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“I’m trying to help you here, miss. That’s what you’ve got to answer if you want to get in to talk with Cap’n Jack. You can’t remember the name of your doll or your first pony.”
    â€œI never had a pony.”
    Darla went on as if Allie had not spoken: “And you barely recall your parents.”
    Allie stiffened her spine, if possible. “My mother died when I was young but I recall my father perfectly. He was the most learned gentleman of my experience, headmaster of his own academy. I would never dishonor his memory by saying otherwise.”
    Darla shook her head. “If you ain’t going to try to pass for Lottie, then what are you doing here?”
    â€œLottie?”
    Darla pointed to a painting on the wall, one Allie had barely noticed in her shocked survey of the room’s occupants. A young lady—obviously a lady by the jewels at her neck, the fine mansion at her back, and the dignity of her pose—stared back at her from the gilded frame. She had hair so light it might have been a sunbeam, and eyes so blue they could have been painted from a summer sky. She was the most beautiful woman Allie had ever seen, and a total stranger.
    â€œNow I know you ain’t been in London long. Everyone knows about the captain’s half-sister, what went missing fifteen years ago. They made the painting from her mother’s portrait and her cousin’s, ones that hang in the public rooms where everyone and his uncle can see them. The earl’s family’s been looking for her for all these years, and Cap’n Jack’s offering a king’s ransom to find her. That’s what all the blondes are here for, claiming to be Lady Charlotte Endicott.”
    Darla tipped her head to a newcomer, a true, pale-skinned blonde this time, who was dressed in fashionable black mourning, if not the finest quality fabrics. They could not see the young lady’s eye-color under an exquisite wide-brimmed and veiled black bonnet, but they could see that she was nervous, clutching her reticule and biting her lip.
    â€œYour turn is after Miss Silver here, miss,” Darla called out to her. “She won’t be long, neither, so you might get in afore they shut down the line at five o’clock. The next interview day is next Tuesday.”
    The younger woman nodded, but stood, staring at the picture that may or may not look like the missing heiress.
    Allie nudged Harriet with her elbow, to stop her from defacing her guardian’s furniture, and told Darla, “We know nothing about a missing girl, and need to speak to Captain Endicott on an entirely different matter.”
    â€œOh?” Darla asked, looking at the luggage that surrounded Allie and Harriet, obviously wishing for an explanation.
    Allie did not feel she could discuss the situation with anyone but Captain Endicott, so she said, “It is a private matter, I am afraid.”
    Now Darla was even more curious, her green eyes opened wide as her imagination took wing. “Well, you’ll have to tell it to Mr. Downs or you won’t get in. Those are the rules.” She stood up, heading for her place on the opposite bench, closer to the desk now that another woman had left while they were talking. “Good luck to you, then.”
    â€œAnd to you,” Allie said, wondering if Darla would think it lucky to be employed in this house, or why all the redheads and raven-haired women were here if they could not claim to be the missing young lady. Before she could ask, another female entered the waiting room, a beautiful redhead this time.
    Her flame-colored tresses were piled on the top of her head, and one dyed-green feather was fixed there, to trail down her porcelain cheek. She wore a green velvet gown that hugged every curve of her body. There were a great many lush curves.
    She ignored the women on the benches, curled her lip at Harriet, who curled hers right back, and sailed past Darla