A young provincial orphan seeks a respectable post as a governess in the capital and endures the humiliations of a servant‑market agency, cramped lodgings, and the gossip of other domestic workers. She cares for children, scavenges small comforts, and confronts uneasy encounters with employers, hesitating at the threshold of an elegant household while wrestling with fear and fragile dignity. The narrative traces how poverty, social hypocrisy, and gendered vulnerability shape her choices, portraying urban inequality, moral strain, and the slow erosion of hope.