Children and adults alike enjoy listening to stories. Writing a story means cutting out background information about the characters so as not to distract the reader from the immediate tale. So to-day I'm going to tell you a story about Catherine Thurston, the heroine in A Very Difficult Man. She didn't walk off the street and into her very first job. A lot had happened to Catherine and her family before she answered the advertisement in The Times for a companion.
Her father, George Thurston, was a successful business man. Her mother, the daughter of an earl had married "beneath herself" but the marriage was happy. They had two children a son and daughter. They lived on a large estate near Dorchester and kept a town house in London. Catherine and her brother learned to ride early in their lives and gave lessons to visiting children. It was a life of privilege, taken for granted because that's the way it had always been from the time they were born. On one of their rides around the estate they found a gypsy girl netting trout from the estate pond. The girl, Riena, begged them not to report her instead she led them to the gypsy camp where Catherine and her brother received gifts from Riena's father. Finely carved thin discs of wood etched with mysterious symbols and each had a tiny hole through which he had drawn a leather thong. They were good luck charms meant to wear around the neck.
But luck eluded the family when Catherine was seventeen and her father's health teetered in the balance. A brain tumor probably but at the time it was undiagnosed. He became fractious and angry. He spent days and nights in the gambling hells in London and lost the family fortune
before he died.
The family estate was leased. The stable of fine horses sold. Catherine's brother left for America and Catherine and her mother moved into the London house accompanied by two elderly servants who insisted on staying with them. There would be no "coming out" for Catherine. No balls at Almack's. No parties to meet eligible young men and no dowry to capture their interest.
Lady Thurston, Catherine's mother knew nothing of keeping accounts and paying tradesmen. Afraid to pass by their shops lest she be hailed and handed an account and desperate to retire their debts Catherine answered an advertisement in The Times. Here's the advertisement. Dated February 1855.
"Young lady to live in a country house for three months as companion to an invalid recovering from injuries sustained in a fall from a horse. The young lady must have a pleasing personality and a well-modulated speaking voice. She will read aloud from newspapers, periodicals and selected books. At times, she may be asked to discuss current events. Excellent wages. Impeccable references required. Duties to commence March First. Write to E. Percival Knightley, Solicitor, Grey's Inn, London."
Against her mother's wishes, Catherine accepted the offer. The country house was a two hour train journey from London to Abbeyleigh. When no one met her at the Abbeyleigh station as promised, Catherine walked three miles to the Glenmore estate only to find the great wrought iron gates locked and a storm brewing. And that's when A Very Difficult Man begins.
I hope you enjoyed meeting Catherine before the story began. Let me know.
Anita
www.anitabirt.com
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