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don’t know,” Lady Harriet said dubiously. “I shall have to speak to Mr. Brindle about the details of our present financial situation. But I must remind you, Anne dear, that you cannot go on as you always have, no matter what Mr. Brindle tells me.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, Mama?”
    â€œI mean that you are no longer to be permitted to enjoy the company of Lord Claybridge. I’m sorry, love, but Mathilda was quite firm on that point.”
    â€œOh, pooh,” Anne said with an insouciant wave of her hand which seemed to dismiss Lady Claybridge’s strictures from the very air. “Who cares what she says. Arthur is of age and in full possession of his titles. He has no need to jump at his mother’s commands.” Somehow the optimism engendered by Peter’s political analysis would not be dampened, and Anne went on with her cheerful hopes for their futures. “Life is full of surprises, is it not?” she pointed out airily. “Why, anything may happen! The new Lord Mainwaring may not come, and we may be given the entire Mainwaring fortune! Then Peter could go to Oxford without a care, you, Mama, would be secure for life, and I should be able to marry Arthur with even his mother’s blessing.”
    â€œOn the other hand,” Peter interjected, wishing to keep his sister from putting too many hopeful eggs into a very fragile basket, “the new Viscount may very well manage to find his way to England and make his claim to the inheritance.”
    â€œYes, he may. We must not blind ourselves to the possibilities,” Lady Harriet cautioned. “A fortune like the Mainwarings’ is not likely to go a-begging.”
    â€œBut you know, Peter, that American ships have difficulty reaching here in these times,” Anne insisted, “even when the political climate has been less strained. Certainly, now, it will be close to impossible.”
    â€œYes, that’s true.”
    â€œThere! Then there is good reason for optimism.”
    â€œI suppose so,” Peter agreed, wishing to do his part to dispel the gloom which had enveloped them. “It is even possible that the news from Mr. Brindle about Uncle Osborn’s death may never even reach the American shores.”
    Anne clapped her hands in pleasure. “That’s true ! There will be the same difficulty for a British ship to reach an American port. See, Mama? There are many reasons for hope. As I’ve said, anything may happen! The news may never reach him … or he may not be able to book passage across the ocean … or, even if he does, why …” She smiled widely as a new possibility came into her mind. “… why, if we have any luck at all, the fellow may drown at sea !”
    And on that happy thought, they went upstairs to dress for dinner.

Three
    Anne’s optimism in the drawing room did not outlast the short climb up to her bedroom door. Since she was neither devoid of sense nor given to self-delusion, she soon realized that it was extremely unlikely that the inheritance would not be claimed. A man would be insane to forego the titles and fortune of the size and importance of the Mainwarings’. She must face the facts and try to find a way out of the dilemma the heir’s arrival would cause.
    In the meantime, she decided to put a brave face on it. As she went about her usual daily routine, her expression and demeanor were the same as always. Even the sharpest-eyed of the London gossips could not discern a sign of anxiety in the self-assured, stylish Miss Hartley.
    But it was abundantly plain to Anne’s bosom-bow, Charity Laverstoke, that something was amiss. Charity, called Cherry by her intimates, was nothing if not sympathetic. Offering sympathy was what she did best in the world. To anyone who related troubles into her ear she would devote her most complete attention, her most melting gaze and her most tender feelings. She was so soft-hearted