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father like that. But the Earl seemed helpless to control his child.
    "Alice, darling," he said after a moment, "Please be reasonable."
    Alice's answer was to stamp her foot and turn her back on them.
    Lord Lancing gave Rona a helpless shrug.
    It was time she took charge.
    "I think, my Lord, that I should like to talk to your daughter alone."
    The Earl looked at her in surprise. Then he gave a brief nod and walked from the room shutting the door behind him.
    Rona and Alice eyed each other.
    Then Rona said lightly,
    "It must be a bore for you, having to interview tiresome women like me."
    This approach was evidently new because Alice was taken aback, but she recovered herself enough to say defiantly.
    "Yes, it is."
    "I'm only curious about why you so dislike learning foreign languages."
    She had moved a little closer. Now she slipped off her glasses, so that Alice could see how near they were in age.
    "I hate the women who keep telling me that I am ignorant," said Alice sulkily.
    Rona laughed.
    "I don't blame you for that," she said. "I know exactly what they're like. When I was at school I used to daydream through a lot of my lessons."
    "But you have come here wanting to teach me, and I hate it. The others have tried and failed. Why should you succeed?"
    Rona thought quickly. She needed a new approach, one that would take Alice by surprise, and intrigue her.
    "I wonder what they taught you," she said, apparently casual. "You are very pretty and Frenchmen love pretty women. What are you going to say when one of them says, 'V ous êtes tres jolie,' and tries to kiss you?"
    The girl stared at her.
    "Do you think they'll say that?" she asked.
    "Of course," Rona replied. "And you must have an answer, otherwise they'll all be trying to kiss you, and your father will be shocked."
    "Supposing someone did want to kiss me? What do I answer?"
    "If you knew French you would say: ' Merci Monsieur, mais, non, non, non!' I suppose you know that means, no, no, no."
    Alice considered. Rona could see that she was torn between fascination and maintaining her defiance.
    "Suppose I wanted to kiss him?" she asked after a moment.
    "That is different altogether," Rona replied. "But it would be a great mistake to encourage him too soon. He'll want to flirt with you because you are so pretty, so you must have a clever and amusing way of answering him and making him behave himself."
    Alice regarded her, with her head on one side.
    "None of the others talked to me like this," she mused.
    "Maybe nobody had ever tried to kiss them?" Rona suggested. "Perhaps, without realising it, they were trying to make you as dull as themselves."
    "Am I really attractive?"
    "You are very pretty," Rona replied. "Whether you are attractive is a different thing. It depends on how charming you can be, how exciting, and how interesting."
    "My last governess said girls aren't supposed to be interesting. She was always trying to shut me up."
    "She was probably afraid that you'd say something she couldn't answer," said Rona. "I'm a little afraid of that myself."
    Unexpectedly Alice laughed.
    "No you aren't," she cried. "You can't fool me. You're not afraid of anything. I like you. Will you teach me to be like you?"
    "There are better things to be than like me. I'll tell you how to make yourself attractive and delightful to everyone you meet. That's what we all want to be, but sometimes it's very difficult."
    Rona added, apparently as an afterthought, "Of course, you'll need to buy a lot of new clothes in Paris."
    Alice looked at her impishly.
    "I don't believe you are really a governess at all," she said.
    Rona glanced towards the door to make sure it was safely closed.
    "I'll tell you the truth, but you must swear not to tell anyone else."
    "I promise," Alice replied.
    "Very well," Rona said. "I need to escape London because I'm being pressured to marry a man I don't like."
    Alice's eyes widened. "How thrilling!"
    "But of course if you don't want me, and won't work with me –