“Coo, love—it looks as if ye’ve fallen into a good thing ’ere!” She reached out one chapped hand to catch the soft cambric of the skirt between her fingers and gave a low whistle through her front teeth.

Conscious of prying eyes and ears, Maggie took her friend firmly by the arm and ushered her farther into the garden. There, beside a fountain with a statue in the center, she demanded urgently, “Tansy, what does a hostess do?”

Tansy’s eyes went wide. “A ’ostess? Why, she’s a man’s wife, love, but for the weddin’ license and the tumbles between the sheets. And sometimes—”

Maggie paled slightly and held up both hands to stop her friend in mid-sentence. “Have you ever heard of a governess serving as a hostess as well?”

“Sure.” Tansy shrugged. “Leastways, back in England. Is that what you are, then? A ’ostess?”

Quickly, Maggie explained about the list of clothes Mr. Kirk had instructed her to buy and related her doubts regarding the propriety of that. Tansy’s eyes grew wider with every word.

“And ’as ’e laid a ’and on you, this bloke?” she wanted to know the moment Maggie had finished speaking.

Maggie was quick to shake her head, her eyes sparkling now as she remembered the good news she had to tell. “I’m a free woman, Tansy. Mr. Reeve McKenna has bought my papers, and he gave them to me!”

Tansy frowned. “Reeve McKenna? That ’andsome one from the ship?”

Maggie nodded. There was no denying that Mr. McKenna was handsome. “And don’t ask me what he expects in return, Tansy, because there’s nothing.”

Tansy found a marble bench and sank down on it, stunned. “Me own news pales by the side of it!” she muttered.

Maggie sat down beside her friend. “What news is that?”

“We’re all of us—from the other ’ouse, I mean—takin’ the omnibus to Parramatta Saturday noon, when we’re done with our work. It’s a gay time we’ll be ’avin’, Maggie, and I wanted you to come along.” She took in the new dress thoughtfully. “Though I’m supposin’ you’re too grand for the likes of us now. You wouldn’t care for races and preachin’ and picnics and such.”

“I would!” protested Maggie, not wanting her status in the Kirk household to alienate Tansy as it had Mrs. Lavendar and Susan Crockett and the rest. “I would too. I’m free at noon Saturday myself, Tansy Quinn, and all day Sunday as well!”

Tansy clasped both Maggie’s hands in her own. “Then you’ll go? Oh, Maggie-girl, that’s grand! We’ll ’ave the best time ever! Bring your kit, ’cause we’ll be spendin’ the night, of course.”

“Where will we sleep?” Maggie asked, already mentally packing her “kit,” the reticule containing such necessities as soap and tooth polish and a nightdress.