"Do you think it will do?" Hettie asked, with a worried glance to Laura, the expert. "It has a ballroom, and the dining room seats twenty. We hired the servants with the house, just bringing our own groom. And, of course, my dresser and Livvie's woman went on ahead of us to make things ready."

"It will do admirably," Laura decreed. Much better than the little house from which I made my bows five years ago, she added to herself.

All was elegance inside. An impressive butler, Collins, greeted them at the door and led them into a marble-floored entrance. Statues in niches peered down on them from the walls. The first glimpse showed a staircase flowing gracefully upward at their left. They went into the largest saloon, an impressive chamber created by Adam, with embossed ceilings and two of his famous fireplaces. The predominant color, set by curtains and sofas, was a pale strawlike gold. Some green in the carpet and odd chairs gave the feeling of a meadow in spring.

"It was hired furnished, of course," Hettie said. "Lord Montford is not coming to London this year. The estate agent said he needed the money, poor soul. He must be in deep trouble to let out his house to strangers for a thousand pounds."

"That is pretty steep for six weeks!" Mrs. Harwood exclaimed.

"I feel badly taking advantage of him. But then we are taking the hire of his servants off his hands, so in all he will be getting two thousand. I hope it helps to settle his cash problem. Now before we take another step, ladies, what do you say to a nice cup of tea?"

Hettie hobbled on her thorn stick to the most uncomfortable-looking chair in the room and eased herself into it with a grunt. She needed a firm chair for her back. Olivia found the bell cord and pulled it, and in minutes, servants appeared bearing silver trays laden with tea and dainties.

The evening was spent settling into their new home and perusing the journals for entertainments.

"How will anyone know we are here?" Hettie asked.

"We must put a notice in the journals," Laura said.

Hettie just shook her head at such cleverness and repeated once again that she didn't know what they should do without her.

Chapter Three

Even Olivia and Hettie were not so green as to think anything took precedence over a trip to the shops the next morning. They had to see what wares were for sale and, of course, check out the toilettes of the other ladies. Laura went to Olivia's room to prevent her from donning her green uniform with the brass buttons and epaulettes. She found Olivia and her dresser, Fanny, a country woman in her mid-twenties, just sorting through the gowns in the clothespress.

Fanny had the appearance of a kitchen servant, not only in her cap and apron, but in that she had herself not a trace of elegance. Ladies' dressers were usually as stylish as their mistresses' castoff garments could make them.

"What should I wear, cousin?" Olivia asked, and stood waiting to be told.

This was Laura's first chance to see the girl's entire wardrobe, and it was a depressing sight. Much money had been spent on buying expensive material, then having it fashioned into gowns suitable for an ambitious merchant's wife in Cornwall. The fault was largely one of excess, however, and a good modiste could no doubt tame the outfits down to acceptability. Laura selected the plainest gown in the closet and a blue pelisse.

"Lord a'mighty!" Fanny exclaimed. "You never mean you're going to wear those old rags, with a dozen new gowns hanging in the closet? You'll be a laughing stock, Miss Livvie."

"Miss Harwood knows what should be worn," Olivia said doubtfully, and handed Fanny the gown. Fanny's grumble was not entirely audible, but its gist seemed to be that Miss Harwood didn't want any competition.

When Fanny had left, Laura said, "Do you always let your servants speak so freely, Olivia?"

"I pay no heed to Fanny. She is an old grouch, but she has been with me from the cradle, you know, and I cannot be savage with her. She loves me like a sister."

There was one more hurdle to be got over before they left, and that was to forbid taking the berlin onto the busy streets of London.

"It is much too large. It would clog the street and hold up traffic," Laura explained. "Indeed our own traveling carriage is too large, but as we have nothing else, we must take it."

"But what about my back?" Hettie demanded.

"Our carriage seats are much harder than yours," Mrs. Harwood assured her.

The matter caused a little ill feeling, but in the end they took the Harwood's carriage, with a special padded board for Hettie's back. She called this item her recliner and held it in high esteem. She had brought it from Cornwall, in case Lord Montford's chairs proved uncomfortable.

As they bowled along New Bond Street, with carriages so close you could reach out and touch them, Hettie allowed that the berlin would not do for London. "We must get a city carriage," she said, as calmly as if she spoke of a bonnet.

