Chapter One

Lady Caterina Valentine knew she had a good life. She lived the marvellous life of an upper-class aristocrat in the beautiful countryside of Yorkshire. She had never experienced a hard day's work unlike the servants she watched cook, clean and maintain her gorgeous estate, Blackwater Manor.

A beautiful, blossoming woman at the tender age of just 19, her parents, Lady Rebecca Valentine and Lord Reginald Valentine began to worry about their daughter. For she was not like all of the other young women her parents had encountered. These women, the same age as their daughter where proud and elegant .. and each one of them was engaged or married.

But Lady Caterina had no interest in getting married.

Many suitors had tried to woo Lady Valentine, her parents encouraged them to woo her. They had spent countless hours trying to impress her by taking her to the Opera, or to balls and dances... But they never seemed to work. Lady Caterina rebuffed every man that had tried to court her. A hopeless romantic from a young age, she was searching for love and wouldn't rest until she found it.

Her parents made her court these young men, not because they didn't love her daughter, indeed they loved her so much it pained them. She was their only child, the last remaining bloodline to Blackwater Manor.

They were worried, scared because they were not long for this earth, they were rapidly aging, becoming slower and more tired, they could no longer keep up with their daughter's eccentric behaviour .

They needed their daughter to marry; they had to ensure that she would be safe. When they pass she would be the last remaining heir to the Manor but as a woman, she would have no right to it. She would be thrown out on to the street, to live a life of poverty and despair... and she would never be able to cope.

She was a child at heart, her mother had forced tedious lessons upon her; literature, languages, piano and singing. From the age of fifteen she was taught how to walk, stand, eat, dress as a Lady should. Her mother was constantly left disappointed after each lesson. Caterina seemed to excel, she would make progress in each area. It gave her mother hope, she could rest easy knowing that he daughter understood how to behave.

But then each day Lady Caterina would go on an adventure, she would explore the land they owned, swim in the lake, draw under the willow trees until dusk fell when she would realise she was late for dinner.

She would enter late, slipping on the polished floor as she skidded into the dining hall. Her pretty dresses always caked in mud. Spotting the guests she would clumsily curtsy, her cheeks flushed from running and take her seat. It made her mother stress levels horrendously high. She would never find a husband, not if she acted like a street urchent.

Caterina needed to grow up.

The servants thought the exact opposite from her mother, for they all loved Caterina's outlook on life. They thought the world of her, the staff had cared for Caterina since she was a babe in her nanny's lap. They had watched her grow, then watched as she tried to resist growing. She didn't want to go to mind-numbing dinners to meet men who were twice her age. They were only after her money and title, among other things Lady Caterina didn't even want to fathom.

She preferred the nickname that the servants had given her, Cat. She wished she could be called that instead of Caterina, but her mother insisted that it was too common. All Cat wanted to do was to spend the day with her oldest friend and servant Victoria Vega.

They had grown up together, the only difference being their social status. Victoria knew her better than anyone else. When she wasn't working, Cat would come down to the servant quarters to tell her all about the horrible men her mother was trying to set her up with. She loved spending her time in the dimly lit kitchen, where the plump, red faced, always cheery cook, Mrs. Grey would give her tea and biscuits to nibble on while she nattered.

That's exactly what the servants loved about her, she was so humble. Unlike her parents, Caterina didn't see different classes, she saw only close friends.

She hated admitting it to herself but she was terribly jealous of Victoria. When Victoria turned nineteen she had found love in the young, charming and attractive Mr. Oliver.

When Victoria announced her plans to marry him, Lady Caterina was overjoyed for her closest friend. They had a small wedding, no guests but Caterina who acted as their witness, she had also given them their only gift; a key to their very own lovers' cottage on the estate.

That's what Cat was searching for, it pained her to watch that day. The way Victoria's eyes shown when she saw Beck in his cleanest suit and then he looked back at her and she knew, that this was true love for them both. Their hearts' bursting with love for each other, it was something irreplaceable.

She sighed heavily as she watched them exchange vows, this was all she had ever yearned for. In some ways she was envious of the lower class. She thought bitterly about her own life, they didn't have to settle, marriage for them was built on love; two people finding the one person they were meant to live out their lives with; a soulmate.

And Caterina wouldn't rest until she found this.

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Today was like any other day for this young belle. She dipped her pen into the ink pot in front of her and began to write her letters. The scratching of the pen against paper was beginning to drive her to insanity, she was so very bored.

Her tutor droned on in the background, forcing her to sit up straighter. Caterina willed herself to take quick breaths, her bodice was particular tight today, the constriction was making her feel faint. She didn't understand why the cost of beauty for women was this torment, she felt as if her ribs were breaking, under such strain that they were going to snap in half.

