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- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
Charlotte Weinhold has a degree in history and is striving to complete her Ph.D. Her earnings from a newspaper job keep her just above water. When the editor-in-chief demands insider news about the Count of Bergfels-Blumenheide and his family, on whom she is writing her dissertation, she sees this as an opportunity to obtain previously unpublished documents at the same time. Arriving in Bergfels, she unexpectedly gets a job in the only café in town - its owner is not only attractive but also happens to be the best friend of the Count's publicity-shy daughter. What a unique opportunity to get the desired internal information about the Count's family without much effort! Countess Ida doesn't care about her title. She lives in a city apartment and works for a non-profit children's aid organization. When her father asks her to take over an archival tour of Bergfels Palace in his place, she agrees. In return, this gives her an excuse to spend the approaching Christmas holidays away from the Count's clan. But everything turns out quite differently than either Charlotte or Ida could ever have imagined.
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Content
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
ONE YEAR LATER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ALSO BY CLAUDIA HAASE
CHAPTER 1
Charlotte looked skeptically out of the train window. The train station in Bergfels was tiny. Would there be a restaurant in the station building where she could rest and eat after the long train ride? Or should she head straight to the hotel guesthouse first and unload her suitcase? There she could also have a bite to eat and then go on an exploratory tour of Bergfels.
The train came to a stop with a jolt. She shouldered her laptop bag and heaved the bulky suitcase out of the luggage net. A bag would have been more practical, but for the archive visit she needed finer clothes to appear more respectable to the Count.
Only a few people got off the train with her, and she was instantly alone on the small platform. There didn't seem to be a station restaurant, but a sign pointed to the pedestrianized center of town, where her hotel guesthouse was located.
A fine drizzle made her pull up her hood before walking purposefully in the direction indicated. It was hard to believe that in four weeks it was already Christmas. She had hoped for snow before she left for Bergfels. A photo of the palace amid a white winter wonderland would please her boss.
And my wallet. Otherwise, it would be tight with the dissertation. I’m afraid the Christmas presents for my parents will have to be smaller than usual this year.
There was not much activity on the main street, which was lined with half-timbered houses with small stores. Charlotte looked at the nicely decorated windows as she passed.
There was a wool store with handspun sweaters, scarves, and hats as well as a shop with pottery, woodcarvings, and paintings with palace motifs, followed by a small business with specialties from the region.
She was surprised to see no Christmas decorations anywhere. Not a fir tree or a light. Was there a reason for this?
She approached the marketplace in the center of town and enjoyed the view of the town hall, which had been built in a Baroque style at the beginning of the 18th century. All around, she spotted a butcher's store, a cobbler, and an insurance office, as well as a small café. The hotel guesthouse was on a street next to town hall, and she strolled, suitcase in tow, across the marketplace, where a few stalls were spread out. Busy farmers were packing their fruit boxes.
"Hey, you there!" one of the women called out to her. "Would you like to grab something before we pack everything up for the county food bank?" She pointed to a crate of red-cheeked apples.
Charlotte nodded and approached the market vendor. "I'd love to. I just got here and could use some fresh fruit."
The woman put two delicious-looking apples in a paper bag and added a banana and two clementines.
Charlotte dug out her purse, but the woman shook her head, laughing.
"No, no, it's free! A welcome from Bergfels Village. We sell here every day. You're welcome to come back another time for more fruit."
"I will for sure!" replied Charlotte, reaching for the filled paper bag.
"Do you have a place to stay yet?"
"Yes, I'm staying at the hotel next to town hall."
"That is a nice little guesthouse run by the Bader family. Good choice." The saleswoman nodded appreciatively. "I hope you enjoy your stay."
"Thank you, thank you very much," Charlotte replied and strode toward her accommodation in good cheer.
CHAPTER 2
Flordelis Mathilde Ida, Countess of Bergfels-Blumenheide, roared through the gates of the palace driveway in her Jaguar, the gravel flying off in all directions. As she drove by, she saw a frightened rabbit hop away and a small flock of sparrows flutter excitedly out of a bush.
With vigor, she rode three times around the small traffic circle in front of Bergfels Palace, where she used to have bicycle races with her brother as a child. She had to take advantage of the fact that no one else in the family was around and none of them could scold her.
She slowed down before she steered the luxury car serenely past the main wing and stopped in front of the garage entrance. She hopped out, stretched, and sucked in the fresh country air. She was too seldom here. She fished for her briefcase from the backseat. The practical, ancient bag had accompanied her to all corners of the world since her youth.
Hurriedly, she marched to the side wing, where the former servants’ entrance was. The family preferred this entrance to the heavy door at the front of the main building.
"Countess, is there anything I can do for you?" asked Hanka, the family's long-time servant, after accepting Ida's coat. "Do you have any special requests during your stay?"
"Gee, Hanka, how many times have I told you to just call me Ida?"
"But the Count of Bergfels-Blumenheide specifically ordered me to call you that."
"Yes, but do you see him around here anywhere?" Ida made a sweeping gesture and turned once in a circle. Hanka frowned and stepped sheepishly from one foot to the other.
Ida sighed. Hanka was to be pitied. Was she even paid decently? Was there a minimum wage for servants? She had never given it a thought.
For her, it was inconceivable to have other people working in her city apartment. Even though she had grown up with domestic servants, she just couldn't get used to it.
"Would you like some tea and pastries, perhaps? Tonight, I can warm something up for you. The chef will not arrive from your parents' vacation home in the Alps until tomorrow."
I’m not hungry or thirsty, Ida wanted to hurl at the servant. Instead, she politely replied, "Tea and pastries will be fine with me."
Ida put on a friendly face and nodded to the woman. "Tonight, however, I am eating out in the village. You can call it a day after you serve me tea."
It wasn't Hanka's fault that her father had asked Ida to introduce the family archive to selected guests, mainly history researchers, and to answer questions.
As if old Georg, the equerry, couldn't do that. After all, he introduced me and my siblings to the family history in the horse stable and knows more than all of us together about this house and our ancestors. Georg's parents and grandparents had already been in the service of the Count's family.
But Ida had agreed to help in the archives on the condition that this year she would not have to celebrate Christmas with all her relatives in the palace. She was looking forward to a good book, a glass of wine in her apartment, and walks through the empty streets of the city center, while her fellow citizens were busy at home with eating Christmas geese or gift battles. Should she even treat herself to a small fir tree at Christmas?
She would use the days off to plan a spring bazaar for the children's aid organization she worked for. Few there knew her true identity. She preferred to stay in the background but knew how to exploit her contacts with financially well-off relatives and acquaintances for donations and potential grants.
A breeze brushed through her hair. She had almost forgotten how drafty it was in this large reception hall. There was modern heating and fireplaces only in the private rooms upstairs and in her father's office downstairs.
"Hanka, please bring the tea to my room after all."
"With pleasure, Count... Ida." Hanka did a curtsy and disappeared through a narrow passage into the kitchen.
Ida climbed the stairs to her private chambers and strolled past the portrait paintings of her ancestors without paying any further attention to them. In a few days, she would study their history enough to be fully prepared for the question-and-answer session with the guests.
There was a gap where a large painting had once hung showing her with her grandparents, parents, and siblings. After a sprawling argument among all the portrayed family members, her father had it moved in front of the archives.
She opened the door to her small suite and a pleasant warmth radiated toward her from the fireplace.
Good! Hanka had thought of everything! She decided to unpack her travel bag so she could soon drive to the village and pay a visit to her long-time friend, Melanie.
