The Haunting of Josephine

© 2011 by Kathleen Whelpley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior

written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote

brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons,

living or dead, is coincidental.

In Loving Memory of “Teddy”

Teddy
,
I will forever miss you and wish that you could be here again. I will forever owe you for taking me in when I had nowhere else to go. I will also forever be grateful that I wrote my first book while living with you. You inspired me to try something different because the worst that would happen is that I would fail
and I had nothing to lose except a little time
.

Other Books
by
Kathleen Whelpley

Changes

In Self Defense

For the Love of Friendship

The Adventures of Jade and Cherry: When Jade Meets Cherry

Chapter 1

All Jo could hear was the sound of hooves hitting the hard
half frozen ground of early spring
and the rattle of the wheels o
n the carriage in which she was riding
. Like so many girls her age who
were born
poor
her
family was sending her off to stay with relatives. Not just
any
relatives, Jo’s Aunt
Katherine
and Uncle
Joseph
Cline where rich and had never had children of their own. So out of the kindness of their heart they were taking Jo in
with plans to treat her
as
if she was
their own daughter with
big
plans to introduce her into ‘good’ society.

Good society my toe. They
are shipping me off to
Aunt and Uncle
’s to see if they can marry me off. Is
that
n
o
t what everyone does? I know what Mama was thinking ‘we’ll never marry her off wi
th men knowing she is poor.
Why do we not just
send her to live with the rich relatives so that any would be suitors do
n
o
t know where she comes from until
tis
too late’.

Jo had the feeling of
being
cattle
that was being
shipped off to the market. She had no more choice in the matter. She was a woman and that meant the only occupation allowed her was that of a school teacher
, to be a nanny
for a rich family
,
or to be married. Though she had the schooling to
be a teacher (which
alone could be viewed
as
a miracle) her family refused to find her employment and insisted that she be sent to find a good husband.

When the carriage pulled up outside of her Aunt and Uncle’s house Jo found herself a bit in awe of the size and
grandeur
of it. She had been info
rmed that they were well to do but was still unprepared for the size of their home
having never been there before.
Fox
F
ield
M
anor was the name of her Aunt and Uncle’s
home
. The size of the home was so large that
it sat on a full city lot. Given that she was informed that she was going to their small city house
she was struck without words to think of the
grandeur
that
would be
her new life
that
she was about to embark on.

Drawing on the good breeding that she knew was somewhere within her
,
Jo gracefully exited the carriage and
did her best to hide her shock at
her
surroundings
.
She
followed the butler inside
and
was immediately led to the study where her Aunt and Uncle sat waiting for her.

Their open curiosity and exploration of her looks intensified Jo’s feeling of being
cattle
up for sale.
She prayed that her unease was not as apparent as she felt it must be.

“She will need all new clothes. Did she
have a bag with her?” Jo’s Aunt
addressed the butler that brought her in as if Jo was not standing right there.
It was hard bu
t Jo resisted answering her Aunt
herself for she knew that a lady was to never
to
draw attention to herself without first being spoken to.

“Yes, mam;
I have instructed the stable boy to go through it and give any clothing to the servants as you had already told me.” The butler bowed his head
at the look of approval on
Katherine
’s face and left the room continuing to bow and never turning his back on the family.

“Aunt
Katherine
, I had some other personal things in my bag. And what am I to do for clothing until you can get me some you deem more appropriate?”
Her
Aunt’s look of disapproval was apparent. She obviously did
n
o
t care for being questioned
and felt that it was not yet
Jo’s turn to talk for Jo had
yet
to be
spoken to
.

“If you must know when we agreed to take you on I insisted that your mother send your measurements ahead. I knew that nothing you would bring from her house would be appropriate
.” Her Aunt paused for a moment with an exaggerated look up and down of Jo. “I can see that I was right and that you have
nothing
for you to be wearing around here
.
I have already
had a few things made up for you. The maid will show you to your room.
G
o up
,
wash
,
and immediately change.
She will dispose of yo
ur clothing for you.”

“And Josephine.” Jo turned to her Uncle Joseph at the sound of his voice. “It should go without saying but there have been some unsavory crimes in the area so be sure that you shut your windows at night.” A
maid gently grabbed Jo’s elbow and led her out of the room.

Jo listened as the maid went through rule after rule that she was to follow. Upon arriving in her room she had very little time to look around let alone to register that her room was the size of her
home she had shared with her parents and all of her siblings
. The maid quickly got Jo undressed and gave her a quick sponge bath.

The maid continued to go over several rules. T
he rules she was going over now were the rules on how to behave at dinner
.
There were several questions on
if she
was
aware of what all of the forks that were going to be on the table
at dinner
where to be used for.

It mildly amused her that there was no need for her to talk or respond and that the maid just assumed that she was listening. Once she was dried off the maid went to the
armoire
and grabbed out a dinner dress and all under garments that were going to be needed. The maid was now silent and only talking
occasionally
to inform Jo when to lift her arms and hold her breath. Then she was sat down and the maid did her hair.
All of this just for dinner with Aunt
Katherine
and Uncle
Joseph
? This seems so crazy.

Back downstairs she was left in the
solarium
for drinks before dinner. She sat
unmoving waiting
for her Aunt
and Uncle
unsure of what to do with herself. When her Aunt entered the room Jo rose and dipped her head in a bow. “Hello
,
Aunt
Katherine
.”

“Josephine.” Her Aunt returned her bowed head before motioning for them both to sit. “I see that you clean up very nicely. I hope that your breeding will be able to overcome the way you were raised and I can pass you off as a lady.”
Jo resisted the urge to dispute what her Aunt
Katherine
had
said
but then thought better about it
though she continued to be curious on if her Aunt’s digs at the way she was raised was something she would forever have to endure
.

“Thank you Mam. I hope that I will be able to please you.” Her Aunt gave her a pointed look showing Jo that she got the sarcasm.

“I had hoped to have a day or two to or preparation to correct things with you if needed; ho
wever, your Uncle
Joseph
has invited his business partner
to dinner tonight so you need to be on your best behavior. At the very least please try to say the very
as little as
you
possibly
can
.” Jo was
n
o
t sure if she was more
appalled
or offended over her Aunt
’
s attitude toward her. But she was
n
o
t give
n
much time to think
about it let alone to ret
ort because just then her Uncle
entered the room with the man she assumed was the coworker she had been warned to behave in front of.

Jo barely heard her Uncle introduce Charles Genus. All she could think of was that the man looked rather ordinary. To her
to look
ordinary was one of the best things to happen to a person. For example if she had been an ordinary looking girl she would have had a better chance to be allowed to pursue a profession rather than her parents feeling that she had a chance to marry into a better life.

Mr. Genus had brown hair with matching brown eyes and looked surprisingly exhausted
considering the generally rested look that most men of society tended to carry
. Jo curtseyed and then sat down on the nearest chair and turned herself toward Mr. Genus in a gesture to show she was open for a conversation. Thankfully
,
some of the rules of conduct that the maid had gone over with her had somehow managed to stick in
to
her head.