2018/64: Nine Coaches Waiting -- Mary Stewart

The castle in the air, the Cinderella-dream – nonsense for a night. Banquets abroad by torchlight, music, sports, nine coaches waiting! Not for you, Linda my girl. You get yourself back to Camden Town. [p. 325]

Orphan Linda Martin, aged 23, quits her 'dogsbody' job at a boys' school to travel to France (where she lived as a child) and become governess to Philippe, Comte de Valmy, who is nine years old. The boy's Aunt Héloïse, who meets Linda in Paris and accompanies her to Chateau Valmy in the Savoy region, is keen that the job goes to someone with little or no French: so Linda, of course, lies about her fluency.

Philippe's Uncle Leon is confined to a wheelchair, but that doesn't impact his charisma, or his temper. Philippe is afraid of his uncle, and Linda learns to respect him. She's befriended by the housekeeper, Mrs Seddon, who tells Linda about Leon and Héloïse's wild and adventurous son Raoul -- who Linda first encounters when he almost runs her over one dark night.

Then the 'accidents' begin. Someone shoots at Philippe in the woods; a balcony almost collapses ... If Philippe dies, his aunt and uncle will inherit the Valmy fortune. Can they -- and perhaps even the seductive Raoul -- be plotting a murder?

Linda sees herself in a Cinderella role -- the poor, isolated girl who wins the heart of the prince -- but she's realistic: if Philippe is under threat, her priority is to protect him, no matter that she's falling in love with a man who might be the villain of the story.

This is an emotional and suspenseful novel, with some glorious writing -- I was especially taken by Stewart's descriptions of Paris on a rainy night -- and a satisfying romantic arc that complements, but doesn't overshadow, the rather Gothic thriller that constitutes the central plot. It is also set in, and strongly evocative of, spring, to the extent that it felt jarring to read it on a hot sunny beach.

I didn't really warm to Linda, but she did not irritate me (except by her dismissal of loyal and helpful English botanist William Blake, without whom all might have been lost). And the growing affection between Linda and her charge Philippe is rather sweet.

Raoul has considerable charm, though his values are those of his time (probably the 1950s) and his class. He's an excellent Gothic hero, reminiscent of Rochester (to Linda's Jane Eyre, of course: they even meet in a similar way!) and remains a mystery right up to the climax of the novel. An engaging read.