Prologue
Katharine loved the hills and valleys of her home. Her family had been given the land after loyal service to William the Conqueror and each generation had made it grander and more lavish until her father invested money into the stables and other necessary finishing touches. He declared the forty-room mansion could be expanded no more and his desire was to leave behind a well-oiled and well-run estate and house. Willow Manor was the luscious estate’s name.
Katharine sighed as she walked through the vast gardens and into the flat green and into the small forest that lay at the edge of the estate. She felt at home surrounded by the pear trees, lavender, and roses. As she made her way into the small little woodland forest, she felt free and at ease.
Katharine was gifted with beauty beyond compare and was said to resemble the long ago ancestor, Rosamunde, who first lived on the land. She was a slim blonde with dazzling blue eyes like a clear blue sky and a delicately shaped face.
Rosamunde had been the youngest daughter of the first Lord Geoffrey, who had been gifted his land for supporting William the Conqueror. Geoffrey had been a fair lord and master and had adored his daughter. Renown for her beauty, Rosamunde was also educated, as Geoffrey denied her nothing. She was taught to read in English and Latin and was skilled in mathematics and well-versed in music and literature. She also enjoyed riding and hawking. When it came time to marry, Rosamunde could refuse her suitors and did. Eventually, a handsome ambitious knight approached her father and she agreed to the marriage.
The knight was possessive of the young Rosamunde and their match was passionate, resulting in seven children.
As gentry, Katharine’s mother and father had educated all four of their children. Katharine had one older brother, Charles, the heir to the family fortune, and two elder sisters, Mary and Eleanor. Her siblings had all married and started families of their own, but at 17 years old, Katharine, the baby of the family, was still in residence at Willow Manor.
She had been born in the wrong time and in the wrong place; that she was sure of. Born into a time where women were viewed only as their importance of their birthing capabilities, Katharine was a rarity. Her “curse” was her intelligence. Her father, Lord Edward Fairfax, had always been charmed by the blue-eyed beauty, even when she was a baby, and had indulged her every whim. Her education had rivaled that of her brother, and she excelled at most subjects. So while her brother struggled at Eton, Katharine studied French at the age of eight and excelled at it. She moved on to learn Italian, German and Latin. She studied Mathematics, Geography, and Sciences; her brother’s tutor, old Mr. Schlagel, pronounced her abilities as “outstanding.”
Her mother, Lady Anne, had been shocked at her husband’s indulgence of their youngest daughter. Though Edward remained insistent on Katharine’s education, Anne was just as severe in what she deemed a woman’s true education. She insisted on dance classes, etiquette classes, art and drawing classes, and embroidery lessons to make certain that when the time came for Katharine to marry, she would be a proper English wife.
Katharine walked deeper into the little forest with those horrible words still ringing in her ears. Why was her mother so insistent that she be an insipid little creature with nothing on her mind but gowns, embroidery, and husbands?
“My dear girl,” her mother had begun, wringing her hands as she looked at her youngest daughter. “You must find a husband soon and I dare say, a husband will care more about what goes on in the lower part of your body than whatever may be going on in that head of yours.”
Katharine had blushed red at her mother’s coarse words and run from the room. Though she was better educated than most men in the House of Commons, she was still an innocent virgin who had never spent time around men, save her father, brother, and the male servants.
Anne watched Katharine run out onto the green and beyond and groaned. The child had been a thorn in her side since the day she was born. Later births tended to be easier and quicker, but not in Katharine’s case. The labor had been intense, extremely painful, and had lasted well beyond 14 hours. Katharine had been an unhappy baby and only ever stopped crying when Edward held her.
Perhaps Anne was jealous. The time, love, and attention Edward lavished upon Katharine was unnatural and downright irritating. Edward loved all of his children, but had never been close to any of them – not even his heir, Charles.
Charles had always been a slow child. He had never been interested in his studies and always needed tutors and more tutors to pass simple courses that Katharine could have excelled at in her sleep.
Edward was extremely proud of his “Kat,” as he called her. She was a beautiful young woman blessed with a slim figure, long golden-blonde hair, and blue eyes that dazzled with knowledge and youth. She had inherited them from a past ancestor said to be the mysterious Rosamunde herself.
***
Aileen hustled downstairs into the servant’s dining room for the midday meal. She passed two parlor maids chattering about and brushed right past them.
“What seems to be the problem, Aileen?” Ms. Baxter, the cook, asked the young maid.
“Aye, ‘tis nothing. Just another spat ‘tween Lady Kat and her mother,” Aileen told the sweet old cook as she took her seat at the table.
Ms. Baxter nodded in understanding and seated herself at the head of the table.
***
Long ago, Edward had begun calling Katharine “Kat” and so in time the servants began calling her “Lady Kat,” befitting her station. Lord Edward never reprimanded anyone for calling her by the nickname and secretly enjoyed it. Since then, everyone called her Lady Kat except for Anne. She loathed the nickname and called her daughter Lady Katharine, except for the occasions when her temper was raised and her voice would dip low and she would ask to speak with her daughter.
When she was angered, Anne would ask for Katharine in a low tone that would give an outsider chills. She would ask the closest servant to, “bring Katharine Elizabeth Rosamunde Fairfax to me immediately,” and poor Lady Kat would be brought before her mother to endure whatever punishment was in store.