Chapter 1

Alessandra sat on the stone

bench in front of her home, enjoying feeling the sunshine beaming

down on her face. Already 18 years of age, she'd reached a point in

her life where she could appreciate the life that she led at home

with her parents. As a family, they weren't as well off as some

people in the village, but she knew they also weren't in such a

dire position as others.

Her young puppy, Fern,

lay at her feet. He basked in the warmth they both knew was coming

to an end. It was autumn, and the trees before Alessandra were

almost bare of leaves. The ground nearby was intensely covered with

the colours of orange and yellow.

Day to day, Alessandra

spent her time obediently doing whatever chores her mother or

father placed on her shoulders. When she wasn't sewing, feeding the

chickens, or helping in other areas of their home, she indulged in

reading novels. It was exciting to let her mind wander to lives and

places far more exotic than her own. She'd been fortunate to have

been raised with a tutor and a governess. Both had taught her

skills in language, etiquette, and music. What her mother had

taught her throughout her whole life to date was what she'd need to

know when she would one day go off with a husband to a new

home.

Whenever Alessandra had

thought about marriage, she'd always been excited by the idea of

it. Almost all of the girls in her immediate area were already

married and in homes of their own before they'd turned eighteen.

Having attended one wedding ceremony after another, Alessandra had

started to believe that marriage might not be the chosen path for

her after all. It wasn't that she had no opportunity to meet young

men. A year earlier, she'd found herself quite enraptured with Tom

Missinger. A handsome young man, he'd danced with her at many

village assemblies over the preceding year or so. Alessandra had

let herself believe that he loved her and would want to marry her.

That was before she'd found out that he'd gone away and married

another.

She still couldn't

identify how she'd so mistakenly read his intentions. She didn't

understand why he hadn't told her if he'd had no interest in her as

a potential suitor. He seemed to have sought her out on the

evenings of the balls. He'd complimented her, and made sure she

always had places for him on her dance card. It had thrilled her to

be close to him, even just in dance. To her, he was the most

handsome young man in her acquaintance, with his easy-going manners

effortlessly making her laugh and feel much at ease.

Since realising she had greatly

misread his intentions, Alessandra had built a more solid resolve

around her. She'd raised an armour to make sure she wasn't so

easily misled for a second time. She would never again misconstrue

any man's feelings towards her.

Having a

different ethnicity blend compared to other people in their

village, with her Italian mother and an English father, she knew in

her heart that she was plain. She expected she would never turn any

man's head through prettiness. The question that played on her mind

was simply that of wondering what her life would entail if

she truly was not intended for marriage.

"Alessandra," she heard her

mother call from inside the house. "Can you come and help me

please?"

Alessandra abruptly stood

up, waking up Fern in the process. After the young puppy jumped to

attention, they looked at each other.

"Sun time is over for me,

Fern," Alessandra said before walking into her home.

She found her mother, Isabella,

in the kitchen, looking busy as she looked through the storage of

jars and boxes.

"Oh, Alessandra,"

Isabella said on seeing her daughter approach. "I think it is a

good day for you and I to head out to the garden and harvest as

much as we can. We need to ensure that whatever is out there is

adequately stored for winter. It feels like a cold front is coming.

We must be prepared for it."

Alessandra nodded at her

mother. She'd often quietly wondered how her mother and father were

both so handsome and yet had made her - someone so plain. She

quickly dismissed the thought from her head. Such thoughts fell

under the umbrella of vanity - something she'd been taught she

shouldn't let herself fall victim to.

The two of them walked

out the back door and into the sprawling area behind the house.

Alessandra imagined that sometime in the past it must have been

wonderfully well kept, tidy, and structured. Now, with only the

family plus one married couple to help in and around the house, it

always seemed like there was never enough time to keep on top of

everything that the property demanded.

As

Alessandra walked alongside her

mother, she felt particularly plain and dull. In her mother, she

saw beauty, confidence, and a true sense of power. Alessandra knew

her parents had presented the world with four children. The first

two hadn't survived past infancy. Now there was only Alessandra and

her older brother, Nicholas, and he was already married and well

settled with his own family underway in their own home.

Watching her mother

begin to harvest what was left of the late fruit, vegetables, and

herbs, Alessandra began to suspect there was more to their time

outside together. She waited patiently as her mother seemed to

gather her words and then finally spoke.

"Alessandra, you know

that we have always told you that one day you will marry," her

mother began, making Alessandra's heart skip a beat at the words.

