I had been in service ever since I was a child, and as one could imagine, life had not always been easy. I used to be a scullery maid and was in charge of sneaking around the household unseen to light all the fires before the family woke up. Once almost every maid came down with the flu, and I had to make all the beds on my own, which was a tiresome task. And in another household, I had to fix a ballgown in ten minutes after a seam came apart right before the young lady had to leave for a party.
But none of those experiences was as difficult as learning how to be a proper lady of society. I never considered Lady Gwendoline to be a demanding mistress until she took charge of my training. We would begin our lessons first thing in the morning, and she only gave me breaks during lunchtime and supper. Until she decided that I had to learn how to dine properly, so she told Lord Winton to let me sit with them, and she would constantly point out how I was not holding my utensils correctly. I would end up going to bed more tired than after any day in service.

"Tonight's the big night!" Lady Gwendoline declared after a week of curtsying, dancing, piano playing and other tedious skills that ladies were required to learn.
After our final piano lesson, where Lady Gwendoline declared that I was "decent" we went into her bedroom so that she could pick out my outfit. The Duke of Bedford was due to pick me up in an hour to take me to his great-aunt's house for dinner.
"While you are out tonight, I shall go through all of my old dresses and set some aside that you can keep," Lady Gwendoline informed.
"Are you sure that you do not mind me wearing your clothing?" I asked, no longer hesitating at the end of the sentence. After being yelled at dozens of times, I was able to remember not to address people formally.
"Of course not. I am taller than you, and therefore these dresses no longer fit me. So you might as well make use of them. You may have to alter some of them; since I have not been presented yet these dresses are less revealing than what you are allowed to wear as a married woman."
"I do not wish to wear revealing outfits."
"And you do not have to. But at least a few of your dresses must look as if you purchased them for yourself, instead of borrowing dresses from a fifteen-year-old."
I nodded, knowing that there was no point in arguing with Lady Gwendoline.
"Perhaps I can convince Ernest to let you have our mother's dresses," she said, thinking aloud as she normally did. "I do not think that he threw any of them out, and they should be appropriate. Although I have not seen them, so they might be out of fashion."
"It does not seem right to wear the late Countess' dresses," I replied.
"Well, why shouldn't you? We still have them, and no one is using them."
"Maybe you will wish to wear them after your debut."
"I doubt it. Besides, when it is time for my Season, Ernest will insist that I have new dresses made. Though it is a terrible waste if you ask me. Anyway, I will go through the dresses tomorrow after my ride."
"All right, thank you," I nodded, accepting defeat.
After a few more minutes of searching, Lady Gwendoline finally found a dress she deemed appropriate for the dinner. It was a dark purple gown with a medium-height neckline, with short sleeves with lace adorned on the ends and the bottom of the flat skirt.
"Put this on while I find you some gloves," Lady Gwendoline ordered.
I did as I was told; it was easier to listen to others than to come up with my own plan of action. Especially since I had no idea what I was doing, and I was terrified about the dinner with the Dowager Duchess.
Once I had changed into the dress, put on the gloves and shoes, and then did my hair (with Lady Gwendoline's help), I stared at myself in the mirror. I hardly recognized myself. This was the nicest I had ever looked in my life that it did not even look like me.
"You look very nice, Susan," Lady Gwendoline nodded.
"Thank you," I replied shyly, not used to hearing people compliment me.
"I am proud of you. You learnt quickly, and I truly believe that you will be able to pull this off."
"Thank you. I could not have done this without you."
"Well, thank me after Cecil gets his money."
Her comment made me smile, which helped ease some of my anxiety. We heard the sound of hooves on the driveway, and Lady Gwendoline went to her window to see who it was.
"That's Cecil's carriage," she informed. "Are you ready?"
"I do not have much of a choice," I responded. "So I suppose that I am as ready as I can be."
"It will be fine. Let us go down."
I nodded and followed Lady Gwendoline out of the room.