"Laura's friend will arrange for it," Olivia said. "He is going to buy me a mount at Tattersall's."

"Who is this gentleman, Laura?" Hettie asked. "Will you drop him a note and ask him to call?"

As Laura had no idea whom she might apply to, she said, "I have no one particular friend in mind, Mrs. Traemore. I shall think about it." The only name that occurred to her was their own family groom. In a pinch, Parkins could do it.

"We shall want the carriage right away."

They alighted and spent a delightful hour strolling through the shops, buying a few gewgaws, and ogling the ladies' toilettes.

"The ladies are very skimpy dressers," was Hettie's comment. "I expected more elegance. Why, you see prettier bonnets than this at home in St. Ives' Church on Sunday."

Laura was busily examining an arrangement of silk flowers in a shop window, wondering if the primroses might lend an air of style to last year's bonnet, when she felt a touch on her arm, and a man's voice said, "It is Miss Harwood, is it not?"

She looked up, surprised, and recognized Mr. Meadows. She would not have called him an old friend, exactly-more of an old acquaintance. Although he did not live in her parish, he had relatives there and had been attending the assemblies on and off for some years. A respectable bachelor of some fortune and a fairly pleasing countenance, he was not the sort of gentleman to excite a lady to passion. He was tall and rather heavy. His hair was dark, his features regular, but lacking that dash of liveliness that might have won him the term 'handsome.'

"Mr. Meadows, what a pleasant surprise.”

"Are you in London for the Season?" he asked.

"Yes, with my cousin." She introduced the others, and they stood chatting while the crowds strolled by.

If she had met Mr. Meadows on the street of Whitchurch, they would not have exchanged more than three phrases. Having met in London, however, made them feel closer. Mr. Meadows asked if he could buy the ladies a cup of coffee.

Hettie expressed keen interest in a cup of tea, and before more was said, he had whisked them into a tea shop.

"Where are you staying?" Mr. Meadows asked, and was told.

"I hope you will call on us, if you have a moment free, Mr. Meadows," Laura said. "We do not have many friends in London yet."

"Is Baron Pilmore in town?" he asked Olivia, and had confirmed what he already suspected. The baroness was a deb. "Where are you from?" he asked with growing interest.

"I am from Cornwall," she replied.

"You have had a long trip!" he said, smiling equally at Olivia and her chaperone.

"We could never have done it without the berlin," Hettie told him. "It is an old carriage. It causes a bit of bother on the highways, but it gives a wonderful ride."

A little smile of surprise lit up his face. "A berlin, you say? I believe I… saw it myself. A green, rounded roof?" His eyes met Laura's; she blushed.

"Mrs. Traemore plans to buy a town carriage," she said.

"And I want to buy a mount," Olivia added, looking significantly at Laura.

Laura caught her meaning at once. As Mr. Meadows was being uncommonly friendly, she said, "Perhaps you could advise us, Mr. Meadows. We are four ladies without the benefit of a man in our household."

There is nothing more likely to flatter a gentleman than to be appealed to for advice on horses and carriages. Mr. Meadows knew of half a dozen excellent rigs and mounts that were on the block. The ladies spent the next half hour outlining their needs. Olivia wanted a lively goer for herself, and it was soon made clear that money was no object in the purchase of the carriage. The only stricture was that it must have a good, firm backing for Mrs. Traemore. After two cups of tea, he escorted them to their carriage, promising to devote his afternoon to securing what they wanted and to call on them that same evening to report.

"He seemed very gentlemanly," Hettie said. "I am so thankful that you came with us, Laura, for Livvie and I would have had no notion how to set about finding a carriage and horse."

They returned home for lunch, with Laura in high aroma. She was grateful that Mr. Meadows had come to her rescue, but one gentleman hardly constituted the necessary circle of friends for a successful debut. When she discussed the matter with her mother, they decided that as they were staying at such a fine house, they might screw themselves up to dropping Mrs. Aubrey a note. She was Mr. Meadows's aunt, the relative he visited at Whitchurch. She was toplofty and domineering, but she might open a few doors.

Before the note could be written, Collins came to the door and announced, "Mrs. Aubrey, to see Mrs. Harwood."