Glancing out the window she stared longingly at the glorious summer afternoon that she was missing. The sun had finally made an appearance for the first time in weeks. She wanted so much to be outside, to feel the summer breeze on her skin as she took her horse, Peppermint out to the hills. She needed to be outside, to breathe in the fresh air and have the sun caress her skin with warmth before it was lost behind storm clouds.

She compelled herself to listen to her tutor, to recite the French words she was teaching her. Then she moved on to her singing lesson, then dance. Then finally she was free to go outside.

"Caterina! Come back, remember Lord. Williams and his son are coming for dinner tonight!"

It fell on deaf ears for she was already lost to the wild, she sprinted down the pebbled driveway, a difficult task for a Lady in a heavy dress. She ran for the woods surrounding her estate, to her favourite spot. Darting through the trees like a wild deer she skidded to a halt when she reached her destination.

Her favourite willow tree sat in the middle of a clearing, small buttercups and snowdrops were scattered around the area. Caterina picked a few of them and delicately set them into her luscious red locks that were pinned up into a very complicated bun.

This was her metropolis; she was the only one who knew of this clearing, the perfect place to escape. The willow was so beautiful, she loved the way the tree branches pointed towards the ground, weakened by the weight of the large strings of leaves that fell to the ground. She used the willow tree as a den, the leaves acting as a curtain to conceal her from passing strangers. Spreading out the leaves she stepped onto the moss. It was soft to touch and springy to step on. It acted as the perfect pillow.

Her sketchbook lay open under the tree, on an unfinished page. Cat frowned at her picture, not at all satisfied with the outcome. She was so imaginative that she didn't need to have a still life in front of her. She just placed the pencil on her page and it came naturally, she drew whatever came to her mind.

On the page in front of her was ballroom scene, a girl who strongly resembled herself was dancing with a man she had never seen before. Only this wasn't a regular ballroom: they were outside, candles surrounding them to illuminate themselves in the night sky. The only problem was the man, she couldn't put a name to the face and this annoyed her, he was only a figment of her imagination.

God forbid this boy would ever exist!

Tossing the sketchbook away she lay down on the moss, listening to the songbirds as they passed their callings back and forth, she could hear the soft trickle of the stream nearby and she smiled contently, wishing that every moment could be as perfect as this one.

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She woke with a start; she could have sworn she was still asleep because all she could see was darkness.

But she was awake and horribly aware that she was late for dinner. She scolded herself as she sprung up unable to see where she was going at all, she walked with extra caution, holding her arms out to feel for the branches that may knock her down. She was a fool, alone and terrified.

The woods, she was so used to them, she had never feared it. But night was a completely different matter, every sound turned sinister. The snapping of twigs made her squeal, the hoot of owls made her panic. She thought of the horror stories Victoria used to tell her, of the servant ghouls that haunted the area surrounding the house, waiting for their revenge on their masters.

"Lady Valentine!" a voice called in the distance, it was faint but she definitely did not imagine it.

She followed the voice, determined to get back to her house. She wasn't going to show her fear. She saw the flicker of light in the distance and raced towards it.

"I'm here!" she screeched as she reached the owner of the voice.

Mr. Oliver sighed in relief, "Madam you must return to the house. It's urgent."

Together they scurried to the edge of the woods, the manor was in clear view, the light of the house guiding her home. She planned what speech she was going to make for her absence at dinner. She thought of her mother's glares and grimaced.

She decided on: I have caught the flu from my afternoon swim and was too ill to possibly make the meal with the charming Lord. Williams.

When she reached the drive she saw a sight that made her truly ill, there was no need to lie now. The black car of the doctor, why on earth was he here? Caterina sped into the house not caring that she was trampling mud up the staircase.

Her mother lay on her bed, Victoria at her bedside. She had placed a damp wash cloth onto her mother's sickeningly pale forehead. Caterina's lip wobbled when she saw her mother, she walked over to her and held her hand. Her mother was sobbing, heartbroken wails filled the manor as she gripped her only daughter's hand tightly.

"Mother." Caterina pleaded, her voice laced with anxiety, "Please tell me what has happened."

Her mother gulped for air, her whole body shook, "Caterina, my darling. Your father has suffered a fatal heart attack. He didn't make it."

Caterina fell to the ground, her life crumbling around her. He was so young, he had another ten years in him at least. Silent tears crept down her cheeks as she sat on the cold stone floor. What does this mean for her family, her house, her beloved servants?

They were now penniless and unless she wed in a week they were... she swallowed back a shriek of despair.

They were homeless.

I seriously hate having nothing to work on.

It's a really big problem! So I thought i would launch into a completely new story!
Why the hell not! so if you like it i'll continue!

Anyway I hope you all understand what is happening, if I didn't make it clear tell me and I'll rewrite it!

love xoxoxo