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ate, he questioning her closely about the situation of the French armies and their attitudes, gathered as the forces were in the southern and western portion of Germany. The count’s soothing voice was perfectly suited to putting her at ease, and she was grateful to Gerta von Holtzen for her firmness in seating people.
    Though the food was delicious and served on the most exquisite of china, and even as hungry as she was, weariness blunted her appetite. She ached all over, but she did her best to stiffen her back and appear engaged and calm. This family’s first notion of her was vitally important, especially so with the absence of her champion, Frau Liebner. It was up to her to fit in seamlessly and make a good impression. She took small bites and chewed thoroughly, leaving much untouched as the footmen removed plates. It was unlike her to eat so little and strange considering her hunger, but she was sure she would make up for it the next day once sleep had revived her.
    “Have you formed any opinion of your student yet?” the count said, as a footman placed before him a plate of fish and another refilled their wineglasses.
    “Not at all, sir. I will leave my mind open and make her acquaintance on the morrow, I’m sure.”
    “She is a lovely young lady, but very shy, I fear. And depressed of spirits.”
    “It may just be that she is not sure how we will deal together.”
    “I would say shyness is her natural manner. I have long known the family. Was this your type of position before, Miss Stanwycke?”
    “I was… more of a governess,” she replied, measuring her words carefully as she picked up her silver fish fork. “The girls were younger. But if you are asking about my tutoring the young lady in manners, my mother was a lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte, for a time, and so I am well acquainted with court ways. My mother spoke of it often.”
    The count glanced over at her, his eyebrows knit tightly. “Pardon, but I fear I do not understand. If your mother was lady-in-waiting, that means she was of elevated… pardon my English, I’m not sure I am expressing right.”
    But she understood him perfectly. She frowned down at her food and chose her words, as there was much in her life she had decided to conceal forevermore. “Yes, my mother was daughter of a viscount. I… both my parents died many years ago leaving little money, and a position as governess seemed my best chance at life. I lived with some distant family members and taught their daughters.”
    “Do you have no close family to take care of you?”
    Elizabeth was silent, slowly chewing a mouthful of food. How to answer that?
    The count glanced at her as he cut his turbot and said, “I must apologize, Miss Stanwycke, for my intrusive and unbecoming question. A thousand pardons. It was unforgivable and mere concern on my part that such a gently bred lady as yourself should be left to fend in the world without someone to look after her.”
    Elizabeth, hysteria bubbling up within her, laughed out loud at the notion of a family member being required to care for her, but she felt an awkward tear rise in one eye. She dashed it away, impatiently, and said, “Family does not always have one’s best interests at heart, sir.”

    Her voice sounded unnaturally loud in the sudden silence, and when she looked up it was to see many pairs of eyes upon her. “Excuse me,” she said, her voice echoing. “I—”
    “We were merely having an amusing exchange,” the count said with a flourish of one hand.
    “And Miss Stanwycke was so polite as to laugh for my benefit.” His smooth manner sent everyone back to their meals and conversations, but there was still one pair of eyes locked on her. Elizabeth met them. Graf Nikolas von Wolfram was not persuaded.
    She glanced away again and stared at her plate. Her position in the castle depended on concealing her past, and on the very first night she had been so foolish as to reveal that her relationship