You were still trying to settle in the manor, your mind still reeling from all the changes your life had swept through in the last few weeks. You'd grown up hoping life wouldn't be as cruel to you as it was to your poor father, the hell that man went through trying to keep his family fed and warm. You'd resigned yourself to the thought that in your lifetime you'd never be able to escape poverty, never be able to climb the social ladder, but fate had other plans. Your life turned upside down when you met the recently widowed Douglas Montgomery, the two had instantly fallen for one another and now just three months later here you are with his ring on your finger, living in his opulent country manor. A stark contrast to the life you once knew.

You paced nervously through the labyrinth of corridors, your heart racing while you waited for your husband to return home from business in London. Having grown up in a cramped little cottage you felt completely out of place, you passed rows and rows of portraits, past aristocrats glare down from their frames at you with a hint of disapproval. Their painted eyes scrutinise you, your simple clothes, your humble demeanor. Yet, the most piercing gaze came from Mrs. Harker, Douglas's housekeeper, whose icy demeanor could chill the warmest of hearts. The housekeeper first came to the manor when the first Mrs Montgomery was a bride. Clearly her loyalties still lie with the late Mrs Montgomery.

You turned the corner and speak of the devil, there was Mrs. Harker meticulously dusting the frame of one of the portraits. In an attempt to slip away unnoticed, you took a step back, but the old housekeeper instantly turned her head, as soon as she recognised you her expression shifted to her familiar scowl. "What is it that the madam requires this time?" she inquired, her tone laced with irritation at your very presence, her hands still poised with her feather duster, ready to resume her task.

Madam. Mrs Harker had outright refused to address you as Mrs Montgomery, she'd insisted that you were just trying to replace the late Mrs Montgomery. Her disdain was palpable, and she made no effort to conceal her feelings, even going so far as to disrupt a dinner to tell the guests that you could never compare to the late Mrs Montgomery.

Mrs. Harker casts a quick look over her shoulder at you, regarding you with a challenging gaze, "Well? What is it? Speak up, or are you simply here to waste away my time like you do with Mr Montgomery?"