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“And you’ll behave yourselves, if you know what’s good for you. Your mother made herself a byword for scandal, and I won’t have you disgracing me as she did.”
    â€œYou needn’t worry, Uncle Lionel,” Arabella had responded tightly, speaking for them all. “We have no intention of behaving like our mother.”
    â€œDon’t call me Uncle! I am no blood relation to you. Victoria was only my stepsister—the result of my father’s deplorable second marriage—and Loring had no right to encumber me with the three of you in his will, particularly since he left me nothing to pay for your upkeep. But I am stuck with you, since no respectable gentleman will marry you now.”
    His declaration had roused a burning anger in Arabella, along with a fierce desire to establish their independence from their step-uncle. But since they were virtually penniless, they had resolved to earn their own livings by putting their patrician upbringing and education to good use.
    With the indispensable support of a wealthy patroness, along with the help of her sisters and two genteel friends, Arabella had started an academy to teach the unrefined daughters of rich merchants how to be proper ladies so they could compete in the glittering world of the ton.
    Finally, after more than three years of hard work, the school had become a highly successful enterprise, allowing them complete financial independence. Then, dismayingly, their step-uncle died and they were saddled with a new guardian, who had immediately declared his intention of finding husbands for them.
    It was frustrating in the extreme, not to mention worrisome. The new Lord Danvers possibly had the legal authority to compel them to stop teaching if he arbitrarily chose. And any husbands he found for them would almost certainly disapprove of their uncommon endeavors.
    Moreover, Arabella cringed at the mere thought of subjecting herself to another courtship. She had absolutely no intention of leaving herself vulnerable to the heartache she’d endured four years ago.
    Her sisters had entirely different ideas for their futures as well, which did
not
include surrendering their hard-won independence to unwanted husbands. Roslyn was determined to marry only for love, while Lily had sworn off matrimony and men entirely.
    â€œThank heavens for Winifred,” Arabella murmured sincerely.
    Their patroness, Winifred, Lady Freemantle, had come from the working classes herself before marrying into the gentry. The middle-aged widow had been an unfailing source of support, not only for the academy but for the sisters’ personal lives, including offering her chaise and team for Arabella’s journey so she wouldn’t have to use her step-uncle’s dilapidated barouche.
    It was early afternoon by the time the chaise reached the village of Chiswick. Like Richmond farther west, Chiswick had become a fashionable place of residence for the aristocracy during the past century because of the desirable proximity to London.
    The carriage passed numerous riverside mansions and villas before turning into the graveled drive of Danvers Hall. The beautiful, stately manor of mellow red brick stood on the tree-lined banks of the River Thames. The setting was lush and green, but the overgrown lawns and landscape resembled more of a jungle. The interior appointments and furnishings of the house, too, were shabby and worn, while the artwork and silver had long ago been sold to pay estate bills.
    All but a handful of servants had been let go as well. The remaining staff was led by a butler and housekeeper, an elderly couple who were devoted to the place after having lived there for more than thirty years. They had welcomed the Loring sisters warmly four years ago, even if their step-uncle had not.
    When the coach came to a halt before the house, Arabella’s sisters came out to greet her.
    Roslyn was tall and slender, with pale golden hair, sky blue eyes,