Ruby Lucas shifted on the upholstered chair, her skirts heavy around her as she held her hands in place to keep from fidgeting. The grand room bore down on her, an imposing space with its moldings and damask wallpaper—so different from the dingy boarding house that had been her home for almost twenty years. Ruby had to remind herself how she'd longed for this freedom that had almost been stolen from her.
Her gaze fell to her dress and she ran her fingers over the richly embroidered muslin with a smile. She'd always dreamed of having such fine things, but to have trunkfuls of such dresses, and a whole apartment to herself—it was more than she could grow accustomed to in a few days.
Though it wouldn't be too difficult a task, Ruby giggled to herself.
The clink of china brought Ruby's attention up to a plump woman with gray hair setting a tray on the nearby table.
"Oh, Mrs. Geppetto, if I'd known you were serving I would have helped you!" Ruby exclaimed as she jumped up, an effort made more difficult by her extra crinolines.
The older lady waved away any concern for the brief moment her hands were free. "I know it 'supposed' to be done by the girls, but old habits, and all." Setting out the dishes, she gingerly placed the strainer over the delicate china before pouring each cup. "And besides, I told you I'd prefer you call me by my Christian name."
Ruby took the cup the older woman offered her and smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Lucille."
Mrs. Geppetto shook her head in a huff at the formality stuck in Ruby's address, but her returned smile was full of warmth. Ruby marveled at the elegance of the scene in which they both found themselves, and yet the woman in front of her made Ruby feel like she was in a cozy parlour.
A contented sigh escaped Ruby as she realized how far away she was from the boarding house. Run by a woman who was now in the middling stage of life, the De Vil House had the misfortune of having a landlady who, even in her younger years, had always been a terrible old hag. Ruby would call her "Cruella" behind her back, which made the boarders laugh. Lucky for them, they were able to leave after their stay, whereas Ruby was not so fortunate since she'd been left on the doorstep as an infant with enough money to make the cruel spinster keep her fixed to the awful place. To make matters worse, Ruby had caught the eye of a philanthropic gentleman—of the Cricket family—in the park who, on a whim, decided to include Ruby in marriage to his son as part of a conditioned inheritance. The hope of wealth was a saving grace, but to have one's future fixed was suffocating—tied in the most intimate of ways to a complete stranger—and made Cruella's claws dig deeper into her at the boarding house.
As fast as fortune's wheel had turned for her, it brought Ruby crashing down just as quickly as the Cricket son turned up dead in mysterious circumstances shortly after his wealthy father passed away. Before visions of a life of servitude at the boarding house settled on Ruby, a guardian angel in another form—or rather, two—came as the new benefactors of the Cricket estate, Mr. and Mrs. Geppetto, the former housekeepers who decided to follow through on the promise of a better life for a little girl from the wrong side of London.
So, society was scandalized thrice over—the murder of a prominent heir, the bestowing of the fortune on mere housekeepers, and their taking in a girl with no family as their charge. And yet, society could not resist the pull of new money and the desire to see how badly the pretenders would stumble, no matter how much they sneered at the impropriety of it all.
Well, Ruby decided, she would have to disappoint them on that front. She would not let this opportunity be taken from her again: she had everything she could have possibly desired, for now she had the fortune and the freedom to choose her own husband. It was an added blessing that her guardians were so kind, and if she was honest, Ruby felt she'd known them far longer than the week that had passed since they'd moved into the heart of fashionable London.
"Oh! I think I hear Mr. G," Mrs. Geppetto exclaimed, and Ruby followed her gaze to the doorway to see an older Italian gentleman walk through, followed by an unexpected guest.
"Hello, hello," Mr. Geppetto greeted both women, and then gestured to the redhead beside him. "This is my new secretary, Mr. Hopper."
Ruby took in the appearance of the second man, whose patterned waistcoat and straight posture suggested a man above the station of a secretary. His quiet demeanor and his gaze focused on her made Ruby feel like she knew him from somewhere, and her inability to figure him out unsettled her so that she dropped her gaze from his. Oh, why must I shy away from you?
