The Haunting of Josephine (2 page)

Out of the corner of her eye Jo could see that her Aunt
Katherine
was looking at her with disapproval.
What is wrong with her? They brought me here to meet men of good society and marry me off.
Mr.
Genus works with Uncle so clearly he must be good enough.
How can it be bothering her that I am doing just what she wants?

“Josephine, will you walk about the room with me?” With the way her Aunt
stood and waited next to Jo’s chair she was sure that refusal was not an opti
on. Jo rose and joined her Aunt
taking her arm as they walked together around the room.

“Now, given that
the
dinner
tonight
was unavoidable I have
n
o
t gotten much of a chance to explain to you how this all works.” Jo’s Aunt held up her hand to stop Jo when she went to reply. “You are to be
referred
to by your proper name at all times. You will not engage in a conversation with any man
unless I have previously told you that he is appropriate. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” J
o got the feeling that her Aunt
was
n
o
t going to be open to questions or much of a conversation.

“I noticed that you took an interest in Mr. Genus. Is that the type of man that you would prefer?”
Jo was rather surprised in her Aunt’s inter
est in what type of a man that she
would actually be interested in.

“Yes mam. I prefer a man who has to work for his living.
I feel that a man who has had to work for his things will more greatly appreciate everything he has in his life than a man who has been given everything his whole life.”

“Young lady that is not to what I was referring
to
and I am sure that you know it. I meant the way that Mr. Genus looks. As to whether or not you will be with a professional or a man who was born into means you will have no say in that. You will take what
ever
you
can
get.” Jo w
as about to contradict her Aunt
when a maid entered the room and rang a little bell signaling that they were now to be seated for dinner.

Doing her best to be the lady that her Aunt so wanted her to be, Jo followed her into the dining room and sat in the chair that was pulled out for her by one of the butler’s in the room.
Carefully Jo watched and did her best to follow her Aunt
’
s lead on how to unfold her napkin and where to place it. The men continued with their conversation about work as the women sat in silence.

Jo noticed that Mr. Genus had begun to stare at her during dinner; however, remembering what her Aunt
had said she remained silent and attempted to gracefully
avoid
having a conversation with him because her Aunt had not previously told her if she was allowed to take an interest in Mr. Genus.
Jo was not completely sure about it
but she had a feeling that her Aunt did not really like Mr. Genus though she was not sure why.

After many courses and feeling as if she had eaten as much food as she had in the last month the men excused themselves to the den and Jo followed her Aunt
Katherine
into the sitting room
sure that her Aunt
Katherine
was going to go over her
performance
that night
.

“Very well my dear. I see that it will take nothing
at all
to train you to be a prop
er lady.” Jo smiled at her Aunt
in appreciation to the compliment
sure that compliments were something that would not be passed out much
. “Now, in the morning we will
begin
daily lessons. You must make sure that you are punctual because I do not tolerate
tardiness
.”

“Aunt
Katherine
,
I have already finished all of my schooling. I actually have been educated to the point that if I were allowed I would be able to teach.”
Katherine
chuckled at Jo’s response confusing Jo on what could be so funny about her having completed school.

“Josephine, your lessons are going to be lessons on how to be a lady. I feel conventional
schooling is a waste of a lady’
s time.
You
will not
be using many if any of those lessons in the life that you will
eventually
lead.
” Jo was upset at her Aunt’s claim that conventional
schooling was a waste of a lady’
s time. But again she
resisted
contradicting her Aunt
Katherine
.
“
I will be teaching you how to walk, talk, and look.
Along with many other things that I am sure you will find useful in the pursuit of a proper husband.
Or at the very least to keep you from embarrassing your Uncle
Joseph
and myself when we introduce you into society.
”

“Oh, I did not realize that there would be so much for me to learn. I promise I will do my best to learn everything
which
you deem appropriate.” Jo’s Aunt
looked sternly at her for a moment as if she were contemplating on whether or not what she had to say next was actually something she wanted to address
right
then
.

“I noticed that both you and Mr. Genus seem to have taken a shine to one another.” Jo shook her head no. She had done her best to pay little attention to Mr. Genus after her Aunt
’
s previous warning.
She wanted to make sure that she had not somehow encouraged someone that she had
neither
intended to encourage
or
someone whom she knew her Aunt
would
not want to encourage.

