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weren’t so, well, managing.”
    â€œThat’s like wishing the sky weren’t quite so blue,” Miss Sewell said, not unkindly. “And you must remember, all that management has helped bring you this far.”
    â€œSo you’re saying we must simply trust her, and Madelene?”
    â€œI’m very much afraid, Adele, you have no other choice.”

IV
    Madelene slipped quietly through the front door of the grand house Lady Reginald had rented for the season. She was halfway up the stairs before the maid came out of the drawing room.
    â€œLady Reginald has been asking for you, Miss Valmeyer,” the girl said, with a look of apology.
    Madelene sighed. “All right, Rose. Will you take up my bonnet and coat?”
    Madelene walked through the stiffly furnished rooms. There were no good, old things in this house, no homey comforts like beloved armchairs or familiar ornaments. Lady Reginald believed that a house must be completely refurnished every year or two to keep up with current fashions. This belief persisted no matter how much her husband might rage about the bills.
    Glorietta, Madelene’s youngest stepsister, who was poring over a set of fashion plates in the drawing room, looked up as she passed.
    â€œSome-one’s in trou-ble,” Glorietta said in a gleeful singsong. Madelene could only hope the girl didn’t see how her hands shook.
    The parlor doors were closed, but Madelene could still hear the voices rising and falling in the other room. It wasn’t just Lady Reginald on the other side of the door. Lewis waited in there as well.
    Get on with it
.
It will only be worse if you keep her waiting.
    Madelene raised one trembling hand and knocked.
    â€œCome in,” her stepmother called impatiently. “Ah, Madelene, here you are.”
    Mama was sitting on the pink velveteen sofa. It contrasted beautifully with the burgundy walls, not to mention her tasteful claret dress. She looked as if she’d dressed specifically for her setting. No matter what she wore, though, Lady Reginald was a commanding presence. Tall and statuesque, with bright golden hair and eyes that were a unique shade of violet. It was rumored those extraordinary eyes had once captured the heart of one of the royal dukes. Of course, no one believed that captivation had been caused entirely by her eyes.
    â€œâ€™Bout time you got home,” growled Lewis, who was standing in front of the fireplace. He looked even more disheveled than he had at the gallery, and Madelene couldn’t help noticing one of his rings was missing. Had he lost it to a gamester or a pawnbroker? “Can’t think what you’re about, Mother, letting her out with that novelist person, not to mention the Fitzgerald bluestocking and the Endicott dumpling!”
    â€œLewis,” Lady Reginald said quietly.
    â€œI’m sorry, Mother, but the girl’s running positively wild! I practically had to call out that artist fellow this afternoon.” He drummed his fingers restlessly on the marble mantelpiece. “Would have, too, but, well, it’d probably mean leaving the country after, and I knew how that’d upset you.”
    â€œIt would, very much, dear,” his mother said indulgently.
    Madelene dropped her gaze toward the carpet, her cheeks burning.
    â€œYes, you may very well blush, missy,” Lewis said loftily. “Home’s the proper place for a young woman, not gadding about with artists!”
    â€œI wasn’t doing anything wrong, Mama,” Madelene said. Lady Reginald had insisted Madelene call her Mama from the moment she moved in. Madelene had tried to accustom herself to it and failed. “It was a public exhibition, and . . .”
    â€œHuh. Only public exhibition
I
saw was the one you were making of yourself!”
    â€œThat’s enough, Lewis,” Lady Reginald said, with that edge to her tone that seldom failed to silence her son.