“I’m afraid there isn’t room at my table.” Lady Davenport’s mouth turned down at the corners. “I’m sure Miss Billings can find a seat elsewhere.”
“It’s all right, Thea,” Gabby said anxiously. “I’ll just—”
“Miss Billings can have my seat,” Thea said.
“You cannot mean to sit on your own, Miss Kent?” her hostess said in a hard voice.
“I’ll go with Miss Kent,” Pandora drawled. “Miss Billings can accompany you and the duchess.”
Lady Davenport’s face rippled with ill-temper… and then smoothed into pragmatic lines. Her hand closed on Emma’s arm, holding on to her ultimate prize. “This way, Your Grace.”
She led Emma toward the table at the front of the room, Gabby trailing timidly behind.
“Good work,” Pandora murmured. “That was a narrow escape.”
Thea had only been reacting to Gabby’s snub, but she realized that Pandora was right. It would have been far too conspicuous to leave and conduct a search if they had been seated with their hostess. She followed Pandora to a pair of seats closest to the exit. A bell rung, bringing the room to order.
Lady Davenport stood at the front of the room, clearing her throat importantly. “Welcome, dear ladies. How good of you to take time out of your busy schedules to attend my luncheon. Even the Duchess of Strathaven herself, a close personal friend, is here to join us in our worthy endeavor. Please welcome my distinguished guest.”
At the polite applause, Emma turned beet red.
“But, as you know, not everyone has been blessed with the same good fortune as you and I,” Lady Davenport went on, “and it is for the benefit of these Unfortunates that we gather here today. Through our good works, we shall lift these Downtrodden from their doomful fates. Our moral strength will fill them with virtue. Our shining example will teach these poor, diseased creatures to disavow their lives of sloth and turpitude.”
A coal began to smolder beneath Thea’s breastbone. Having known hunger herself, she was quite certain the Downtrodden needed food more than moral condescension. And if the poor ought to be taught anything, it was the skills of an honorable trade that would earn them a fair living wage. According to her papa, the true antidote to poverty was education.
Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day,he’d say.Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.
“To that end, I am proud to present my newest charitable cause.” Lady Davenport gestured imperiously at the footman posted at the entryway. “Send her in.”
The door opened, and Thea’s stomach churned as a young woman in a mobcap shuffled awkwardly toward the beckoning Lady Davenport. She was dressed in a tawdry, low-cut gown that bore the stamp of her trade. Gasps and titters went up as the woman stood slouched at the front of the room.
“Behold,” Lady Davenport said with a self-satisfied cluck, “a Woman of Loose Virtue.”
Thea’s jaw tightened. Beside her, Pandora stiffened almost imperceptibly.
“Our mission today is to rescue slatternly creatures such as this from a life of sin. How, you ask?”
Lady Davenport waited, smiling, as murmurs rose in the room. Then, with dramatic flourish, she produced a piece of white cloth. Bustling over to her model, she made a great show of tying and tucking in the fabric, so that the scarf covered the woman from bosom to chin.
Stepping back, Lady Davenport declared, “I introduce my newest pet project, which I like to callFichus for the Fallen.”
Thea blinked as applause broke out, excited murmurs rolling through the room.
“After lunch, we will retire to the sitting room to sew these mantles of modesty,” their hostess went on. “Thanks to our efforts, these Fallen Women will regain dignity and virtue—and be an eyesore to civility no more.”
A lady dressed in blue satin waved her hand.
“Yes, Miss Simpson?” Lady Davenport said.
“I was thinking we might add a touch of embroidery to the fichus. Perhaps a cross—or some other reminder of piousness?” the lady said in simpering tones.
“An excellent suggestion.” Lady Davenport beamed. “Any others?”
Why not sew hair shirts for the poor and be done with it?Thea wanted to snap. But she restrained herself. She couldn’t afford to attract attention when they were on a covert mission.
“Time to go,” Pandora whispered.
Thea gave a quick nod. As the crowd debated vital issues such as embroidery designs and thread color, she and Pandora slipped unnoticed from the room. Outside, she drew a breath, trying to put the scene of smug pretension behind her. She must concentrate on the present task.