“Mam, I can assure you that if there was a shine that you noticed it would have only been on his part. As you
had requested I did
not engage in conversation with him, nor did I seek out any attempt to talk with him.” Agai
n
Katherine
laughed at her.

“My dear girl, you
have so much that you need to learn. Many times it is when and why two people
are
try
ing
so hard not to take notice
of
or to talk to each other that it is
made
the most obvious
on what
their feelings for each other
are or their physical
attraction
to one another is made the most obvious
.”

“Surely you must be mistaken.” Again Jo could feel her Aunt
’
s piercing
and seemingly disappointed
look upon her.

“Well
, I hope that you are right. Mr. Genus is indeed from proper family and upbringing. Yet, there is something about him that I have never liked therefore I will never condone you talking with him. It is best to steer clear.” The tone of warning in her voice sent a chill up Jo’s spine. What could there possibly be about Mr. Genus that had made her Aunt feel so compelled to warn her against him?

As they headed toward the stairs to bed they
spotted
her Uncle
and Mr. Genus in the foyer.
Remembering
her Aunt
’
s warning Jo did her best to not attract too much attention to herself from Mr. Genus. She simply bowed her head and said goodnight and went up to her room.

It felt like it took hours for her Maid to help her change out of her dinner gown and into a simple cotton nightgown. So far the life of
luxury
felt like a life full of silly rules and endless hours of being dressed and undressed. Her maid had informed her that she was to have a fitting the following day and Jo wondered what it would be like to have someone come and ask her what she wanted her clothing to be like and measure her and do all the work instead of her having to do it herself.

Jo stared out at the Moon and the Stars while brushing her hair and thinking of how much different her life already was from
the
life
she had lived
at home
with her parents and siblings
.
Suddenly she was struck with a chill up her spine and the feel
ing that she was being watched
. As she searched the
street below
she was unable to see anything but immediate
ly
went into her room
closing the curtains
behind her. Little did she know
that someone
had been not far below hidden
in the shadows of a nearby ally
staring at her filled with forbidden desire.

Chapter 2

The concept of a fitting is something that a man must have thought up
. Jo was going into her second hour of standing this way and that as the tailor
had her
st
an
d and
be
measured and
re-measured
. Having made all of her own dresses since she had been old enough to sew she knew there was
n
o
t really any need for so many measurements in a simple women’s gown. Not to mention that she felt it was improper that she was being measured in her underclothes by a man. She had never in her life been touched by a man in some of the places that he insisted needed measuring multiple times.

A
f
t
er
finally noticing Jo’s obvious distress
Katherine
called a small break to the fitting and suggested that the tailor go and enjoy a nice lunch while she had a moment or two to talk fabric with Jo.
Jo was greatly relieved to have a break away from her fitting.

“Josephine dear, is there something wrong? You look as though you have been violated.”
Katherine
asked with obvious concern in her voice.
It touched Jo more then she thought possible to hear
that
her Aunt sound
ed
as if she really cared.

“Aunt
Katherine
, I
do
feel as though I have been violated. Is it really proper
for a woman
to be fitted by a man? To have him touching some of the places that he has been touching? I am not at all comfortable with this.” Jo’s Aunt thought for a moment before replying.

“I failed to think about the fact that you still are… pure. I have been married so long and in society I do
n
o
t think much of a man’s hand brushing me and did
n
o
t realize it would
affect you
so
.”
Jo made a noise of exasperation at the thought of having to get used to
any
m
a
n
which
she did not
really
know touching her.

“Aunt
Katherine
, how much more of this am I going to have to
endure
today? I am sure he has enough measurements to make anything that you want him to make for me.”
Katherine
stared at her in consideration for a moment.
Jo feared that her Aunt was going to scold her for being difficult but she could not help the way that she felt about the situation that she was placed in with this fitting.

“Alright than,
I will insist that we just move on to the
premade
pieces that he has brought for you to try on and see if they need alteration and then we should be done.
Even if they need a bit of
alteration
I am sure that you
will not
be too uncomfortable with that part of the fitting.
” Katherine
walked out of the room to go fetch the tailor.

“Here you go miss.” Jo felt extremely grateful to her maid who wrapped her in a heavy robe. She had not realized until the robe was on her just how cold she had become standing around with very little clothing on.
She thought
about
how distracted
she must have been
with how uncomfortable she was in the situation to have not realized that she was so cold that she had begun to shiver.

“How often is she going to make me have fittings?” Jo asked the maid with a hint of
pleading
in her voice.