Well that owned. A+. Hooray. Here's some reasons why:

1.) It was written really ridiculously well, just in terms of languages and sentences and suchlike. A lot of the time when people write things set in the Victorian era, it sounds horribly pretentious, but that's not the case with this, even though you use pretty advanced vocabulary and appropriate dialogue. I don't think I stumbled over a single sentence while reading it, and I'm pretty dumb. I also didn't get bored- the plot was well paced.
2.) Characterization of Nicholas: bam, done in the space of the first real paragraph. That takes skill.
3.) Time and place: well communicated. Nothing really seemed too "modern"
4.) An evil plan stretching across almost a decade, and it's centered around... a tea-making machine. A really big one. ...I don't care who you are, that's hilarious.

The only negative comment I can make is that the plot was a little predictable- you pretty much knew from the beginning that Arianne was using him and that it almost certainly part of some plot of revenge, considering what a douche Nicolas is. But it was still fun to read.