"Felicity!" I call out, not caring about manners or protocol."Ann!"
"In here!" Felicity answers from the library.
I barrel my way in with the butler on my heels."Miss Doyle to see you, miss." he says, determined to return some sense of decorum to the proceedings.
"Thank you, Shames. That will be all," Felicity says. "What is it?" she asks, when we are alone."Is it something about Miss Moore? Have you found a way to get her back?"
I shake my head. "We're found out. Lady Denby has made inquiries. She's found your cousin, Ann. She knows we've been masquerading all this time." I sink into a chair. I am so very tired.
"Then everyone will know. You may be sure of that," Felicity says, looking truly terrified.
Ann pales."I thought you said no one would be the wiser!"
"I hadn't counted on Lady Denby and her hatred of my mother."
Ann sits, trembling. "I'm ruined. And we shall never be allowed to see one another again." Felicity's hand is a fist at her stomach. "Papa shall have my head."
"It was your idea," Ann says, pointing a finger at Felicity.
"You were only too happy to play along!"
"Please stop," I say. "We have to keep Lady Denby from telling what she knows."
"No one can keep her from that," Felicity says. "She is a very determined woman. And this is the sort of gossip that she lives for."
"We could come up with another story," Ann says, pacing.
"How long before she makes inquiries on that one as well?" I say.
Ann sits on the settee, lays her head on her arm, and cries.
"We could use the magic," Felicity says.
"No," I say.
Felicity's eyes flash."Why not?"
"Have you forgotten last night? We shall need every bit of magic to find the Temple and face Circe."
"Circe!" Felicity spits. "Pippa was right. You only look after yourself."
"That isn't true," I say.
"Isn't it?"
"Please, Gemma," Ann blubbers.
"You've seen how the magic takes its toll upon me," I say."I'm not myself today. And Nell Hawkins has fallen into a trance. Just last night I dreamed she'd been found by Circe."
Felicity's butler enters. "Is everything all right, Miss Worthington?"
"Yes, Shames. Thank you."
He leaves, but he does not take our anger with him. It hangs about the room in wounded looks and a hostile quiet. My head aches. "Do you think it's true? Do you think Circe really has taken hold of Nell Hawkins?" Ann asks through her tears.
"Yes," I say. "So you see it is imperative that we go into the realms again tonight. Once we find the Temple and bind the magic, you may use it to make them think you are Queen Victoria herself if you wish. But first we find the Temple." And Circe.
Felicity exhales loudly. "Thank you, Gemma. I can keep Mother occupied and away from Lady Denby's clutches until tomorrow. Ann, you are about to become very ill."
"I am?"
"No one would dare to speak badly of an invalid." she explains."Now, faint."
"But what if they can tell that I am pretending?"
"Ann, it is not terribly difficult to faint. Women do it all the time. You simply fall to the floor, close your eyes, and don't speak."
"Yes," Ann says. "Should I fall to the floor or here on the couch?"
"Oh, honestly, it doesn't matter! Just faint!"
Ann nods. With the finesse of a born actress she rolls her eyes back and crumples to the floor dramatically, like a souffle falling in on itself. It is the most graceful fainting spell I've ever seen. It is a pity it has been wasted on us.
"Tonight," Felicity says, taking my hands.
"Tonight," I agree.
We push through the parlor doors as frantically as we can. "Shames! Shames!" Felicity calls.
The tall, icy butler appears."Yes, miss?"
"Shames, Miss Bradshaw has fainted! I fear she has taken ill. We must call for Mother at once."
Even the placid Shames is disturbed."Yes, miss. Right away." As the house erupts into an excited frenzy--for everyone, it seems, loves the potential for disaster, a break in the numbing routine--I take my leave. I must admit that I find a savage delight in rehearsing what I will say to Grandmama about this visit. ". . . and then Miss Bradshaw's kind, gentle spirit was so injured by these false accusations that she took HI and fainted, ..."