Chapter Seventeen
The betrothal made matters easier, Kate realized with relief. A dress party was clearly in order. She could invite every young lady she knew, with the double purpose of introducing them to Lizzie and to James. It was better than a picnic, especially with the weather so unsettled; rain pattered against the windowpanes even now.
Kate sat on the window seat in her bedchamber with her legs curled under her. She wrote carefully, so as not to spatter ink on her nightgown. A single candle stood on the dressing table, casting barely enough light for her to see the growing list of names. Miss Georgina Ellerslie, Miss Lucilla Thorpe, Misses Clara and Amabel Gregory. Who else had been on the list James had torn up? Kate frowned and pulled her plait through her fingers as she thoug