We headed downstairs to find Lord Winton speaking with the Duke of Bedford in the entryway. They looked up from their conversation as we approached them.
"You look incredible, Susan," the Duke commented.
"Thank you," I replied, averting my gaze, feeling nervous because everyone was looking at me.
"Yes, you clean up very nicely," Lord Winton agreed.
"Thank you."
"Well, we should get going," the Duke announced. "I do not want to keep my great-aunt waiting."
"Good luck," Lady Gwendoline nodded. "I believe in you. But if it goes wrong, I am denying that I had any part in this plan of yours."
"Gwen!" Lord Winton scolded.
The Duke of Bedford ignored Lady Gwendoline's comment, as well as the siblings' argument. He offered me his arm, which I took, and he lead me outside to his waiting carriage.

"How are you feeling?" The Duke inquired during the ride.
"I am quite nervous," I replied. "I learnt everything that I could. But conversing with the Duchess, and trying to have the attitude of a noblewoman...it is nerve-racking."
"Do not worry, Susan. My great-aunt can be quite an intimidating woman, even real noblemen try to avoid conversing with her."
"I am not sure if that reassured me."
"My apologies, Susan. But rest assured that I am on your side, and will do everything in my power to make sure that this evening, and our plan, go smoothly."
"Thank you. That was much more comforting."
The Duke of Bedford laughed, which caused me to laugh. While I was still nervous, he managed to make me feel less anxious.

The carriage finally arrived at the Dowager Duchess of Kimberly's estate. I looked up at the house in awe. It was a large brick house, with well-trimmed hedges lining the exterior and a small fountain in the centre of the driveway.
"It's showtime," the Duke of Bedford announced. "Are you ready?"
"I suppose so," I nodded.
"Now, I did write a letter ahead of time to her, explaining that I am married and that it was a hasty affair. So she does know who you are, but I assume she will have more questions. But do not worry, I shall handle as many of them as I can. So all you need to do is smile, and not look too uncomfortable."
"I shall do my best."
"Excellent."
The coachman climbed down and opened the carriage door for us. The Duke climbed out first and then offered me his hand to help me down. Lady Gwendoline made me practice getting out of a carriage since it was not ladylike to jump out without assistance. Although after giving me my lesson, Lady Gwendoline jumped out of the carriage exactly how she told me not to. Considering how unladylike she was, Lady Gwendoline was a shockingly good instructor.
I took the Duke's arm and he lead me up the stone steps and knocked on the front door. I held my breath as we waited for it to open, unsure of what to expect from our dinner. The door swung open to reveal an older man wearing a butler's livery.
"Good evening," the Duke nodded. "We are the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. Her Grace is expecting us."
"Yes, good evening, Your Graces. Please, follow me," the butler responded.
The butler stepped to the side and gestured for us to enter. I did my best to not stare at all the design details of the house; Lady Gwendoline told me that as a Duchess, I would be used to such things. I kept my eyes on the butler as he lead us through the halls until he reached a door.
The butler entered the room and announced, "The Duke and Duchess of Bedford, Your Grace."
"Thank you," came an older woman's voice.
The butler nodded to us, permitting us to enter.

