Dreaming Victoria

By Grace Kagni

Victoria Beckett’s world is turned upside down when she is suddenly sent to work for the big boss of the London Publishing House. When she meets Charles Dowling, he reminds her very much of Mr. Darcy from the Jane Austen novel. He is the most arrogant and annoying person she has ever met and yet she must work with him. Victoria finds solace in Jane Austen novels and somehow she suddenly finds herself living a dream alongside Mr. Dowling in the Elizabethan era. This is a modern romantic story with a twist taking the heroine back to the 1700s.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Kagni
• Release date: Dec 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370582136

Grace Kagni

Grace Kagni writes Italian romance novels. She is inspired by events reported on the Italian news such as avalanches, earthquakes, floods, femicide, political scandals, and organized crime which she adds as scenes, creating conflict in her romance novels.

Book preview

Chapter One

~ Present time ~

Victoria rings the bell, and when nobody answers, she opens the door with the key she was given. When she walks in, she is amazed at the beauty and elegance within. The house is in the Kensington neighbourhood and is surrounded by other beautiful houses and parks. She’s heard it is an exclusive neighbourhood, but now that she’s in one of the homes, she can agree when people say it is one of the most beautiful areas in London. Mr. Dowling has a beautiful house, but she somehow expected that.

As soon as she takes two more steps, the housekeeper, Emily Darby, comes in to greet her. Victoria is happy to see the middle-aged woman has a friendly face. She is pleased to know she won’t be alone with Mr. Dowling in the house.

Mr. Dowling told me you’d be coming today.

Yes. I am to work from Mr. Dowling’s home for the next few days. Do you know where I am meant to work?

Yes, let me show you the way.

Mrs. Darby shows Victoria to a room that is as big as her old flat. On one side of the room, it is clearly set out for business purposes whereas the other side of the room is a library with a winding wooden staircase up to the second floor balcony.

What a beautiful room, Victoria says. I won’t mind working from here.

Yes, it is a very pleasant. Mr. Dowling has such fine taste.

Did Mr. Dowling oversee the design of the room?

He did more than that. He designed the room himself. He says it’s his private space, so it must be agreeable to his eyes.

I’ll say it’s agreeable. Victoria takes in the wonderful feeling of the room and knows she’ll enjoy working from here today.

Mr. Dowling has left you an envelope on the desk. If you need anything, please call me. My extension is on the desk phone, Mrs. Darby says before leaving the room.

Victoria is now on her own, and the moment she sits in the large chair behind the desk, a smile forms on her mouth. Indeed, it will be a pleasure working from here.

She takes the envelope and opens it to see what is inside. It contains a letter and a key from Mr. Dowling.

Dear Miss Beckett,

I am away on business to Somerset today. I trust my housekeeper has greeted you and shown you to my study. You will find a key inside this envelope that will open a room behind the library. It is a hidden room where you will find all the paperwork that was brought from the office archives. I will be back late tonight and will be expecting you back tomorrow morning for a full day.

Yours sincerely,

Charles Dowling

After reading Mr. Dowling’s letter, Victoria takes the key and walks to the shelving mentioned in the letter. She puts the key in the slot and it opens to another room. This room is not as appealing. In fact, it is cold and poorly lit. She takes the first box closest to the door and walks out. After placing the box near the table, she pulls out the contents and lays them out on the desk. She looks at the pile in front of her and lets out a long sigh before taking the first file.

As she is reading through the pile, her mobile phone rings, and when she sees it is Christopher, she declines the call. He tries calling two more times, and when she doesn’t respond, he stops trying.

The day passes quickly. Thankfully, Mrs. Darby brings Victoria lunch and dinner, so when it is time for her to leave, all she has to do is go back to Olivia’s place to shower and sleep. She remembered to call her mechanic during the day to know more about her car but he didn’t have any news. She’ll be without a car for a few more days. She also made a few calls to start cancelling the wedding bookings, hoping to get back some of the deposit, but as she was told on the telephone, it would be difficult considering there are less than thirty days before the wedding date. Victoria puts her head down on the desk, knowing she won’t be refunded on any of the services. At the end of the day, she looks at the files she was able to review, and being satisfied with the first day’s work, she packs up to leave for the night.

