The Companion's Secret

March 1796. Nine-year-old Katy Jane Fairchild stood in the courtyard of the Banes family's charming country cottage, a small carpet bag clutched in her hand. She was an orphan now, her parents taken by fever.

Inside, Mr. and Mrs. Banes debated her fate. "In reality, she is nothing to us," Mrs. Banes stated bluntly, calculating the expense of taking in a child.

But Mr. Banes, with his big heart, saw the girl's plight. "You are her nearest relation in the world, Mrs. Banes," Mr. Spencer, the solicitor, urged.

Looking down from the window, Mrs. Banes saw their own daughter, Eliza, approach the quiet stranger. Eliza, all golden hair and smiles, quickly drew Katy into play, their laughter echoing up to the study window.

Moved, Mrs. Banes made her decision. They could not afford a daughter, but perhaps, as a companion for Eliza…

Ten years later, February 1806. Katy woke before dawn, performing her quiet chores in the familiar Banes household. Her place was clear now: not a servant, not a daughter, but Eliza's live-in friend. She knew her rank in the world, even if the Baneses never made her feel it.

Breakfast with Mr. Banes was a comfortable ritual, until a shriek from Mrs. Banes' sitting room shattered the peace. "They found him!" she cried gleefully, waving a letter. The mystery earl, the heir to Wilshire, had been located. And Mrs. Banes, with a glint in her eye, immediately declared her intention: Eliza must marry him.