We stepped into what appeared to be a drawing-room. An older lady sat in an armchair by the lit fireplace. She had pale skin, darkening blue eyes and greying hair, which appeared to have been blonde originally. She looked up as we entered, and got up, leaning on a silver walking stick.
"Ah, Cecil, it has been too long," she commented.
"I am sorry that I have not visited sooner," the Duke replied, crossing the floor and planting a kiss on her cheek, leaving me stranded by the door.
"Just because I live far away from your estate does not permit you to ignore your aunt."
"Great-Aunt."
"That hardly matters; it is merely a technicality. Living far away from someone is no excuse to ignore any family member of any kind. Unless there is a reason for you to dislike them. Do you dislike me?"
"No, of course not."
"Then I hope that in the future you will come and visit me more often."
"Yes, I will."
"Well then, now that that is settled, introduce me to your wife. Do not be rude."
The two of them broke away from their conversation and both turned to look at me. I suddenly felt very small and wished that I could melt away into the floor.
"This is my wife, Susan. Susan, this is my Great-Aunt Adelaide, the Dowager Duchess of Kimberly," the Duke informed.
"It is nice to meet you, Duchess," I nodded.
"Come closer, I shall not bite you," the Dowager Duchess instructed.
I took a deep breath (hopefully one that was not too noticeable), and walked over to the others, keeping in mind that I was supposed to glide across the floor. That was one skill that I had not managed to learn very well. Lady Gwendoline gave up on teaching me such skill after scolding me so much that she hurt her throat. In a hoarse throat, she complained about how I was hopeless in the matter while I made her tea.
I stopped in front of the Duchess, and the Duke reached out to take my hand, which made me feel less alone, even though I knew he had been there.
"I was shocked when Cecil wrote to me saying that he married," the Duchess informed. "He is already nine and twenty, I had begun to believe that he would never settle down."
"I was merely waiting for the right girl to come along," the Duke responded.
"And Susan is the right girl?"
"Yes, she is."
"Good. I am happy for you. I did not want you to die alone."
"Thank you?"
"You are quite welcome," the Duchess replied, and I was not sure if she realized that the Duke was being sarcastic. "Although I would have appreciated an invitation to your wedding."
"It was extremely small. There was hardly anyone there; it was not a snub."
"Humph," she said, shooting him a sceptical look, then seemed to forget that she was mad at him. "Well, sit down."
The Duke lead me over to the couch across from his great-aunt and we sat down. We sat closer than I was expecting, and I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep myself from expressing my shock.

"Now then, Cecil wrote in his letter that the two of you met at some house party," the Duchess said.
"Yes, that is correct," Cecil nodded. "Susan's father organized a hunt and I went. We met, and well, you know the rest."
"I certainly do not know the rest. I know that you met, you had a small wedding, and now here you are."
"Yes, well that is the rest."
"Hardly. You met Susan, and over the course of a weekend decided that you were madly in love so got married in a haste?"
"I am not sure I would call it 'madly in love' precisely, but yes, we love each other and decided to get married."
I fidgeted with my hands, not knowing what else to do. I had not expected the Duchess to ask so many questions; I was not sure if I would make it through the evening without breaking down and confessing. After all, the Duke of Bedford had not given me many details about the supposed house party. If his great-aunt directed any questions toward me, I did not believe that my lies would be as convincing as the Duke's.
"Do you know the cause of hasty marriages?" The Duchess inquired.
"Love?" The Duke guessed.
"Scandal. I have been around for quite some time, and every single hasty marriage that I have witnessed was due to a scandal. Either the couple was caught in a compromising situation and had to wed before others caught wind of it. Or the bride's family needs her to marry into a wealthy family. And in a few cases, there were rumours surrounding the bride's family; so she needed to marry into a respectable family to save their image."
"While that might be the case for some hasty marriages, I can assure you that a scandal did not cause ours."
"Really? Then why did you marry so quickly? Even if you do love each other, why skip the courtship period?"
"Why bother going through the courtship period?"
"Replying to a question with another question is not only rude but is hardly an answer."
"You are right, I apologize," the Duke nodded. "When the two of us met, we knew that we were right for each other. And as you have mentioned, I am almost thirty years of age; I knew that I had met my match. So we thought we might as well get on with it and marry."
The Dowager Duchess shot her great-nephew a very sceptical look. It was not aimed at me, but I felt nervous just from observing it. I was sure that the next words out of her mouth would be to call out our marriage. However, at that moment the door opened and the butler stepped in.
"Dinner is served, Your Grace," he bowed.
"Thank you," the Duchess replied with a curt nod.
The butler bowed again and left the drawing-room, this time leaving the door open. She rose to her feet, as did the Duke, so I was quick to follow. He offered me his arm, which I took (with hardly any hesitation) and we followed the Duchess into the dining room.