Read Laurie Brown for Free Online Page B

to relocate the table of precedence in the book she’d glanced at earlier. She was comfortable in the role
     of student and was confident she would excel and maybe even surprise Deverell.
    Besides, she hadn’t been raised in a barn. She knew which fork to use.They wouldn’t have to tell her not to drink from the
     finger bowl.
    “The host leads the procession with the highest-ranking woman on his arm. The hostess is last in line, escorted by the highest-ranking
     man. All the other pairs of guests range in between with any extra unescorted guests left to follow behind. Of course the
     goal is to have an even number of male and female guests so as to have everyone paired with a dinner partner of the opposite
     sex.”
    “Top to bottom, bottom to top,” Josie said.“I’ve got it.”
    Deverell snorted and rolled his eyes.
    Amelia giggled. “That would pair the second highest female with the lowest male. Hardly appropriate. Perhaps it would help
     to envision them at the table.” She borrowed Josie’s pen and paper and drew a diagram.“Fourteen was considered the ideal number
     to seat at a table.The highest-ranking woman is to the right of the host, the second-highest woman on his left.The highest-ranking
     man is to the left of the hostess, the second-highest man on her right. That puts the third man to the left of the second
     woman, making them partners. The third woman sits to the right of the second man, making them partners.”
    “I see a pattern,” Josie said as Amelia drew little boxes for chairs and labeled them. “Sort of like giving each rank a number
     that corresponds to a particular chair.”
    “If only it were that easy. Suppose the third woman is married to the second man. They can’t be seated next to each other.
     The point of going out to dinner is to converse with someone other than your spouse.”
    Deverell leaned forward. “Add to that, who sat next to whom at your last dinner party, and who was paired with whom by some
     other hostess the previous evening.”
    “Then there are likes and dislikes,” Amelia said. “And personalities.You wouldn’t partner an avid bluestocking...”
    “I would not invite an avid bluestocking,” he said.
    “... with Deverell,”Amelia finished, as if he hadn’t interrupted her. “A guest would never say anything rude to upset the
     hostess, but a reputation can be shattered.”
    “I remember a particular incident,” Deverell said with a wicked grin. “I can’t recall her name, but a duchess was seated next
     to a man she absolutely loathed. When the table turned, requiring her to speak to him, she recited the multiplication tables
     rather than cause a scene. She vowed never to attend another dinner party given by that hostess.”
    “Oh, dear. I do hope it wasn’t your mother,” Amelia said.
    Deverell laughed.“No. Mother had a plethora of poor relatives with decent titles who lived nearby and who could spout inane
     dinner chatter at the drop of a fork. Fortunately for her, they also had enormous appetites and were always eager to fill
     out a table of fourteen on short notice.”
    Josie scribbled furiously. “Wait a minute.” She held up one finger while she flipped back through her notebook pages. “You
     said something about a table I didn’t understand.”
    “You don’t know what the multiplication tables are?” Deverell asked with mock horror.
    Josie spared him a quick, scathing glance as she flipped through her notes.“Here it is.You said when the table turned . What’s that?” She had a fleeting image of a dining room table built like a lazy Susan. Conversational spin the bottle.
    “When a hostess speaks to the man on her left, each female guest speaks to the man on her left,” Amelia said.“The hostess
     turns the table by speaking to the man on her right. Each woman follows her lead and speaks to the man on her right.”
    Josie liked her own explanation better.At least it sounded like more fun. She shook her head and