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    “ Alfred, and yours is Augusta Isabel, the Augusta after Grandma Healy. Don ’ t forget it. ”
    “ Don ’ t call me Doll, then, or she won ’ t like it. What about my mother? Did I know her at all? ”
    “ She died ten years ago. You would have no recollection of her. Her name was Irene. She was your type, generally speaking. Small. Not so small as you, quite, but smallish, with brown hair. ”
    Grace finished the packing and went to sit beside him. The tea tray was brought in by an obsequious servant. It was amusing to watch him bow and truckle to Whewett and treat her with that combination of respect and playfulness deemed suitable to a noble child. As soon as they were alone, the lesson continued.
    “ You enjoy riding. No matter if you don ’ t really. There will be no occasion to do so at Willowcrest. You have not traveled at all. ”
    “ What of cousins and so on that I should know about? ”
    “ None on the Brougham side. She would have no interest in any others. Oh, hell! ” A quick frown pinched his brows together. “ She and Augusta correspond once a month. I don ’ t know what is in the letters. Fake it if you can. ”
    Instructions and facts were poured out in such a rapid stream, Grace did not grasp the half of them, but she did her best. When tea was finished, she said, “ Should we not be getting along? ”
    “ No hurry. The later we arrive, the less time you ’ ll have to be with her. It will be a strain on you, I imagine. ”
    “ I ’ m worried sick, ” she confessed. “ What if I make a shambles of it? ”
    “ You won ’ t. I ’ ll be there to give you a hand. I ’ ll try not to leave you alone with her. And Miss Farnsworth, ” he added in a hopeful voice, “ be nice to her. She will not be easy to be nice to, but it would be a shame if anything should arise to turn her against my daughter. ”
    Grace saw the worry etching lines on his forehead and felt a spasm of pity for Whewett. Whatever else he was, he was certainly a considerate father. “ I ’ ll try. There is just one thing — why did we not bring Invers with us? ”
    “ Good point. We ’ ll say her mother is ill, and she had gone home to Sussex for a week. Invers is actually in Ireland with Gussie, of course. ”
    “ I feel as if I had a herd of stampeding horses in my stomach. If anything goes wrong, what becomes of me? She ’ ll throw me out on my ear. ”
    “ Us, on our collective ear. We ’ re in this together. If you give any wrong answers, I shall claim you ’ re addlepated from the trip. Gussie doesn ’ t travel, remember? ”
    She straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and said in her new childish voice, “ Don ’ t you think it is time to leave, Papa? ”
    “ Yes, Doll. ” When he cocked his head to one side and laughed, he looked ten years younger and much more attractive. “ What ’ s the matter? ” he demanded, seeing her studious gaze.
    “ You were to call me Augusta because of its being Grandma ’ s name, ” she reminded him.
    “ I ’ ll try to remember, ” he said, and went to the door to call Hucker to take out the luggage.
    As Grace left the room with Whewett behind her, she had an instinctive feeling he was looking at her ankles. They almost tingled from the imagined perusal. She was struck with a terrible premonition of disaster and had to force herself to advance sedately to the carriage.
     

Chapter Three
     
    A five-mile trip in a well-sprung chaise bore no resemblance to a ten-mile one on the common stage. As Grace was wafted along the road, she admired the blue velvet squabs and the elegant silver appointments of the interior. The trip was over before it seemed possible and before Grace felt quite ready to become Lady Augusta. “ Chin up, ” Whewett said, offering his arm as she descended from the carriage.
    Till she was striding along beside him toward the house, she had not realized he was so very tall. Besides having to reach up to hold his arm, it was