engel estate."
She had come this far, she could only hope to be hired by revealing as much as she could.
"So you've resigned, then?"
"Yes, the viscount had a family emergency."
She was afraid that she might have to reveal the Engel family's shame, but the maid didn't seem too interested this time.
She said, closing the letter of introduction instead.
"The Burg is a closed place, and this time the teacher was suddenly taken ill and sent home, so we had to make an open call, but we don't usually let outsiders into the manor."
She stacked five silver coins in two rows and set them down with a clatter. It was the same amount of money as her weekly wage when Louise worked for the Viscount.
"It's an interview fee, and after meeting you today, I thought I'd ask you to keep what you saw here to yourself, should you decline the teaching position."
Louise looked back and forth between the maid and the silver coins with a frown. It was odd how she sounded as if she was only here for an interview and would be hired immediately if she wished.
Before she could ask more, Verena stood up, the tea she'd poured still steaming.
"Let's meet the young lady first, because compatibility is the most important thing."
Mutually beneficial.
She must not be a very nice lady.
Verena walked upstairs with Louise and stood in front of the room farthest from the stairs, then knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The nervous knocking sounded strangely unnerving.
But the owner of the room didn't seem to think so. No answer came, as if she hadn't heard.
"Lady Miriam?"
Verena called it and repeated it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
She knocked again, this time five times.
Five merciless knocks on the door of a lady-in-hire's home.
Louise felt like an idiot. It couldn't be, unless someone was breaking in.
But there was still no answer.
Verena turned from facing the door to look at Louise and shrugged her shoulders slightly.
"She’s probably heard, but didn’t want to answer….”
Louise suddenly realized that she knew nothing about the young woman in the room; she didn't even know if she was a very young girl, contrary to the stereotypes that the name of the margrave’s younger sister might suggest.
"By any chance, how old is she?"
When she finally asked, the answer came quickly.
"Lady Miriam has just turned eighteen. But she's no different than an eight-year-old."
For all the unconventionality of that sentence, Verena's tone was light.
So Louise was standing in front of the room of a young lady who was eighteen, but who for some reason seemed oblivious to the visit of her new tutor.
Maybe she's not feeling well, but if not, that's the problem.
Indeed, it was worth a week's wages for a single day's visit.
Close to the age of majority. It was clear that her condition would cause her much trouble if it became known, as would her marriageable age.
Or maybe the word had already gotten out, and even finding a tutor required active publicity in the form of a newspaper ad. Many tutors brag about their students' reputations as if they were their own.
But Louise didn't have to blush with embarrassment.
She was eighteen when her mother became ill, and she wasn't always a kind woman.
Her mother sometimes completely reverted to the past and became a spoiled, sensitive countess.
She would blame the poor food and the old world for her misery, or she would throw things while crying hysterically because she couldn't accept the reality.
After all, she had never gave up on her mother and stayed by her side for so many years, she could handle an eighteen year old girl.
She steeled herself and looked the maid in the eye.
"With your permission, I will go in and see the young lady, and then I will return to the maid."
Verena's olive eyes widened in surprise. Then, with a faint smile, she patted Louise on the arm.
"Then, I should wish you luck?"
Her cheer didn't sound very sincere.
She wondered if the maid had her own favorite tutor candidate in mind, and was giving her a hard time by paying for her own interview.
Louise turned toward the door, hiding her frown, and knocked softly, not like the maid had done.
Knock.
Still, there was no answer.
She could hear the maid's sneer behind her back. The tiny footsteps soon disappeared.
Louise tried one more time, persevering.
Knock.
Then, in a clear voice, she said,
"Miss Miriam, are you inside? I'm Louise, the new teacher, and I'd like to come in and say hello, if you don't mind."
Once again, no answer came.
She looked at the doorknob, which didn't move. The owner of the room would most likely be in a grumpy mood, and the odds that an unauthorized intrusion would please her were very low.
She sighed and turned around to find the hallway empty.
The intimidatingly high walls were lined with expensive ornaments and paintings, but what's the point of art in a mansion you'll never visit again?
It was not as if the lady in the portrait was appraising her.
The realization that she was alone eased her tension. She was tired and troubled, having traveled a long way since dawn, and her calves were shaking as soon as she let go.
Ah, I don't know. Perhaps it was a bad idea to be hired, so she should do what she could.
Louise stood with her back to the silent door, waiting, and then slipping down, stretching her legs out in front of her.
She turned her head toward the doorway and spoke again.
"I suppose you don't really want to see anyone right now, and perhaps I should have arrived a little earlier, but, my lady, I live far away, in a small estate called Melk."
She wondered if the room was empty, but Louise continued.
"It's my fault for making you wait on your first day, and I'll wait here until you feel better, but will you please keep it a secret that I've been flopping around on the floor? If you don't, you’ll never get married."
She whispered in the crack like it was a secret.
"It's a secret, even from my late mother."
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Write a comment