Page 17 (1/2)

"What a lovely hat," Felicity said to Ivy snidely

Lady Maccon ignored her sister "I am sorry, Ivy I would have invited you You knoould, but my mother insisted, and you kno utterly iloomy She came fully into the room and sat down Her dress was subdued for Ivy: a si only one row of red ruffles and fewer than six bows--although the ruffles were very puffy, and the boere very large

"I a is terribly unsafe, even so," added Felicity, "Us to alone Don’t you think you should ask several iment to accompany--?"

"No, I most certainly should not!" replied Lady Maccon sharply "But I do believe Professor Lyall will insist upon Tunstell joining us as escort"

Felicity pouted "Not that horrible redheaded thespian chap? He is so fearfully jolly Must he coet some nice soldier instead?"

Miss Hisselpenny quite bristled upon hearing Tunstell disparaged "Why, Miss Loontwill, how bold you are with your opinions of youngof I’ll thank you not to cast windles and dispersions about like that"

"At least I ah to have an opinion," snapped Felicity back

Oh dear, thought Alexia, here we go She wondered what a "windle" was

"Oh," Miss Hisselpenny gasped "I certainly do have an opinion about Mr Tunstell He is a brave and kindly gentle look "And now here I sit, Miss Hisselpenny, thinking it is you who is probably overly faentleman in question"

Ivy blushed as red as her hat

Alexia cleared her throat Ivy should not have been so bold as to reveal her feelings openly to one such as Felicity, but Felicity was behaving like a veritable harpy If this was ainto her behavior of late, no wonder Mrs Loontanted her out of the house

"Stop it, both of you"

Miss Hisselpenny turned big, beseeching eyes upon her friend "Alexia, are you certain you cannot see your way to allowing ible, and I should so very much like to see Scotland"

In truth, Ivy was vastly afraid of floating and had never before showed any interest in geography outside of London Even inside London, her geographic concerns centered heavily on Bond Street and Oxford Circus, for obvious pecuniary reasons Alexia Maccon would have to be a fool not to realize that Ivy’s interest lay in Tunstell’s presence

"Only if you believe your mother and your fiancé can spare you," said Lady Maccon, eht remind Ivy of her prior commitment and force her to see reason

Miss Hisselpenny’s eyes shone "Oh, thank you, Alexia!"

And there went the reason Felicity looked as though she had just been forced to s a live eel

Lady Maccon sighed Well, if she must have Felicity as companion, she could do worse than to have Miss Hisselpenny along as well "Oh dear," she said "Aible Invitational?"

Felicity gave her an inscrutable look and Ivy beamed

"I shall just head back to town to obtain Mama’s permission and to pack What time do we float?"

Lady Maccon told her And Ivy was off and out the front door, never having told Alexia why she had jaunted all the way out to Woolsey Castle in the first place

"I shudder to think what that wo," said Felicity

CHAPTER SIX

The Lady’s Dirigible Invitational