Wilhelmina A Novella Read Online Free PDF Page A

wild haired and spirited Wilhelmina that he left behind. If I cut my hair, I would no longer be that girl. He would never smile the same way again if I allowed the governess to cut my thick mane.
    At the same time, if I didn’t write back to Charles then he would think that I had forgotten him. I knew the feeling of abandonment well, and it was something that I never wanted to inflict on his gentle soul.
    I was at a horrible, horrible impasse with no solution but the wrong one, which was to give in to the governess.
    Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Every time a letter came, the governess made it a point to summon me and flaunt it before my eyes. She would then administrate her previous offer once again, and still I would refuse. I became so resilient that I even refused to let the groomers trim my hair.
    Seven letters later and neither of us were any closer to giving in.
    After five months, I devised a plan. It was my ingenious plan, and I was going to make sure that I did not fail. I would die before I gave up on Charles, and so I set my scheme into motion.
    Every month, the governess would hold a party. After the sun set, she invited a small group of acquaintances into her home and me and the girls could only imagine what went on between the laughs and the screams we listened to in our beds. But the most important detail of that night was that the governess would douse the candles in her den and host the small gathering.
    It was my chance.
    I had devised my scheme quite brilliantly, and I was even a little smug about how clever my mind had been.
    One of the house slaves, Minus, was the keeper of the keys, and every night after our supper he was ordered to lock us in the ward. But that night I had stuffed the door latch with small strips of cloth so that when he closed the door it would not catch. So even though he locked the door and we couldn’t twist the handle, I could still pull it open and proceed with the next step in my plan.
    I waited patiently until I saw the governess’ candlelight die out, and then set out on my journey. I wrapped myself in a black silk bed sheet and stowed away into the darkness of the mansion. Making my way through the halls undetected was the easy part. The difficulty came when I had actually made it to the governess’ den.
    I gripped one of her candles and lit it with one of the few matches I had pocketed from a yard slave’s tobacco bag. I hovered over her desk, slowly examining the drawer.
    It was locked with a padlock, and I had no way of opening it without the key. I contemplated breaking it with a candleholder, but that was a sure giveaway and there would be grim consequences. I shuffled around her desk, searching for the key, but gave up when I realized that she would have it on her person at all times.
    When I looked up, I saw a pair of red eyes and I nearly screamed.
    ‘Shouldn’t you be in bed?’ the stranger asked. There sat was a tall, pale man with olive skin and eyes that matched the governess’ almost identically. I wondered if the two of them were related, as I had never seen red eyes on anyone else before. He was stretched out on her long sofa, watching me intently with crimson delight.
    ‘Pardon me, sir, I did not mean to disturb you,’ I told him with a curtsey. I was about to make my exit when he stood quickly, blocking my path.
    ‘What’s your hurry?’ he asked in his smooth French accent.
    ‘I really must be off to bed, and the governess isn’t here, so neither of us should be in here when she is away,’ I said.
    ‘Weren’t you looking for something?’ he asked as he slowly advanced.
    ‘No, no, I just wanted to speak with the governess,’ I said. His height and stance frightened me, and it was a great effort on my part to keep from shaking in my boots.
    ‘You’re a poor liar,’ he grinned. ‘I believe you were looking for this.’ He reached inside of his red waistcoat and produced a small brass key. My eyes flashed on the key to