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without a nod. Instead of taking her place at the end of Darla’s bench, however, she glided down the length of the room, nodded toward Mr. Downs, and sailed through the door behind him.
    â€œShe has weasels around her neck!” Harriet exclaimed before the door could shut. A few of the other women laughed.
    â€œDead ones,” Allie whispered, trying not to show her own distaste. “A fur tippet.” Then she leaned toward Darla and asked, “That is not Mrs. Endicott, is it?” Such a cold woman would not want Harriet around, or Allie.
    â€œCap’n Jack married?” One of the women slapped her knee.
    Another gave a snicker. “Don’t she wish, though.”
    Darla stepped back closer to Allie, glaring at the door where the Diamond had disappeared.
    â€œThat’s Mademoiselle Rochelle Poitier, who’s as French as I am. She’s nobbut Rachel Potts, putting on airs now that she’s become the captain’s—”
    Allie clapped her hands over Harriet’s ears. She was all too aware of what place a woman like Rochelle Poitier held in a rake’s life. Harriet was too young to understand. Or so Allie prayed.
    Once more her prayers went unanswered.
    â€œOw! If she’s his mistress, will she be my mother?”
    Now Allie put her hand over Harriet’s mouth, before any of the women could overhear. Harriet bit her, but not hard. “Will she?” she asked when Allie pulled her hand away.
    â€œNo. Gentlemen, especially not the sons of earls, do not marry their, ah…”
    â€œLadybirds?”
    Allie could accept that, barely. “Their ladybirds. And they do not discuss such things as, ah, ladybirds, with gently bred females, especially not young girls. So do not let him think you are a rag-mannered guttersnipe, speaking of matters of which you should have no knowledge.” Captain Endicott might blame Mrs. Semple for the child’s precociousness, and Allie by association. “Remember, we need to make a good impression.” She tried to fix Harriet’s hair ribbon—her hair ribbon—again.
    â€œThen maybe you ought to unbutton your collar and pinch your cheeks and puff out your chest. Although I don’t suppose you have much to puff out. Not like Darla and the rest.”
    Allie wondered if she ought to speak to Captain Endicott herself, without Harriet. Happily, as one woman after another went up to the desk, some to leave, some to pass through the portals to the next test, Harriet fell asleep, leaning against Allie. Allie did not have the heart to awaken her, nor the desire. So when newcomers entered the room, she simply said, “I am after Darla,” and stayed in her place at the bench. After what seemed like hours, only Darla was ahead of her.
    The plump redhead must have passed the first test, for she turned and waved to Allie, grinning. Allie stood up before Mr. Downs could call “Next,” and gently laid Harriet’s head down on the bench, cushioned by Allie’s cape.
    â€œWill you keep an eye on her?” she asked the young blond woman who was after her on the line, the one who wore such a pretty black bonnet.
    The girl nodded.
    â€œThank you. Oh, and your brothers’ names are Jonathan and Alexander, you do not remember your first pony’s name, or anything about your family.”
    The woman bit her lip again, and nodded again.
    Just as Allie was about to take the seat in front of Mr. Downs’s desk, a clock started chiming.
    â€œFive o’clock,” he said, sounding relieved. “No more—”
    â€œNo more after me,” Allie insisted, quickly lowering herself onto the cushioned chair and placing both hands firmly on its wooden arms, indicating that Mr. Downs would need brute force, and a lot of it, to dislodge her. “My name is Allison Silver and I am not leaving until I speak with Captain Endicott. And no, I am not here to seek a housemaid’s position