When she arrives home, Olivia calls to tell her she’s going out for dinner with Colin, so Victoria has a shower and then starts to look on the internet for a flat for rent. She needs to get on with her life as soon as possible, and the quicker she can move into her own place, the better. She is able to make two appointments to view two flats in the same area the next day after work, so after she puts on her pyjamas, she decides to read more of her Jane Austen novel. By the time she falls asleep, it’s early morning.

She wakes up to the sound of a phone ringing but it’s not hers. It rings insistently until it stops. A few minutes later, it starts ringing again. Victoria gets up and realizes it must be the phone Mr. Dowling gave to her. She runs to her bag and pulls it out. Four missed calls! How did she not hear it ringing the other times? She glances at the clock in the kitchen and notices it’s 10 a.m. She’s late!

Victoria makes a quick cup of coffee and gets washed. She leaves twenty minutes later, calling a taxi to take her to Mr. Dowling’s house. When she arrives it’s nearly 11 a.m., so she braces herself when she rings the doorbell. Mrs. Darby opens and steps aside to let Victoria in.

Is Mr. Dowling here? Victoria asks, hoping he’s gone out.

Mr. Dowling is in the library, Mrs. Darby says.

Thank you.

Victoria walks the short distance to the library and knocks before going in. As soon as she opens the door, she can sense there is tension in the room.

I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t hear my alarm this morning.

Miss Beckett, is this the way you Americans work?

First of all, I’m Canadian and not American, and secondly I didn’t sleep much during the night so I didn’t hear the alarm when it rang this morning.

Miss Beckett, you shouldn’t be out late if you are expected to complete your work considering the tight deadline I’ve set.

Mr. Dowling, I wasn’t out last night. I was awake most of the night. I’ll make sure I don’t sleep through the alarm again, Victoria says, feeling a knot tighten in her stomach. He’s really overbearing—even when it has to do with her personal life. It’s her business what she does in her free time.

Very well. I’ve been going over what you did yesterday and I can see you’ve already made progress. I would like to see more by the weekend. We have a meeting scheduled next Sunday.

Sunday?

Yes. We’ll leave for Somerset early Sunday morning.

Somerset?

Do you have a problem hearing?

She wonders how long she will need to put up with this. Doesn’t he know she has a life to get to? I can hear just fine. I have plans Saturday evening so I was hoping to sleep in on Sunday.

We need to leave by 8 a.m. to reach Somerset in time for our pre-meeting briefing.

Why Somerset?

I have other business to attend to there and decided to hold both meetings in Somerset.

Victoria suddenly feels like her private time is being abused. How could he make such a demand and expect her to go along with it without hesitation? Her hatred for him is growing by the minute.

When will we be back in London?

If both meetings go well, we’ll be back on Monday. If not, we’ll need to stay until my business is complete.

How long could that be?

Pack a bag for the week. We shouldn’t stay that long, but I prefer to be prepared.

Victoria is silent for a moment, then she sits down to review the documentation. Her phone vibrates since she put it on silent and she notices Christopher’s name. She declines the call and continues her work in silence, not wanting to hear Mr. Dowling’s voice any longer and while she looks through box after box, he goes to his desk to write letters. She notices he writes on paper—something she hasn’t seen in years. Who writes on paper anymore?

Mrs. Darby comes in to tell them lunch is ready, and when Victoria realizes the table has been set in the dining area, she tries to avoid having to sit across from him.

I’ll eat while I work.

Food is eaten at the table and not at a desk while you work. I insist upon it, Mr. Dowling says.

Victoria gets up and follows Mr. Dowling to the dining area. She is surprised when he opens the door for her and waits for her to enter the room. She is surprised again when he pulls out her chair and waits for her to sit before taking a seat himself. These thoughts last but only a minute as she is seated beside him.

They eat practically in silence until Victoria can’t bear the silence anymore. Do you always eat in silence?

I’m not used to having company when I eat.

Lunch would be much more agreeable if you say something.

I would be most happy to speak if you tell me what you would like to talk about.

How about you tell me where we’ll stay in Somerset.

We’ll be staying at Renwood Hall.

Renwood Hall? I’ve heard it has beautiful gardens.

It does. So, you’ve never been? he asks.

No.

