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greedily surrounding himself with the three most fascinating ladies at the ball—even after that there was still uncertainty. What if their manners were just too rustic for town tastes? What if their conversation was too dull? What if the dance steps with which they were familiar were different from the way the same dances were performed in town?
    And what if no one wanted to dance with Agnes?
    It seemed impossible to Anna, looking at her sister, to imagine that such a thing could possibly happen, especially when she was sure that Lady Sterne would see to it that she had partners, but even so it was an anxious time. Her stomach felt somewhat queasy as the carriage slowed and a glance out the window revealed a large mansion with all its windows ablaze with light. Its front doors were thrown back so that light spilled forth and splendidly clad ladies and gentlemen could be seen in the hall. A carpet had been laid down over the steps and across the pavement so that those alighting from carriages would not have to set their feet on hard ground.
    Agnes’s eyes were rather like saucers.
    â€œEgad,” Lord Quinn said as he handed down the ladies from his carriage, “but ’tis many a long day since I was like to be so much the focus of attention and envy. ’Tis to be wished that I had three arms, but I have been blessed with no more than two. Will you walk unescorted, Marj?”
    Anna had met Lord Quinn the day before and had been introduced to him as an old friend of her godmother’s. She liked him. He was of average height and inclined to stoutness. He was pleasant-looking and had kindly eyes. He must be about the same age as—as
him,
but very different in every other way. And he had a way of setting one at one’s ease. At the moment, as she took one of his arms and Agnes took the other, she could think of no one with whom she would rather make her entrance to her first London ball.
    â€œNervous, my dear?” he was asking Agnes.
    â€œA little, my lord,” Agnes admitted.
    â€œSome young man will dance the first minuet with you,” he said, “and after five minutes, if you remember at all that you were nervous, you will wonder at yourself and settle to enjoying the rest of the evening. And you, my dear?” He turned to Anna.
    â€œNo, my lord,” she lied. “I have come to observe and to enjoy the sights and sounds of a society ball. I have nothing to be nervous about.”
    He chuckled, and then Lady Sterne whisked the sisters away to the withdrawing room to straighten their skirts and check their hair and caps in the looking glass though there had been no wind outside to effect any damage.
    And so the moment came when they stepped for the first time inside a London ballroom. It was decked out with flowers and greenery so that it smelled like a summer garden in full bloom on a hot day. But the flowers were superfluous, Anna thought, gazing about her, robbed of breath for a moment. All the most sumptuous satins and silks and laces and jewels must be assembled in this one room, decking out the persons of the guests gathered there. It was hard to say whether the gentlemen or the ladies were the more colorful and gorgeous. The ladies perhaps had the advantage in the sheer size of their skirts and the amount of fabric and decoration that could be displayed. But the gentlemen had the advantage in the elegant cut of full-skirted coats and in the long waistcoats beneath, on which all of an embroiderer’s art could be displayed to full advantage.
    Anna thought of the rather sober, staid styles worn at home, and looked about her at London fashions.
    â€œWell?” Lady Sterne was asking her, a smile on her face.
    â€œâ€™Tis a new world,” Anna said. “One of whose existence I thought I was aware but was not.”
    â€œThe wonder you feel is in your face, child,” her godmother said. “You are not sorry now that I persuaded you to