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which further convinced Amber that her younger sister was not ill at all. “I have had nothing new since just after we arrived in London.”
    “ You are not expected to make a match this season,” Amber replied. “Next season you’ll have all the attention, and I need not remind you that it is because of my—”
    “Your generosity ,” Darra cut in, looking back to the window and pulling her velvet cape tighter around her shoulders. “When the idea was presented for us to have our first seasons together, I thought it would account for more than simply serving as your companion.” She said it with such lack of feeling that Amber felt a prickle of regret in her chest. It had not been her desire for Darra to be miserable, and she had noted her waning interests as the weeks had passed. But Amber needed Darra’s attention at these events and was unwilling to drop the argument.
    “Have you not danced ’til the early morning hours with men of consequence and fashion? You have not had your own maid instead of sharing with mine? You have not mingled with the upper crust of society?”
    “That is enough,” her mother said, though her tone was not intent enough to render Amber silent.
    Amber kept her eyes fixed on Darra, who was not looking at her. “You shall return next season with all the polish and manner of a woman rather than a wide-eyed debutante who knows nothing of the polite world. Forgive me for not feeling sympathy toward your discomfort when you are most certainly the larger beneficiary of this experience.”
    Amber awaited Darra’s rebuttal, but her sister simply leaned her head against the back of the cushion and made no answer.
    “Leave your sister at peace,” Lady Marchent said. “You wanted her attendance and she is here.” She turned to Darra and patted her shoulder. “We shall have a new gown made for you, my dear. It is not my intention that you should be left out.”
    Amber turned away, irritated that her mother had risen to Darra’s defense. She had always suspected a preference on Lady Marchent’s part to Darra’s quiet and inquisitive nature and moments like this seemed to confirm it. Since coming to London, a competitive spirit had sprung up between the sisters. Amber suspected it was due in part to them both vying for their mother’s attention, which she had expected would be more heavily turned in her direction.
    In the rush of her new abigail’s failings, Amber had not retrieved her wrap and shivered a bit in the cooling temperature of the evening. Or perhaps the shiver was in response to the mood of the carriage.
    Amber watched the town houses passing outside the carriage and could only hope that the pending society of the evening would push away the dark thoughts and feelings that currently plagued her. By way of distraction, she reviewed her expectations of the evening, the compliments she would receive and the requests for carriage rides and morning visits that would result from the company she kept. Her mood would be certainly be restored through the attentions of her suitors. Surely Darra’s mood would improve as well, but even if it did not, Amber would not allow her sister’s pouting to set the tone of the evening.

Chapter 4
    It was after one o’clock in the morning when Amber next approached her bedchamber. She was unhappy to have left the ball early, but Darra had worsened by the hour and finally begged Amber to go home as her throat was inflamed and her head pounded.
    Amber had acted quite put out by the early departure, but in truth she felt badly for having forced Darra’s company when she truly was ill. She told her sister during the drive home that if she’d known she felt so poorly she’d have never insisted on her company, but Amber was quite sure Darra believed her words as much as Amber did, which was not at all. Even given the fact that Darra’s complaints had been honest ones, Amber was glad to have had the evening.
    She’d been seated next to Lord