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on the task, but she knew trouble when she found herself in it. She was a housekeeper who couldn’t cook, for a half brother who’d gone on to his reward. For tonight, putting rabbit on a platter would do. But without Simon to look after, what she was going to do every other night?

CHAPTER 3
     
    T hings hadn’t looked any better in the cool light of morning—possibly because her new cell of a room didn’t have any windows. Miss Pennyworth made sure of that. No light came in, and no students could shimmy their way out. For good measure, she locked the door at night and during naptime.
    Naturally an early riser, Jessalyn awoke just after dawn every day. BC—Before Capture—she used the extra time to slip out to the stables. Morning Glory matched her name, and they both adored the precious hours before the rest of the world awoke and the demands of the day set in.
    But for the past two weeks, since Cecily snitched on her, there’d been no illicit visits to the stables. Perhaps fearing Jess would try and make a run for it, Miss Pennyworth barred her from even the standard, scheduled riding instruction. She didn’t so much as glimpse Morning Glory, though the headmistress had grudgingly promised not to send the horse away. Then again, she probably would have tried if Jess’s father didn’t pay the stables directly for Morning Glory’s boarding.
    Jess could do nothing but wait until Miss Pennyworth’s report of her many misdeeds reached her father and he handed down a decision. Her stomach churned in an uneasy mix of hope and dread. Despite seven years away from home, she couldn’t help hoping that he’d come for her and take her back to Texas. Because of those same seven years, she dreaded what might come next. She turned nineteen in a couple of days—at this point she’d outgrown boarding academies.
    She was the right age for marriage, and weren’t these sorts of schools nothing more or less than training grounds for well-behaved wives? Her grandparents were well placed to introduce her to society and pawn her off on an unsuspecting groom. Panic threatened at the possibility.
    Steps tapped down the hallway, and Jess watched the sudden depression of the door handle. The door flung wide so fast it knocked into the wall.
    Miss Pennyworth burst into the room, large nostrils quivering as though scenting misbehavior. Given nearly twice the normal amount of nose—the better to stick it into other people’s business—but rather sparse eyebrows, she perpetually looked somewhat shocked by whatever she discovered. Today she seemed surprised to find Jess sitting up in the straight-backed chair. She probably hoped to startle Jess awake, leaving her groggy and at a disadvantage.
    The woman evidently hadn’t learned from her past mistakes, so Jess turned the tables.
    “Miss Pennyworth, such a surprise to see you! Shouldn’t the entire school be resting for another …”—Jess picked up the clock on her desk and eyed it in disbelief—“twenty minutes?”
    “My schedule is not that of the students I teach.” She sniffed in derision and fixed Jess with a beady gaze. “I’m a very busy woman and don’t have the luxury of such leisure time as you enjoy.”
    Somehow Jess managed not to question what luxuries she enjoyed while locked in a windowless room. Antagonizing the headmistress could wait until after Jess knew where she was going, for how long, and whether or not Miss Pennyworth would join her.
    “Very good, Miss Culpepper,” the headmistress praised. “You’re learning to hold your tongue. It’s good to see that your time with us has not been entirely wasted after all.”
    Abandoning all pretense of pleasantness, Jess gave a surprised echo. “You’re sure?”
    “No, Miss Culpepper, it has not,” Miss Pennyworth snapped back. “In spite of your deplorable habits, there are certain aspects of your behavior which we’ve managed to refine.”
    “You misunderstand. I did not question the worthiness of