I was tired after such a long journey. I nearly forgot how tired I was when I entered the mansion. It was like entering a museum. There were hundreds of paintings of people that I did not know. There were fancy ornaments everywhere. The walls were wood panelling and the floors were also wood that was so shiny! It was the loveliest place that I have seen. To think that mom and Dad always lived in caravan homes or huts, while a part of our family lived here!

We entered a room that was so dark and dusty. The curtains were closed and unlike the halls that I have seen, the room seemed so dark and untidy.

That's when I first saw the duchess. She looked a bit like old pictures of Queen Victoria. The difference was that she was wearing an old worn white nightdress. Her hair was also a mess and could use a brush. She was not smiling and looked as if she did not smile for years. So this would be the woman that would take care of me.

I walked towards her to give her a hug. However, she put her hand up to stop it. This surprised me, as I was always used to giving people hugs. She just sat there and ordered me to stand before her. She would tell me to turn around. Then she even wanted to see my teeth. I felt like a farm animal, and this thought made me giggle until she said to be silent. Then the Duchess said that she did not approve of girls wearing jeans. She thought it showed no dignity. The old woman told me to go to my room and put something decent on. Then she would speak to me.

The maid led me through the long hallways and up countless steps. There must have been hundreds of bedrooms. We came to my bedroom. It was the fanciest room that I ever have seen. The bed was like the best princess bed ever. Ten people could sleep in the bed. It was a canopy bed, so it looked so royal. The furniture was old and so pretty. It was obvious that someone took a lot of time to make them! I must have stood there staring and not believing that this was my new room. The maid pointed to a dress and tights that were on the bed.

The dress was an old fashioned dress that they must have worn 200 years ago. It was a red dress with white lace. The dress went below my knees and had long sleeves. The tights were normal white ones. I tried to speak with the maid as she helped me put the dress on, but she did not answer. This did not bother me, as it was not every day that I was giving a new dress or even a dress that should be in a museum. After I put the dress on, the maid brushed my long hair. She let it lose as it was in pigtails. She was not very gentle when she brushed it. There were lots of knots!

I looked in the mirror and could not believe what I saw. I looked like I was some girl in some old movie. A movie that was about life long ago. It made me think about why she wanted me to wear such an old dress. The only thing I could think of was that she was so old and wanted me to look like she did when she was a child. Still, the dress was nice and I did like my hair was let down.

When I went back to the duchess, she was sitting in the same seat. She told me to sit beside her on the floor. I nearly burst out laughing as this was what a puppy would do. I did not laugh though, as I doubt there was any laughter in this house for centuries. So I just knelt beside her chair.

"You will be living here and I have agreed to be your guardian," she said in a very formal way, " You will be the heir to Undergrove Estate. Do not expect to be spoiled and loved as I have very little tolerance for such follies. I expect you to be obedient and hard-working. You will get lessons every day on what is important in life and etiquette as well as how to be a lady. I have agreed to be your guardian because my family has been a disappointment. I will train you to be the next duchess and in return, you will be my companion."

I was about to ask so many questions, but she told me that the first rule is that a child should be seen and not heard.

Then she ordered the maid to bring me my supper. A small table was put beside me and a meal was put beside me. The duchess did not eat. This meant that it was very lonely just sitting there chomping away at the food. I should not complain. The food was great and it tasted well. I was just used to eating as a social event. This made it look like a TV dinner without a TV. There was no TV in this huge house. After I ate, I thanked the duchess for the meal. She told me that the maid must teach me how to curtsey. Then the duchess said that I must be tired and I should go to bed.

I went back to my room, which seemed that it was miles away from the dark dusty room. This was a strange day. The maid helped me get ready for bed and told me that she put some things on my bed that was in my suitcase, otherwise she took the clothes I had as the Duchess would provide my clothes. After I had my nightgown on, I looked at what was on the bed. There was a picture of mom and dad and a necklace. It was the cross that mom always wore.

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The maid told me to remember to pray for my parents. Then she left the room. I was all alone looking at the picture and the cross. The happiness I had with my parents have now become a life without smiles, being a pet to a duchess. I started crying as I remembered my parents. I was not even at their funeral. How could life be so cruel? What was I to do now? How would I survive here?