Mr. Geppetto leaned towards his wife and added, "I hope it is okay I invited him for tea, my dear, but I couldn't leave him to the terrible boarding house suppers."
The boarding house! Ruby had seen this man before. He came to stay the day or so before Ruby was to leave with the Geppettos. Even then he had stared at her far beyond what was considered polite, and it unnerved Ruby to the point of rudeness. She now bit her tongue to hold back a remark, though she had not been so prudent at the time.
"Yes, of course, Marco dear," Mrs. Geppetto rose to receive the guest. "Welcome, Mr. Hopper! I'm so glad you'll be able to help Mr. Geppetto in this new business."
"The young man knows Mr. Cricket's dust heaps almost as well as I!" Mr. Geppetto laughed as he took the cup of tea from his wife. "Please, do sit down, Mr. Hopper."
Of course the last space available was the seat beside Ruby, and she tried her best smile as the man sat down. "Thank you, Mrs. Geppetto," Mr. Hopper said as he took the china from the older lady.
"Forgive me, I haven't introduced you to our young charge," Mr. Geppetto said once everyone was settled.
"Miss Lucas," the man nodded with a clink of the cup on the saucer. "Yes, we met before, at De Vil House."
Ruby sipped her tea as her benefactors beamed at the discovery.
"Wonderful!" the older man exclaimed. "Just wonderful. I imagine we'll all become great friends."
Ruby nodded. Mr. Hopper leaned closer, an intimacy that caught Ruby off guard, and said softly, "only if it pleases you." Ruby met his clear eyes and for a brief moment, she wondered if he could read her thoughts.
As quickly as it had come, the intimacy passed, and Mr. Hopper turned to Mr. and Mrs. Geppetto and their lively conversation. Ruby threw herself into playing the charming hostess, the young socialite, though she noticed that it was Mr. Hopper who played the polite gentlemen while Mr. and Mrs. Geppetto played the jovial middle-class couple.
How much everything changed.
After their extended tea, Ruby found herself accompanying Mr. Hopper to the door, with Mr. Geppetto muttering something about "young'uns"—an odd comment, considering Mr. Hopper was almost twice Ruby's age.
"Thank you for giving me the pleasure of your company," Mr. Hopper said, more gentleman than secretary, and Ruby gave a curt nod in reply.
When he made no move for the door, instead fidgeting with the brim of his hat still in his hands, Ruby could keep back her comments no longer. "Mr. Hopper, I know we now find ourselves in each other's acquaintance, and I dare say we will be seeing a lot of each other, knowing Mr. and Mrs. Geppetto's hospitality, but do not mistake the nature of our relationship for that of intimacy." She noticed his raised brows at her outburst, but she could not regret the words that had finally spilled over.
"I would never presume to impose myself on you," Mr. Hopper said with very little reaction, save for a hint of an amused smile behind his clear eyes. "Please forgive any breach of impropriety on my part. I trust you will find my behaviour more suitable in the future." After he placed his hat on his head, he added, "You must forgive a mere secretary his ignorance of high society ways. Good day." And with a quick nod, he was out the door.
Ruby stood in place for a moment before she shut the door. In truth, he had done nothing wrong or improper. His actions were far more gentlemanly than any man she had seen come through the boarding house. And yet—
Ruby was not so naïve as to be ignorant of her beauty that attracted attention from all quarters. At De Vil House, it made a friend of any gentleman that came through the doors while distancing any lady and fueling the ire of Cruella herself. With her newly gained fortune, the combination of such beauty and social standing—and, most of all, her wealth—would bring any and every single gentlemen to her feet, thinking themselves deserving of her as the prize of a pretty, rich wife. Little did they know she would not be their docile ideal, and she would not so easily give up the power that was now hers of choosing the most fitting husband.
And that fitting husband would most certainly not take the form of a timid secretary with no standing or fortune. Ruby knew enough of the world to know the importance of money, and the harsh reality of life without it. No, she would no longer be at the mercy of a rich gentleman's whim or that of a greedy landlady. And she certainly would not fall for the first gentleman who made eyes at her.
Most importantly, she would not fall for a man under Mr. Geppetto's employment.