Free Ruined (To Love a Governess Regency Short Story) by Jane Charles

 
     
    Chapter 1
     
    Edinburgh, Scotland
     
    Audrey Rutledge paced in the front sitting room of the Downing Employment Services ,   her nerves taut and stomach in knots.   She glanced around the room tastefully decorated in peaches, muted green and cream. She hadn’t known what to expect of an employment agency, but a well-maintained household was not it.   Even the servants were no different than one would come across in a proper household owned by anyone in society.
      “Mrs. Downing will see you now.”  
    Audrey took a deep breath and stepped forward to follow the butler.   He led her to an office at the end of the hall.   Audrey entered the warm room, decorated in lavender and cream.   Mrs. Downey sat behind a delicate cherry wood desk and motioned her to the chair. It was hard to determine her age, but she must have been in her thirties or maybe forties. The only hint of her being older were the lines at the corners of her pale blue eyes and at the corners of her mouth. The rest of her skin was as smooth as a debutante’s. There wasn’t even a hint of white in her dark brown hair.
    Audrey grasped her reticule tightly and settled into a carved, wooden chair before her future employer. If the woman would have her, of course. She kept her posture erect, shoulders back, chin straight and level.
    “Roseanna has written of your situation.”  
    Audrey nodded. She had met Roseanna when she’d attempted to become an actress. Audrey quickly learned she did not have the talent for the stage, or the nerve.   Roseanna had suggested the Downing Employment Agency because it would allow Audrey to leave London and start afresh.
    “What type of position most interests you?”   The woman arched an eyebrow and her light colored eyes speared Audrey, as if trying to see into her soul.
    “Governess,” Audrey answered without thought.
    Mrs. Downing pushed the papers together in a stack and set them aside. “The ladies we place in homes as governesses and companions must be virtuous. I understand there are some who have found their way here due to unpleasant circumstances. However, I still strive to find employment for those who remain above reproach, regardless of a fallen status. A young woman who wishes to practice flirtations and attract gentlemen need find employment somewhere else.”
    “I understand. I promise all I want to do is work in a household teaching children.”
    “Ages? Gender?”
    “I’d prefer to teach younger children, those without older brothers.”
    A smile pulled at Mrs. Downing’s lips. “I understand that is how you lost your last position.”
    Audrey’s face heated and she nodded.
    “Roseanna explained.”
    Thanks goodness; Audrey did not want to repeat that experience again.  
    “If I place you in a home and there is a similar circumstance, report it to me before anyone else.   I will not see you harmed, nor will I place another young woman in such a household.”
    Audrey inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. There was finally someone who could help protect her, and others. “I am ruined in London because of that incident, and because of my father.   Am I not ruined in Scotland?”
    Mrs. Downing laughed.   “Many families from here don’t venture to London — or do so rarely .   If you are recognized, the parents will have the option of hiring you or not.”   She picked up a stack of papers and rifled through them before she looked back up at Audrey. “I am sorry but we do not have any governess positions available.”  
    Her heart sank and Mrs. Downing went back to reviewing the documents.
      “I am afraid at the moment we only have maid, nurse — ”   Mrs . Downing glanced up. “They wish for someone much older.   There is also seamstress.”
    “I suppose I could be a maid.”   If it was her only chance at employment she would take it.
    “Not a seamstress?” Mrs. Downy quirked an eyebrow.
    Audrey cringed. “I can’t sew. I can’t even do