"You are not alone. I will be your friend!" I heard a voice say. When I looked up, I could see a girl there that was a bit younger than me. She was wearing an old nightdress. I wondered where she came from. She was totally strange as if she was hovering above the ground. She was a small bit see-through as I could see the furniture behind her. Her face was very white. Then I realized that she must be a ghost. I started getting a panic attack, started shaking, and jumped in my bed and hid under the sheets. I could not believe that I just have seen a real ghost. Would she hurt me? When I peeked over the bedsheets, I could not see her.

I did not sleep that well that night.

The next morning, I got another old fashioned dress on and went to see the duchess. My breakfast was already on the small table in front of her. She did not ask how I slept or talked at all. When I tried to talk, she would look at me with this strange look. When I talked too much, she would remind me that children should be seen and not heard. Then I just closed my mouth and wonder why the duchess did not wait to eat her breakfast with me.

She had a guest. He was an old man and wore a shabby suit. His name was Mr Pennydale and his job was to update the duchess about her finances. She owned a lot of land, factories, and retail shops as well as shares. He talked about finances and profits and the huge expense of the estate. It was quite clear that the woman was filthy rich.

Mr Pennydale carefully said that there was a request from the local church. They were renovating the medieval building and wanted to know if the Duchess would donate some money. This made the old lady get mad and ask why should she give God any money? He had given her nothing but pain and agony. If the local people wanted to waste their time in a church, then that was their problem.

When the man went, the duchess looked at me and said this was part of my education. One day I would take over her finances, which meant I had to think logically and not with emotions. She must have got tired of me, as she told me to go for a walk. After all, small girls needed exercise.

As I walked through the hallways, I had nothing to do but think. The duchess seemed so bitter. She never smiled or laughed. It was like she was mad at life. That was such a sad thing.

"I hope I did not scare you last night. Please be my friend"

It was the same voice as last night. I looked behind me and could see the same girl wearing the same nightdress. I was was afraid and wanted to scream. However, she looked so young and so harmless and it was like she was pleading to be my friend. I also thought that if she wanted to hurt me, she would have done it by now.

Then I heard another voice. It was a boy my age saying that he finally found me. He looked normal enough but I was so confused that I asked if he was also a ghost. At first, he was silent and stuttered a lot trying to answer that question. Then he answered that his name was Diego and he was the maid's son. When I looked back at the ghost, I could see that she was gone.

Diego could see that I was confused and laughed as he said that many strange things happened in this house. That made me laugh. Diego then said that he would show me around. For the next hour, we explored the mansion. There were so many rooms that a whole town could live her. We found a small chapel in the house, but it looked as if it was hit by a storm. The books were spread everywhere and it looked like someone damaged the holy pictures with a knife. The prayer books were torn and the altar things were scattered all over. The statues were knocked to the ground and badly damaged. Diego explained that he heard rumours about what happened and his mom was warned not to clean the chapel.

I had so many questions, but Diego said he should take me back to "the lady" so I could have lunch. On the way back, I even tried asking if he knew the people in the paintings. Diego just went pale again and said that he did not want to talk about them. I looked at one panting and screamed when I saw his eyes were moving, as he was watching us walk past him. Diego took my hand and said that we must rush.

Diego did not stay as I ate lunch again at the small table. Once again I ate alone. I tried speaking with the duchess but she ignored me.

After I ate, I asked her if I should open the curtains to leave some light in and I could tidy and clean the room. It would look like the rest of the house.

The duchess snapped at me and said to leave things as they always were.

" I do not want you to do tasks of a maid," she explained, "It is fine in here as it is. Besides, you need to go to the schoolroom and have some lessons. I expect you to excel in your studies!."

I was going to ask if Diego would be there. The Duchess must have known my thoughts as she said that the maid's boy will not be there! Why should she educate him? She warned me not to be his friend. I should remember my status as her heir and a future duchess. This meant that I should not associate myself with the lower class.

The duchess assumed that I agreed as she said that she needed peace from my chattering and constant questions.

I carefully told the duchess that I had one more question. This made her sigh and ask what was now bothering me.

"I was just wondering- " I started asking, "Well.... this may seem strange... Are there any ghosts that live here?"