“You have to protect the weak from the strong,” Gabby said, and then amended herself. “That’s not exactly right, Phoebe. You know what Kasi is like. Handing him to Mrs. Sibbald would be like feeding the goat to the tiger.”

There was a slight noise behind the screen protecting the tub from plain sight. The little girl peered around the screen. “Kasi Rao, it’s time to get out of there.” She put her small hands on her hips. “What would Mrs. Sibbald say if she could see you in the tub with all your clothes on?”

“Let him stay there if he prefers,” Gabby called across the room.

But Phoebe shook her head firmly and stated, with a force that Mrs. Sibbald would have admired, “It is time to have tea, Kasi. You needn’t worry. I won’t let Gabby talk about the tiger again.”

A very slender boy with innocent eyes that took up half his face peeked around the corner of the screen and then checked, unwilling to emerge from the safety of the corner.

Phoebe took his hand and tugged. “There is no one here but us, Kasi.”

Soft brown eyes darted back and forth between Gabby’s smiling face and the hand she held out to him. Kasi wanted to come out, obviously, but it was so far across the room, and the room was so very open.

Phoebe pulled at him impatiently. “Mrs. Sibbald thinks you’re napping, so you’re quite safe.”

“We’ll have tea together,” Gabby said reassuringly, as Kasi gathered his courage and hurtled himself to her chair, sheltering under her arm like a chick that had strayed from its nest. “Are you hungry, little brother?”

“Kasi isn’t your little brother,” Phoebe said. “He’s a prince!”

“Well, that’s true. But his mother was related to my father’s first wife. And he grew up with me, so I feel as if he is my brother.” Kasi had stopped trembling and was playing with the locket Gabby wore around her neck, humming a tuneless, happy song as he tried to open the catch.

Phoebe came around to the other side of the chair and leaned against Gabby’s leg. “May I see the picture of your husband again?”

“Of course you may.” Just before they set sail for England, a miniature of her future bridegroom had arrived. Gabby gently took the locket from Kasi’s fumbling hands and opened it.

“Is he waiting for you in London, Miss Gabby?”

“Yes,” Gabby said firmly. “We shall all be met at the dock, Phoebe love. Your new mother will meet you, and Mrs. Malabright will meet Kasi, won’t she, sweetheart?” She looked down into Kasi’s pointed little face.

To her satisfaction, he nodded. She had been reminding Kasi every day that Mrs. Malabright was coming to see him when the vessel landed.

“And then what will happen, Kasi?” she prompted.