“Well,” Lady Harrowden said, assessing her ward. “You’ve been in a bit of trouble. I hope you do not think to cause any here.”

“No, my lady.” Rebecca curtsied before Lady Harrowden.

“How came you to run away from your school?” the countess asked her severely.

Rebecca fingered her reticule, her pouting lips making her look younger. “I did not run away. I was with my brother for a short stay.”

“Without permission,” Lady Harrowden reminded her. “Where is this brother of yours? When does he come of age?”

“In six months, my lady.” Rebecca’s attention had started to wander, and she was looking around the room. Selena could see that Lady Harrowden would soon lose all patience with her.

“Well, he is supposed to take charge of you when he is of age, and I hope for his sake you are not so much trouble.”

Rebecca turned back to the countess with wide eyes. “My brother take charge of me? That is ridiculous. He can barely take charge of himself.”

Lady Harrowden pinched her mouth tight. “Well, that is the way your father specified it in his will. And it is no surprise that the two of you are up to your ears in mischief, what with bouncing around from one situation to another. I tried to suggest to your uncle to find a more stable household for you, but he didn’t listen. And of course I could not take you in.”

As if irritated by a hint of her own failure to take a proper hand in her ward’s upbringing, Lady Harrowden bristled suddenly. “And another thing—your uncle said the school wrote of more than one illicit meeting taking place.”

“No, my lady. I only spoke to the gentlemen at the assembly where we were taken to practice dancing. One of them took me into the gardens to get air.”

“Foolish child,” Lady Harrowden retorted. “He could have ruined you.”

Rebecca trained wide, innocent eyes on the countess. “But how?”

Selena resisted the urge to raise her own eyes to the heavens.

This brought Lady Harrowden up short. “Well, if you must know…” She did not seem to know how to go on.

“This is why it would be very good for you to have a governess,” Selena said firmly. When she saw Rebecca’s mutinous look, she glanced at Lady Harrowden and added, “Not for very long, mind you. But enough to learn the ways of the world.”

Selena would have to play just as deep as Rebecca. More effective than scolding her for what had happened at Sir Lucius’s house, it would be better to try to speak some sense into the girl and turn her thoughts to a more noble path—although Selena was determined to find out more about how Rebecca came to be there.

It occurred to Selena to appeal to Rebecca’s ambitions. “What is it you wish for now you’ve left school behind?”

Rebecca knit her brow. “I suppose I should like to marry and be a very grand lady.” She looked around the morning room. “And live in a grand house.”