“The gent I work for ’as a property at Parramatta, Maggie, a noble place to ’ear the kitchen girls tell it, and we’ll all pig in together in the carriage ’ouse and the barn. There’ll be a flock of us, I’ll wager, and we’ll ’ave such fun!”

“You sound as though you’ve done this before,” Maggie observed with a grin.

“Oh, I ’ave, love—last time I was in Australia we did it every chance. People come from miles around, and there’s food and music and dancin’—”

“And preaching?” Maggie asked, surprised. Perhaps she’d been mistaken and Tansy hadn’t mentioned that after all.

But she had. “Yes, me friend, but it’s tolerable when you know you’re going to ’ave a wondrous-good time.”

Maggie wasn’t so sure that the experience would be “wondrous,” but she knew it would be an adventure and she was already looking forward to getting away from this house, where the servants were afraid to talk to her in sight or hearing of the formidable Mrs. Lavendar. “When do we leave?”

“We’ll stop for you, me friends and I, at noon Saturday. Be ready, too, for that old crow that runs the ’ouse is bound to make us wait in the garden!”

Maggie smiled. “I’ll be ready.”

With a nod Tansy rose to go. “See you are, miss. We’ve got to catch the streetcar right on time or we’ll miss the ’bus to Parramatta.”

Good-byes were said and the two young women parted, one returning to a household where all the servants were friends, one about to eat a lonely supper in a room more befitting a princess than a governess or even a hostess.

When she’d finished her meal, Maggie carried the tray back downstairs herself, hoping for a chance to strike up a conversation with Susan or even Mrs. Lavendar. The kitchen was empty, but through an open window Maggie heard the ring of laughter. She looked out as she scraped her dishes and set them neatly in the sink.

Susan and half a dozen other young ladies in bombazine dresses, aprons, and mobcaps were sitting happily on the lawn, chattering and giggling as they ate their suppers. Maggie longed to join them, but she knew that she would not be welcomed, and she turned away sadly, at a loss for something to do. It was far too early to retire and anyway, she didn’t think she could bear sitting all alone in that silent room of hers, just twiddling her thumbs and feeling left out.

She decided, since Mr. Kirk was away and Mrs. Lavendar was nowhere in sight, to explore the main floor.