“Very well, then you may ride with me to the castle. It was lovely meeting you, Lady Tremaine. I will send your regards to the king,” he said snottily, which made Lady Tremaine flinch. She had hardly had a moment to say a word, let alone send her regards to the king. Here she was already making the worst of impressions.

“Things are done so strangely here, my love. Must you rush off to register our wedding papers now? I wish you could come back home with me to celebrate rather than go straight to the castle.” She gathered from the look on his face that this was not to be the case, so she added, “But if you must go, then please let us depart with a kiss.” She moved toward him, but he flinched and backed away from her.

“Lady, please!” he said stiffly. “Not in front of the Grand Duke.”

Lady Tremaine flushed, embarrassed. She wondered how many more indignities she would suffer this day. Nothing was at all as she had imagined. As she made her way home in her carriage alone, she wondered how she had gotten herself into this mess. She was exhausted, her wedding had been rushed, and her husband had already started making excuses not to kiss her. She didn’t have a good feeling about any of this.

She felt more alone than she had after her first husband had died. At least in England she had had her friends to comfort her. Here she was almost entirely alone.

When she returned to the château, she let herself inside and stood in the vast vestibule. The house was eerily quiet, and she decided she must be right; the servants had to be working on some sort of surprise wedding reception. Still, as she looked around at her new home, Lady Tremaine couldn’t help but feel disappointed. The château wasn’t as stately as she was expecting. It was a beautiful home, but not quite as grand as her previous home in London, and it was going to take some work to bring it to her usual standards.

Well, she had money enough and planned to do just that the moment she was settled in. If this was going to be her new home, she was going to make it as lovely as possible.

As she stood in the vestibule envisioning all the changes she might make, a squat, round-faced woman, white hair piled into a pristine bun, descended the stairs with a large carpetbag.

“Welcome, Lady Tremaine,” she said nervously.

“Thank you, Mrs….” Lady Tremaine paused expectantly.

The old woman turned scarlet. “Yes, I’m so sorry, I’m Mrs. Butterpants, I was head housekeeper, and Cinderella’s governess.”

Lady Tremaine suppressed a laugh, not missing a beat. “Was head housekeeper and governess? Are you leaving, then?” she said, surveying the woman.