A silence fell as all four sisters pondered their rakes. Eventually, Caroline spoke. "Sarah, what are
you planning?''
Sarah wriggled her shoulders against the sundial's pedestal. "Well, it occurred to me that perhaps I
should make some effort to bring things to a head. But if I did the obvious, and started wildly flirting
with a whole bevy of gentlemen, then most likely I'd only land myself in the suds. For a start, Darcy would very likely not believe it and I'd probably end with a very odd reputation. I'm not good at it,
like Bella."
Arabella put her head on one side, the better to observe her sister. "I could give you lessons,"
she offered.
"No," said Caroline. "Sarah's right. It wouldn't wash." She turned to Lizzie to say, "Another problem,
my love, is that rakes know all the tricks, so bamming them is very much harder."
"Too true," echoed Arabella. She turned again to Sarah. "But if not that, what, then?"
A wry smile touched Sarah's lips. "I rather thought the pose of the maiden forlorn might better suit me. Nothing too obvious, just a subtle withdrawing. I'd still go to all the parties and balls, but I'd just
become quieter and ever so gradually, let my…what's the word, Caro? My despair? My broken heart? Well, whatever it is, show through."
Her sisters considered her plan and found nothing to criticise. Caroline summed up their verdict
"In truth, my dear, there's precious little else you could do."
Sarah's eyes turned to Arabella. "But what are you going to do about Lord Denbigh?"
Arabella's attention had returned to her toes. She wrinkled her pert nose. "I really don't know. I can't make him jealous; as Caro said, he knows all those tricks. And the forlorn act would not do for me."
Arabella had tried every means possible to tie down the elusive Hugo but that large gentleman seemed
to view her attempts with sleepy humour, only bestirring himself to take advantage of any tactical error she made. At such times, as Arabella had found to her confusion and consternation, he could move with ruthless efficiency. She was now very careful not to leave any opening he could exploit to be private
with her.
''Why not try…?" Caroline broke off, suddenly assailed by a twinge of guilt at encouraging her sisters
in their scheming. But, under the enquiring gaze of Sarah and Arabella, not to mention Lizzie, drinking
it all in, she mentally shrugged and continued. "As you cannot convince him of your real interest in any other gentleman, you'd be best not to try, I agree. But you could let him understand that, as he refused
to offer marriage, and you, as a virtuous young lady, are prevented from accepting any other sort of
offer, then, with the utmost reluctance and the deepest regret, you have been forced to turn aside and consider accepting the attentions of some other gentleman."
Arabella stared at her sister. Then, her eyes started to dance. "Oh, Carol" she breathed. "What a
perfectly marvellous plan!"
"Shouldn't be too hard for you to manage," said Sarah. "Who are the best of your court for the
purpose? You don't want to raise any overly high expectations on their parts but you've loads of experience in playing that game."
Arabella was already deep in thought. "Sir Humphrey Bullard, I think. And Mr. Stone. They're both
sober enough and in no danger of falling in love with me. They're quite coldly calculating in their approach to matrimony; I doubt they have hearts to lose. They both want an attractive wife, preferably with money, who would not expect too much attention from them. To their minds, I'm close to perfect but to scramble for my favours would be beneath them. They should be perfect for my charade."
Caroline nodded. "They sound just the thing."
"Good! I'll start tonight," said Arabella, decision burning in her huge eyes.
"But what about you, Caro?" asked Sarah with a grin. "We've discussed how the rest of us should go
on, but you've yet to tell us how you plan to bring our dear guardian to his knees."
Caroline smiled, the same gently wistful smile that frequently played upon her lips these days. "If I
knew that, my dears, I'd certainly tell you." The last weeks had seen a continuation of the unsatisfactory relationship between His Grace of Twyford and his eldest ward. Wary of his ability to take possession of her senses should she give him the opportunity, Caroline had consistently avoided his invitations to dally alone with him. Indeed, too often in recent times her mind had been engaged in keeping a watchful eye over her sisters, something their perceptive guardian seemed to understand. She could not fault him for his support and was truly grateful for the understated manner in which he frequently set aside his own inclinations to assist her in her concern for her siblings. In fact, it had occurred to her that, far from
being a lazy guardian, His Grace of Twyford was very much aufait with the activities of each of his wards. Lately, it had seemed to her that her sisters' problems were deflecting a considerable amount of
his energies from his pursuit of herself. So, with a twinkle in her eyes, she said, "If truth be told, the
best plan I can think of to further my own ends is to assist you all in achieving your goals as soon as
may be. Once free of you three, perhaps our dear guardian will be able to concentrate on me."
It was Lizzie who initiated the Twinning sisters' friendship with the two Crowbridge girls, also being presented that year. The Misses Crowbridge, Alice and Amanda, were very pretty young ladies in the manner which had been all the rage until the Twinnings came to town. They were pale and fair, as ethereal as the Twinnings were earthy, as fragile as the Twinnings were robust, and, unfortunately
for them, as penniless as the Twinnings were rich. Consequently, the push to find well-heeled
husbands for the Misses Crowbridge had not prospered.
Strolling down yet another ballroom, Lady Mott's as it happened, on the arm of Martin, of course,
Lizzie had caught the sharp words uttered by a large woman of horsey mien to a young lady, presumably her daughter, sitting passively at her side. "Why can't you two be like that? Those girls simply walk off with any man they fancy. All it needs is a bit of push. But you and Alice…" The rest of the tirade had been swallowed up by the hubbub around them. But the words returned to Lizzie later, when, retiring to the withdrawing-room to mend her hem which Martin very carelessly had stood upon, she found the room empty except for the same young lady, huddled in a pathetic bundle, trying to stifle her sobs.
As a kind heart went hand in hand with Lizzie's innocence, it was not long before she had befriended Amanda Crowbridge and learned of the difficulty facing both Amanda and Alice. Lacking the Twinning sisters' confidence and abilities, the two girls, thrown without any preparation into the heady world of
the ton, found it impossible to converse with the elegant gentlemen, becoming tongue-tied and shy,
quite unable to attach the desired suitors. To Lizzie, the solution was obvious.
Both Arabella and Sarah, despite having other fish to fry, were perfectly willing to act as tutors to the Crowbridge girls. Initially, they agreed to this more as a favour to Lizzie than from any more magnanimous motive, but as the week progressed they became quite absorbed with their protegees.
For the Crowbridge girls, being taken under the collective wing of the three younger Twinnings brought
a cataclysmic change to their social standing. Instead of being left to decorate the wall, they now spent their time firmly embedded amid groups of chattering young people. Drawn ruthlessly into conversations by the artful Arabella or Sarah at her most prosaic, they discovered that talking to the swells of the ton was not, after all, so very different from conversing with the far less daunting lads at home. Under the steady encouragement provided by the Twinnings, the Crowbridge sisters slowly unfurled their petals.