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love to see others embarrassed, and I’m sorry that Mireille has been hurt by it.”
    “She’s noblessing her oblige a little too much, if you ask me.” Jacqueline shook her head. “Just because the Champlains settled here first. I’ve tried talking to her about it, but you know how stubborn she can be. Just like Sondra.”
    “Just like Sondra what ?” A petulant voice from the doorway drew An’gel’s attention.
    Jacqueline turned in her chair to face her daughter. “Don’t stand there, darling, come in.”
    “I don’t want any more water dumped on my head.” Sondra scowled at them as she took a couple of steps into the room.
    “If you behave properly, no one will do that.” An’gel decided, after that gruff statement, she perhaps ought to offer an olive branch. “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing. The color is perfect for your complexion.” She meant what she said. Sondra’s dress, a sheath of iridescent blue, set off her creamy skin and golden hair beautifully.
    “Thank you.” Sondra preened for them. “Lance picked it out for me. He has wonderful taste, doesn’t he?”
    “My goodness, yes,” Dickce said. “He obviously has an eye for color.”
    “I’m going to wear it for the wedding,” Sondra said. “White is so old-fashioned, and I won’t have to wear that old dress that Grandmother is so crazy about.” She shuddered. “Dead people’s clothes. Yuck.”
    An’gel caught Jacqueline’s horrified expression and wondered how her goddaughter would deal with Sondra’s odd notion.
    Jacqueline took a deep breath. “Well, darling, what you’re wearing is beautiful. We’ll talk about it later with your grandmother, okay?”
    Sondra shot her mother a mutinous glance as she advanced farther into the room until she stood by her mother’s chair. When she spoke, she ignored Jacqueline’s question.
    “Mama, what are you going to wear to dinner tonight? I hope it’s not going to be that awful black thing. It makes you look like an old crow.”
    An’gel noticed her goddaughter wince under Sondra’s critical gaze.
    “No, darling, I’m not. I thought I might wear the green.” Jacqueline appeared anxious, An’gel thought.
    “Well, it’s better anyway.” Sondra grimaced, then glared at An’gel and Dickce. “Are you two going to be there?”
    The sisters nodded.
    “I hope you brought some decent clothes.” Sondra eyed their casual Vera Wang dresses uncertainly. “Lance will be here, and I know he won’t be able to enjoy his food if he sees ugly clothes.”
    “We’ll do our best to avoid that.” Dickce’s prim tone didn’t fool her sister. An’gel marveled that Dickce kept a straight face. Sondra evidently knew little about designer clothing, or she would have recognized what the sisters wore. Just as well we brought along those Worth dresses of Mother’s , she thought. If Lance can’t eat in the presence of true haute couture , he deserved to go hungry.
    An’gel glanced at her watch. She nodded at Dickce, and they rose in unison. “Time for us to get back to our rooms,” she said. “We both need a little time to rest before dinner.”
    “Of course.” Jacqueline stood to give each of the sisters a quick peck on the cheek. “If there’s anything you need, just let Estelle know.”
    “We will, dear,” An’gel said. “Now, you do remember that we are bringing our ward, Benjy Stephens, with us for dinner?”
    “Yes, I remember.” Jacqueline smiled. “And as soon as we have some time, I want to hear all about how the two of you came to have a ward . Your e-mails have been skimpy on details.”
    An’gel suppressed the urge to comment that the samecould be said about the news of Tippy’s birth. “Of course, dear. We’ll see ourselves out.”
    An’gel and Dickce nodded to Sondra, who moved warily aside as the sisters walked past her. An’gel, as she walked through the doorway into the front hall, heard Sondra ask her mother what a ward was. “Is it some man