"You also know that we do not have such a level of land or income

that may have presented you with suitors to choose from as you

wished."

Alessandra nodded. She

had no idea about their financial situation as a family, but

guessed money wasn't too readily available, given how they lived.

She remained silent as she saw her mother stop walking and look

intently at her.

"We have

found a young man who you are to become betrothed to,"

Isabella said, surprising Alessandra

all the more. At the astonished look on her daughter's face,

Isabella continued. "This young man lives on a large family estate

near Bath. It is a good match for you."

"But, Mother, why should

he want to marry me, knowing that I have nothing to offer him?"

Alessandra asked. She was confused about how such a thing could

have come about, given how hopeless the idea of marriage had seemed

only minutes earlier.

Her mother looked at her

deeply.

"Because you

do have something to offer him, Alessandra ," Isabella said before pausing to wonder how her

daughter would receive the news about to be delivered. "Although we

have never advertised it, your father and I have had money put

aside for you through all these years, for your dowry."

"We are not poor?"

Alessandra asked meekly, still not understanding. On hearing what

her mother had just said, she felt like she was in

shock.

Her mother took her hand and

led her to a stone bench in the sunny corner of the garden

wilderness.

"Your

grandparents - my mother and father - were distantly related to the

royal family in Italy ," said

Isabella. "They were very wealthy. When they died, they left a

considerable amount of money in trust for your dowry. It has never

been touched as you had to wait till you turned eighteen until you

could access it. Now that you are of age, it can be used for the

purpose it was intended."

"Then this man who wishes

to marry me … what he actually desires is this money?" Alessandra

asked her mother. She could still not see what the attraction would

be for this other mystery family.

Her mother looked at her and

took her hand.

"Alessandra,

it is every woman's right and duty to marry, set up their own

home , and start their own

family. This family is a farming family. They have much land and

many tenants. What they do not have is the level of ready money

they would like to keep their estate well cared for. Therefore, yes

- they wish for this match due to the size of the dowry you will

take with you."

Alessandra considered the

situation being presented to her. She'd known this was how

marriages were formed, of course. Marriage was a recipe of two

parties needing something from each other, but as Isabella spoke,

Alessandra felt like she was simply an item, being put up for

sale.

"What if they

take this money but then they do not want me ?" she asked.

"Where will that leave me?"

"You seem more worried about

the issue of the money than the issue of getting married," Isabella

replied.

Alessandra

took a moment to think about this news. Some man she didn't know,

wanted to marry her. Only, he didn't necessarily want to

marry her because he had never met her - or had

he?

"Have I met this man?" she

asked her mother, who shook her head.

"No, you have never met

anyone in this family," Isabella replied. "They live far away, and

have only contacted us via post."

"How does he know that he wants

to marry me? He might see me and then run away," Alessandra said,

making her mother laugh softly.

"Oh, Alessandra, he will

not want to run away when he sees you!" Isabella reassured her.

"But it is his father and mother who are initiating this, not the

young man himself. I suspect he has as little to do with this

decision as you do."

"Have you already

accepted?" Alessandra asked her mother, not at all certain how she

was feeling about the news.

"No," Isabella replied as

she shook her head. "Your father and I agreed that we would talk to

you first, and see how you felt about it. We will not force you.

With the kind of money that was left to you, you do have the power

to make your own choice. But this family seems honourable and well

known, Alessandra. They will introduce you to good social standing.

I also understand the estate is vast, which will be something for

you to pass on to your children."

"But will it be, in any

way, good for you and Father if I do this?" Alessandra

asked.

"It will mean

security for you ," Isabella said,

nodding. "Your father and I will not be around forever. We would

like to see you settled. We want to know you are being taken care

of, and you are old enough now to be married and starting your own

family."

At the thought of that,

Alessandra blushed. In the few novels she'd read, there had been

mention of what happened between husband and wife in the dark of

night. It equally frightened her and intrigued her. To dispel such

thoughts, she looked at her mother and nodded.

"Mother, if

you think this is the right thing for me to do, I will marry this

man ," she said. "I should

like you and Father to be there with me when I meet him, however.

Will you be?"

"We will all go to their

family estate and spend some time there before you are officially

betrothed," Isabella replied, smiling. "If you do not wish to marry

him, you may tell me or your father why, and we will consider what

is to be done then."

Alessandra leaned in and

hugged her mother. She'd long wondered if such a day would come.

Now she had to prepare herself for the reality to

happen.

"But what will happen to Fern?"

she asked quietly.

To that

question, s he received no

response.