Then it will be a real treat for you. His eyes sparkle when he looks at her and his eyes rest a little longer than normal on her while she eats. He looks at her beautiful auburn hair as it cascades over her shoulders. His thoughts are suddenly interrupted when he realizes he’s staring, so he picks up his glass of wine to break the spell.

Lunch passes and they go back to the study to continue their work. By the end of the day, Victoria identifies quite a few contracts, satisfying Mr. Dowling’s request for the moment. Before she leaves to go meet the estate agent, she says good evening to Mr. Dowling.

She sees the two apartments and decides to take the one that is immediately available. So she promises to send the estate agent references and to pay the first month rent the next day. She takes the tube back to Olivia’s flat to start to pack what little she has.

~~~

Moving day finally arrives and the day doesn’t pass fast enough. When she is ready to leave, she goes to tell Mr. Dowling she needs to leave for personal reasons. He agrees on the condition that she stays back a little longer the next day.

Yes, of course. She agrees if it means she can leave early today. The thought of moving to her own place makes her happy.

You seem happy tonight, he says, observing her smile.

I’m moving tonight.

Well, as long as you’re not late tomorrow morning. He walks her to the door.

I will be on time. Goodnight, sir.

Goodnight, Miss Beckett, he says, watching her walk through the door.

She takes the tube back to Olivia’s place and then calls a taxi to move her three suitcases and two sports bags to the new place. When she finally shuts the door of her new place, she calls the Chinese restaurant around the corner to order food. After unpacking the few things she has, she sits down enjoying the food while she continues to read her Jane Austen novel.

The rest of the week passes quickly as she identifies a number of clients that have potential based on the previous work and she also prepares a proposal to motivate the authors into submitting an outline of a novel along with the first three chapters if they want a second chance. When Saturday afternoon arrives and it is time for her to leave to get ready for the party, she tells Mr. Dowling she’ll be punctual the next morning for their trip to Somerset and that she’ll tell him about her proposal to motivate the authors while they’re driving to Somerset.

Proposal? What proposal? he questions.

I will explain tomorrow during our drive. In the meantime, I really have to go. Goodnight, Mr. Dowling.

Please be on time, Miss Beckett. It is imperative we leave early to be there in time for my meetings.

Yes, I will be here on time.

Good evening, Miss Beckett. He walks her to the door and watches as she leaves.

She goes back to her place to shower and dress for the evening. While she is putting on makeup, Olivia calls.

Are you ready for tonight? Olivia asks. Colin tells me his friend David is really looking forward to meeting you.

Yeah, I’m sure he is. I hope I’m not making a mistake coming out with you tonight.

They agree to meet outside the club, and as soon as they both arrive, they see the men waiting by the front door. They are introduced and chat a moment before going inside. Victoria checks out the two men while they go to the bar to order drinks for the ladies. Colin Berkley is tall, slim with dark hair. He seems very affectionate toward Olivia. Colin’s friend, David Arthur, is short, heavy around the waist, blond and wears glasses. Since they walked into the club, David hasn’t stopped talking. Victoria wonders if it is because he’s nervous or if he is always like this.

The men come back with drinks and they sit down at a table.

So, what do you do for work, David? Victoria asks, trying to be friendly.

I’m the bank manager at the branch where Colin works, David says. I’ve been there two years. Before that, I was at the branch in Blackpool for four years, and before that I was at the branch in Leeds for six years. You could say I go where the bank needs me most. I’ve been told I am very easy to place because I’m single. You see, I can move location with very little notice. I don’t have a family or a pet. I don’t even have a plant, he snorts.

Victoria wonders how long she’ll be able to put up with David. She notices he’s pulled his chair closer to her, and when she tries to move away, he moves his closer still. It’s going to be a long night. Then, as he goes off on another account of how the bank’s clients adore him, she throws Olivia a look of wanting to escape. She turns to look away and notices Mr. Dowling sitting at a table.

What is he doing here? Victoria asks.

Who? David asks, looking in the direction of Victoria’s attention. Oh, Mr. Dowling is here. He’s our biggest client. I need to go say hello.

No, please don’t, Victoria says.

I must. He’ll think me rude if I don’t go over to say hello, David says as he gets up to greet Mr. Dowling.

Victoria watches from their table.

David walks over and stands by Mr. Dowling’s table, waiting until he is noticed, and when Mr. Dowling looks at him, David says something before pointing toward Victoria’s