Page 51 (1/1)

One

After several er and shaative emotion anyone cared to nae of her life on a sunny, blustery e of twenty-two She had not needed to take charge before the great catastrophe a few months before because she had been a lady—Lady Camille Westcott to be exact, eldest child of the Earl and Countess of Riverdale—and ladies did not have or need control over their own lives Other people had that instead: parents, overnesses, chaperons, husbands, society at large—especially society at large with its myriad rules and expectations, most of them unwritten but nonetheless real on that account

But she needed to assert herself now She was no longer a lady She was now simply Miss Westcott, and she was not even sure about the name Was a bastard entitled to her father’s na unknown She had no idea what to expect of it There were no more rules, no more expectations There was noIf she did not take charge and do so, ould?

It was a rhetorical question, of course She had not asked it aloud in anyone’s hearing, but no one would have had a satisfactory answer to give her even if she had So she was doing so about it herself It was either that or cower in a dark corner soer a lady, but she was, by God, a person She was alive—she was breathing She was someone

Caer sister, lived with theirhouses in the prestigious Royal Crescent in Bath It stood atop a hill above the city, splendidly visible fro inward curve of ian houses all joined into one, open parkland sloping doard before it But the vieorked both ways Frothe inhabitants of the Crescent could gaze doard over the city and across the river to the buildings beyond and on out to the countryside and hills in the distance It was surely one of the loveliest views in all England, and Cahted in it as a child whenever her ht her with her brother and sister on extended visits to their grandparents It had lost much of its appeal, however, now that she was forced to live here in what felt very like exile and disgrace, though neither she nor Abigail had done anything to deserve either fate

She waited on that sunny one out, as they often did, to the Pump Room down near Bath Abbey to join the promenade of the fashionable world Not that the fashionable world was as ie number of the inhabitants noere seniors, who liked the quiet gentility of life here in stately surroundings Even the visitors tended to be older people who caly, that their health was the better for i ordeal upon theed theh that was now considered a little extreme and old-fashioned

Abigail liked going to the Pus and company, and apparently her exquisite youthful beauty was h she did not receive many invitations to private parties or even to more public entertainments She was not, after all, quite respectable despite the fact that Grandmama was eminently so Camille had always steadfastly refused to accohtOn the rare occasions when she did step out, usually with Abby, she did so with stealth, a veil draped over the brim of her bonnet and pulled down over her face, for nized

Not today, however And, she vowed to herself, never again She was done with the old life, and if anyone recognized her and chose to give her the cut direct, then she would give it right back It was time for a new life and new acquaintances And if there were a few bu from one world to the other, well, then, she would deal with them

After Grandmama and Abby had left, she dressed in one of thedresses, and donned a bonnet to match She put on comfortable shoes, since the sort of dainty slippers she had alorn in the days when she traveled everywhere by carriage were useless now except to wear indoors Finally taking up her gloves and reticule, she stepped out onto the cobbled street without waiting for a servant to open and hold the door for her and look askance at her lone state, perhaps even try to stop her or send a foot after her She stood outside for a fewupon panic and wondering if perhaps after all she should scurry back inside to hide in darkness and safety In her whole life she had rarely stepped beyond the confines of house or walled park unaccompanied by a family member or a servant, often both But those days were over, even though Grandue the point Camille squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and strode off downhill in the general direction of Bath Abbey

Her actual destination, however, was a house on Northumberland Place, near the Guildhall and the e, which spanned the River Avon with grandiose elegance It was a building indistinguishable froian edifices hich the city abounded, solid yet pleasing to the eye and three stories high, not counting the basement and the attic, except that this one was actually three houses that had been made into one in order to accommodate an institution

An orphanage, to be precise

It here Anna Snow, more recently Lady Anastasia Westcott, now the Duchess of Netherby, had spent her childhood It here she had taught for several years after she grew up It was from there that she had been summoned to London by a solicitor’s letter And it was in London that their paths and their histories had converged, Cahts beyond her wildest ied to depths lower than her worst nightmares