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impulses.” With that Parthian shot she swept out, leaving Frances in her wake, prey to conflicting feelings of amusement, exasperation, and gratitude.
    It only remained for Frances to organize the twins and herself and leave instructions with the rest of the staff for the closing of Cresswell and preparation of the London house for their occupancy. This monumental task was far easier for her than convincing the people she loved to leave a place to which they all were so strongly attached. She truly did need to meet with her publisher, and though it was unconscious on her part, she did long for the mental stimulation of the metropolis with its plays, operas, exhibitions, and bookstores. It would never have occurred to her to think her life dull. Between the duties of the estate and the education and rearing of her younger brother and sister, she never had a quiet moment, but she did miss the interesting discussions she had enjoyed so much with her father. There was no one in the immediate area who understood her intellectual interests, much less shared them with her. Sir Lucius and his wife, though jovial and as kind as could be, didn't seem to feel the need to know or think about anything beyond the immediate concerns of farming and family, and looked with some suspicion at anyone who did. They had both adored her father, but whenever they had been with him, there had been something in their attitude that suggested apprehension that he might at any minute burst into wild philosophical speech rather like a madman.
    The following week found Kitty and a protesting Ned ensconced in Mainwaring's impressive mansion in Grosvenor Square, while Cassie, Frederick, Frances, Aunt Harriet, Wellington, Nelson, and the orchids were beginning to settle in close by in an elegant but less-imposing house in Brook Street. Within a few hours of arrival the household had reverted to normal. Cassie, summoned by Wellington to rescue Nelson from a precarious position in a tree, had torn her new pinafore. Freddie had discovered that the mews of London had far more horses and stableboys to befriend than the combined stables of Camberly and Cresswell. Higgins had taken the cook to task for selecting a scullery maid who was obviously in an interesting condition, turned the wench off, and procured a neat and willing young person much more suited to a genteel household. And Aunt Harriet, having bullied James, the youngest footman, was tenderly placing her orchids in the most advantageous positions, commiserating with them all the while on the miseries of a coach trip to London. Seeing that everyone and everything was in order, Frances, mindful of her most pressing reason for visiting the metropolis, dashed off a note to Kitty informing her of their safe arrival.
     

Chapter Five
     
    The note was delivered as that young damsel was trying on a bewitching confection just arrived from a very expensive milliner. Its high crown and broad brim trimmed with delicate plumes set her delicate features off to perfection and contrived to make her look both innocent and enticing. The bright red— ponceau, the modiste had called it—ribbons matched the trim and ruching on her striped walking dress, complimenting her large brown eyes, delicately rounded chin, rosebud mouth, dimples, and dusky curls. All in all, it was a very satisfying transformation from her serviceable brown merino. London would be thoroughly delightful, she thought, if she had a properly appreciative audience. The Cresswells were not the ideal audience for an attractive young girl, but they were an audience. And at present, they were the only ones she knew in town, so she decided to afford them the first taste of her newly fashionable appearance by taking a cup of tea with them and sharing news of the ton gleaned from her few previous days in the metropolis.
    Just as she had ordered that odiously superior Kilson to procure a chair—she was too much in awe of her uncle to dare to ask for the use