A Countess Below Stairs
Eva Ibbotson
 Anna is a charming child who sees the good in everything and everyone: her cousin Sergei, her younger brother Petya, and all of her multiple governesses. She has lived her whole life being pampered and adored by her father, fussed over by the servants, and cosseted by her mother. However, she is forced to flee Russia after the Bolsheviks seized power and her father dies in The First World War. Forced to depend on the charity of her governess, Pinny, Anna decides to take a position as a housemaid at Mersham, home of Rupert Frayne, Earl of Westerholme. She keeps her decision a secret from her brother and cousin, telling her ailing mother she has been invited to stay at the country manor. The moment Anna arrives at Mersham, the staff resent her employment as they immediately realize she is nobly born. Despite their concerns, Anna proves herself hard-working and intelligent. As her fellow employees grow to love Anna, a message is received from the Earl that he is returning to Mersham from service in the war. Having made a promise to his late older brother, Rupert is bringing home a rich fiancee to help fulfill Mersham's many debts. Upon meeting Anna, her grace and high spirits are obvious to him, and the two get along very well. When Muriel Hardwicke, Rupert's fiancee, arrives, everyone is first compelled to love her. Soon afterward, Mersham's inhabitants and neighbors begin to realize that Muriel is a selfish, rude, vain and nasty young woman, despite her flawless appearance. She is unfriendly to the staff, the dowager, the dog, and even to good family friends the Minna, and Viscount Byrne, bluntly insulting their daughter, the Honorable Olive, and her disability (One leg is shortened due to a bad case of tuberculosis of the hip). Out of love and respect for Rupert, those Muriel offends suffer in silence, not wanting to ill-wish the Earl's bride. Learning of Muriel's deeds later, Rupert is angry and realizes he did not ever truly love her, just as he falls in love with Anna. Nonetheless, he is a man of his word and will not jilt Muriel. Meanwhile, Anna finds it harder to conceal her identity as a countess as she grows closer to the young earl. Eventually he learns of her identity while purchasing jewels for Muriel(she rejects his first gift of a Arabian mare), and his first instinct is to dismiss her from service. Speaking to Anna, Rupert sees she is miserable having heard of his plans to let her go and he cannot stand to sadden her further. He then knows she is of noble birth, but is still unaware of how high class she is. At a fancy-dress ball held in Muriel and Rupert's honour by the Byrnes living nearby at Heslop, Anna is asked to serve drinks because of her Russian nationality which would be helpful for some Russian guests. A school friend of the youngest Byrne boy, Henry, turns out to be Anna's younger brother, Peter. Unknowing of Anna's employment as an under-housemaid, he greets her and introduces her to all present as Countess Grazinsky. Her friends among the guests are not surprised and they act as if she was a guest to the house all along, for Peter's sake. Anna and Rupert share a dance, and spectators realize that the wedding in three days is between two people very wrong for each other, though nothing can be done for Rupert and Anna. The pair go outside, despite Anna's protests, and each confess their affections but accept that they have no future together. They return to the ball, and after several more dances Anna slips away into the night and sits in the wood to let off her feelings. A short while later, her cousin the Prince Sergei Chirkovsky finds her after running from his own problems and they confide in each other. The two cousins are embracing when Rupert sees them from the shadows and jumps to the conclusion that they are eloping together. He returns to the ball and goes on with the wedding. News from the ball reach Mersham's kitchens and the butler, Cyril Proom, finally decides to take action as is his nature. He acquires a large sum of money and uses it to convince Melvyn and Myrtle Herring, first cousins of Rupert, to carry out a favour. The distasteful Herrings and their estranged teenaged sons show themselves to be insane genetic mutations to Dr Lightbody, a good friend of Muriel who studies Eugenics. He is so upset that he stops the wedding at the last possible second, and Muriel is introduced to the Herrings. She is appalled that she nearly married into such a 'tainted' family, and elopes with Dr Lightbody. In London, Anna receives word and her depression lifts. Days later, a letter arrives from Mersham claiming that she still owes five days of work to the house. It also assures her that the Earl is out of the country. Before leaving, the woman carrying her family's fortune arrives at long last and her family begins to catch up on some of their old life. Anna's first job back at Mersham involves serving at the table for a small dinner party. Walking into the room, she is surprised when Rupert is present and he voices his anger in her direction. She lets out a defiant,long-winded reply and bursts into tears. Rupert stands up to comfort her, much to the surprise of his guests. The couple is married the following summer.