Free Crossed Quills by Carola Dunn Page B

marble-floored hall, and handsome staircase further increased Kitty’s rapture, and Pippa’s misgivings.
     “I know I shall enjoy myself excessively,” Kitty whispered as they followed the butler and their mother up the stairs. “Dearest Pippa, thank you again for consenting to—”
     “Hush, not a word. Pray recollect, it is Mama and our good friend Prometheus who have provided this opportunity.”
     “I shall not say a word,” Kitty promised, “even if Miss Warren and I become as close friends as you and Mrs Debenham. You have not told her?”
     Pippa shook her head, her finger to her lips. The butler opened a door and announced, “Mrs Lisle, Miss Lisle, Miss Catherine Lisle, madam.”
     He stepped aside. Mrs Lisle glanced back at her daughters with a smile, then moved forward into the room. Peering past her, Pippa held her breath. Would Albinia greet them with condescension, and make it plain she had invited them for her brother’s sake? Would she stare at their shabby clothes, forgetting she had once scraped and saved?
     How Pippa wished she had not come! It was not being an object of disdain she minded, it was the loss of the precious friendship, nurtured in absence, withering in the harsh light of reality.
     “Mrs Lisle, how utterly delightful to see you again!” Albinia Debenham swept forward with a rustle of silks, and took both Mrs Lisle’s hands in hers. “And how very kind of you to agree to lend us countenance, my sister and me. Allow me to present Millicent.”
     As Miss Warren made her curtsy and enthusiastically seconded her sister’s gratitude, Albinia turned to Pippa and without further ado enveloped her in a hug.
     “Dear, dear Pippa, how I have longed for this moment. What times we shall have together, just wait and see.” Blue eyes sparkling, holding Pippa’s hand, she turned to Kitty. “And you are Miss Catherine, of course. Yes, I see the resemblance. Welcome, my dear.”
     Pippa did not hear Kitty’s response. She was overwhelmed with shame for having misjudged Bina. If only she were like Mama and Kitty, always expecting the best of people. Though they might sometimes be disappointed, they suffered neither anxiety before, nor pangs of guilt afterwards.
     “Struck dumb, Pippa?” Bina said. Glancing at Miss Warren, she raised her eyes to heaven with a look of comical despair. Her sister was still chattering away to Mrs Lisle about someone called Aunt Prendergast. “I cannot blame you,” Bina continued. “You will soon learn to interrupt. Millie, pray come and make the acquaintance of Miss Lisle and Miss Catherine.”
     “Kitty, please, Mrs Debenham. How do you do, Miss Warren?” Kitty’s eyes sparkled with amusement as the full force of Millicent’s verbiage flooded over her.
     “Do call me Millie. We are going to be the greatest friends. It is above anything that you are come to stay! Coming out with a friend will be much more fun, do you not agree? And so very lucky you are dark and I am fair. We shall make quite a sensation, I am sure, though we must be careful to coordinate our colours. My favourite colour is blue, but Bina says we’ll have to wear white for grand balls because—”
     “My mother told me the same,” Kitty interrupted firmly, “and pale colours in general.”
     “Come up to my chamber and I shall show you the gowns I already have. Bina says she and Miss Lisle used to—”
     “Bina says, first show Miss Lisle and Miss Kitty to their chamber, if you please. They will want to put off their bonnets and pelisses. Pippa, Miss Kitty, I hope you will not mind sharing a chamber.”
     Pippa found her tongue at last. “Not in the least. “
     “When I first saw the size of London houses,” Kitty said gaily, “I quite expected we should have to sleep in the garrets, if not on the kitchen floor.”
     “Not quite so bad,” Bina said with a smile, “though even the best Town houses are wretchedly small compared to the country. Mrs