A Change of Fortune Read Online Free Page A

skills or talents did she have? Very few was the honest answer. She’d been taught how to arrange flowers, set a table for a dinner party, how a meal should be served …
    She leapt to her feet. Of course she didn’t have anybusiness skills, but she could go into service. What was it Gerry had said? He was a footman because that was the only job he could get. If she could find a place in a large household, it would be a start. Perhaps a governess?
    The sight of herself in the mirror, still wearing the light grey and maroon school uniform, was enough to convince her that she was too young. They would want someone more mature. However, she was fired up with the idea now. It would be a solution to her immediate problem and would keep her away from that awful man. Even scrubbing floors would be better than that!
    Eugenie had always had a methodical mind – everything in its place, and a place for everything – so she began to lay her plans. It wasn’t going to be easy, she knew that, but all she had to do if she became discouraged was to think of Albert Greaves. That would stiffen anyone’s resolve.
    She was going to have to make herself look like a servant. Holding her long hair up and away from her face made her look plainer and a little older, so it would have to be cut short. She would need different clothes and that would take money – something she didn’t have. Her aunt had said that nothing could be removed from the house; she would have to sell her own things. How she longed to have someone she could go to for help, but this had to be kept a secret. When she walked out of the house in three days’ time – and she was determined to do that – no one must know what she was doing or where she was going; otherwise her aunt wouldfind her. And however hard her life was going to be, that mustn’t happen.
    Tremors rippled through her as she thought of what she was planning to do. If she failed, years of belonging to that man faced her; if she succeeded, a life of what? Drudgery, hard work and loneliness, but that would be preferable to the alternative. Her mother didn’t care what happened to her and would be glad to be rid of her. It was a bitter realization, and something she had shied away from admitting before.
    The boom of the dinner gong made her jump. A quick glance at the clock on her mantelshelf told her that it was eight thirty. She hadn’t even noticed it getting dark; she’d been preoccupied with her planning. Her mother would be cross about her still being in her school uniform, but there wasn’t time to change now. To arrive late was an even greater crime.
    She quickly straightened the grey woollen stockings, made sure the sensible lace-up shoes were clean, put on the maroon jacket and hurried down the stairs just as the second gong sounded. The last thing she felt like doing was eating; yet she must make the effort.
    The dining room was empty expect for the butler. ‘Mrs Winford will be dining in her room,’ he informed her solemnly, while holding out her chair at the long table set for only one.
    ‘If I’d known I would have done the same and saved you from going to all this trouble for me.’
    ‘It’s no trouble, miss.’
    She sat down and made a pretence of eating, as eachcourse was set before her. She was hurting too much, and it was an effort even to swallow. To lose her father was a terrible disaster; to find that they were penniless and that she was expected to go to Greaves was terrifying. The tears gathered again and she stared down at her plate, not knowing or caring what was on it. If she put too much inside her, it would refuse to stay there.
    At the end of the meal she said, ‘Please apologize to Mrs Dobson for me. The meal was excellent, as always, but I’m not at all hungry.’
    ‘Cook will understand.’ He poured her a cup of coffee.
    ‘Do you have somewhere to go when you leave here?’ she asked.
    ‘Mrs Dobson and myself have already obtained new places with Lord and