“As will I,” Maggie said.

“I don’t look so bad to you now that you realize what your choices are, though, do I?” Teddy added with a smarmy smile. “You passed on a young, handsome millionaire in favor of a thousand-year-old duke. Good work, Maggie. That was really using your brain. What a fool!”

It took every ounce of Maggie’s self-control not to leap at him and rake his face with her nails. He was the most arrogant, conceited person she’d ever met. “I can’t wait until you leave here,” she spat.

“Neither can I,” Teddy shot back. “It won’t be long now, either. I turn eighteen next month and then the family fortune will be mine. Jessica and I will be gone the next day; You can count on that. The only reason we came in the first place was to cull some social standing from the Darlington name. What a mistake that turned out to be. After these satires make the rounds, your precious family name will be so irrevocably tarnished you’ll want to change it.”

* * *

“Breathe, Lila, please!” Ian crouched in front of the straight-back floral damask couch where Lila sat sobbing and hyperventilating. “You’re going to pass out.”

Lila’s hands were pressed against her collarbone as her chest heaved up and down. “I-I-I-I,” was all she could manage to say. These newspaper satires were so awful! Her coming out into society was only a year and some months away, and now it was ruined. She was a laughingstock. Who would want to be seen at her ball? What young man would ever ask her out?

Wesley strode into the room. “There you are! I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

“I think she’s hysterical,” Ian explained, answering the unspoken question in Wesley’s eyes.

Wesley dropped down onto the couch beside Lila and took hold of her shoulders. “Calm down, Lila! It’s not that bad. Really!”

The sound of her big brother’s voice filtered through the haze of panic surrounding Lila and gradually her heartbeat slowed and her breathing followed. “That’s the girl,” she heard him say. Through her tears, his familiar face slowly came into focus. “You’re not facing this alone, Lila. We’re all here and we’ll get through this together.”

Lila gulped in great swallows of air as her tears subsided.

“There might even be a positive side to all this,” Wesley added.

With her curiosity piqued, Lila rubbed the tears from her eyes. “A positive side?”

Wesley sat back on the couch and folded his arms. “Well, consider this. Suppose everyone does guess that we’re the Worthless family.” He stopped to chuckle. “I sort of think the name is amusing.”

“Oh, how can you?” Lila scolded.

“Well, maybe not. But anyway, now that it’s out in the open that the Darlington fortune isn’t what it once was, there’s no more reason to pretend. If the need to keep up appearances is gone, then Father might seriously entertain my ideas about modernizing the estate business, selling off what we can.”

“Business?” Lila cried, shocked. “This is our home. You’re the one who will inherit the place; why would you want it sold?”

“Because we need the money now, Lila,” Wesley explained. “The farmers are abandoning our lands to procure jobs in the city. No one wants to do that sort of labor for little more than room and board on our lands when they could make their own salary. And Wentworth Hall depends in large part on the money made from those farms.”

“I can’t believe it.” Lila echoed in disbelief.

“The estate is enormous. Do we honestly need all of this land? And the stables! Do we need all these horses? Mother says Maggie doesn’t ride anymore. Motorcars are becoming more and more common these days, and the few who haven’t already will soon be switching over, so there’s no need for carriage horses anymore.”

“You can’t let Michael go!” Lila objected.

“Michael’s a fine worker. He’ll find a position elsewhere. We’ll help get him placed if he wants. I could even look into city jobs for him.”

Lila shook her head. “Oh, Wes, I don’t know.”

Wesley put his arm around Lila and handed her his white linen handkerchief. “Wipe your eyes and blow your nose,” he suggested. “We’re going into the modern world and it’s time the Darlingtons caught up with it.”

“But what are we going to do about these satires?” Lila asked.

“We’re going to ignore them,” Wesley replied. “No one else has caught on that they might be about us. Or at least we haven’t heard about it.”

“They’re just silly, really,” Ian agreed.

“Easy for you to say. You two aren’t in them,” Lila pointed out.

“True, but you mustn’t let them bother you so much,” Wesley insisted. “I’m almost sorry I brought them to everyone’s attention.”

“You had to,” Lila said.

“I suppose I did,” Wesley agreed, “but still… stiff upper lip and all that.”

“It’s hard to do,” Lila complained.

“This will blow over,” Ian said encouragingly.

Lila really looked at him for the first time since he’d arrived. His brown eyes were flecked with specks of green and gold, which was rather striking. He might be shorter than Wes and Teddy, but he had nice broad shoulders. “Do you really think so?” she asked, unconvinced.

“Yes, I do,” Ian stated. “And if you don’t mind my saying, the satires have it all wrong anyway. Particularly when it comes to you.”

“So do you think I seem like the kind of girl who fades into the background?” Lila dared to ask.

“Absolutely not,” Ian insisted adamantly. “It’s very clear that whoever wrote these ridiculous pieces doesn’t know you very well, or even at all.”

For the first time in hours Lila smiled gently.

“If you were in America you wouldn’t even be bothering about any of this,” Ian went on. “In Newport, Rhode Island, where I come from, there are lots of wealthy families with lovely homes who don’t have titles and are proud that they made their fortunes on their own. The first of the Astor family, one of the wealthiest in the country, came from Holland and set up shop in New York City as a butcher. The family is proud of it.”

“He’s right,” Wesley agreed.

“But the things they said about me,” Lila reminded them.

“If you laugh about it, everyone else will too,” Ian insisted. “Besides, no one will recognize the beautiful girl I see from those descriptions.”

Lila’s teary eyes brightened. “That’s nice of you to say.”

“It’s true!” Ian maintained.

Therese appeared at the doorway, holding the baby. “Who is this?” Wesley asked under his breath, clearly impressed with Therese’s beauty.

“Are you ready for your French lesson, Mademoiselle Lila?” Therese inquired. “I’m about to take James for his nap.”

“Right. I forgot all about that. Yes, I’ll be there in a few minutes. But first some introductions,” Lila said. “Therese, this is my brother Wes, and his friend Ian Martin,” Lila made the introduction.

“Bonjour,” Therese greeted them, paying special attention to Wesley.

Wesley and Ian stood politely. “Nice to meet you, Therese,” Wesley said as he went to her side. “And this must be my baby brother.” He looked at James in Therese’s arms as she bounced him gently, causing the baby to giggle with delight.

“Look at those green eyes and dark hair. He doesn’t look much like the rest of us, does he?” Wesley observed.

“He must take after his father, then,” Therese said.

“Father does have dark hair,” Lila pointed out. “What’s left of it, anyway. Funny how the rest of us went on Mother. All blond hair and brown eyes.”

“Yes,” Therese demurred. “Funny.”

Therese bent over James’s crib to lay him down for his late afternoon nap. He cooed at her, his little arms and legs windmilling. She rubbed his belly to settle him and sang a French lullaby that named all the French cathedrals in a lilting melody. Finally his green eyes drifted shut and she laid his crocheted blanket over him. Maybe people would expect her to resent little Lord James for being born into a life of privilege. But she felt a kinship with this tiny baby. He, too, had been manipulated like a chess piece. The only difference between them was that he ended up on the right side.

Settling on the mahogany rocking chair beside the crib, she waited to make sure he was truly asleep before leaving the nursery. He was such a beautiful baby, but it was true that he didn’t look like the others in his family. How they could not realize whom he did look like was beyond her. The Darlingtons were so wrapped up in themselves it was as if the servants didn’t exist.