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somewhere. There was a fire up ahead, and we had to stop. Bess pointed to it and told me to look. I remember she said, ‘What a spectacle.’”
    The picture was sharp in her mind. She had had to struggle to her knees on the seat of the coach and hang on tight to the strap to see out. The fire was being swept by high winds along an ancient row of tall wooden houses, many of them caulked with pitch so that they went up like torches, with a burst and a roar. Rainbows of sparks crackled over the street and a great pall of red smoke billowed into the heavens. Even far from the flames, ash fell, and the smell of charred wood caught at Ariel’s throat. Dazzled and terrified, she had listened to the fire breathing like a gigantic animal.
    â€œIt took a while to turn the carriage, because the street was so crowded,” she said breathlessly. “Bess was laughing and saying the fire was glorious. And then when we finally were moving again, all of a sudden she pounded on the roof and told John to stop the coach. She made me get up again and look out.” The pall of smoke had made it seem like dusk, she remembered. “There were people walking along the street, carrying whatever they’d managed to save from the fire. But Bess was pointing at an alleyway beyond them.”
    Ariel glanced quickly at her companion, then away. “It was narrow and twisting and muddy. The houses leaned, and their doors were all cracked and broken. There were piles of garbage rotting, and some kind of disgusting liquid running along the center of the lane.”
    Ariel stared at the wall and recited from memory. “My mother said: ‘I came from a place like that. When I was younger than you, I lived in just such a street. I fought dogs for scraps. I stole from the dead. Plenty of people died on that street.’” She let out her breath. “She shook me a little, then she said, ‘I want you to remember that. Will you remember?’”
    Lord Alan made a quick gesture, but said nothing.
    â€œI couldn’t forget,” Ariel finished with a shiver. “How could I? It was the only thing she ever told me about her past.” She looked down at her hands clenched on her lap. “She didn’t leave anything either. How will I ever find out her secrets?”
    The last came out on a desperate, rising note, and Ariel at once bit it back. Why had she told him this? Hadn’t she learned years ago that anything she confided would be giggled over in corners and used to humiliate? She had resolved never to tell anyone about herself again. And yet after two days’ acquaintance she had taken that terrible risk with this duke’s son. Her mind was becoming unhinged with grief, Ariel concluded. She had to get hold of herself—now. She had to change the subject. But looking up and meeting Lord Alan’s acute blue eyes, she could think of nothing to say.
    The girl looked positively frightened, Alan was thinking. He could see no reason for it, but the shadows in her eyes and the tension of her body were unmistakable. She was trying to hide the trembling of her hands. Clearly, the death of her mother had deeply affected her. But why fear? No doubt she was afraid of being alone, he decided. She was young and female, and thus constitutionally unable to appreciate the pleasures of solitary work and thought. It must be rather odd to have no family at all. “I have always been surrounded by dozens of relatives,” he said almost meditatively.
    Ariel stared as if he had said something completely unexpected.
    â€œA burdensome number,” he added.
    â€œBurdensome?” She looked even more astonished.
    That was better than frightened, he thought. “Yes. It often takes a good deal of ingenuity to keep clear of them.”
    She shook her head, as if a bit dazed. “Clear? You want to avoid seeing your family?”
    â€œSome disreputable third cousin or eccentric great-aunt is