“Catch me if you can!” Fred sang.
They ran after him. The guests gaped as Fred fled, leaving a trail of shredded ribbons behind him. Julianna’s scream was now shrill enough to shatter glass. Ted burst from the bushes and sprinkled the dirt into Julianna’s tea, stirring it in with a grimy finger.
Seeing the mission complete, Fred abandoned the ruined hat and dove into the marigolds along the fence.
“You wretched little—ack!” Julianna stumbled over her hat and crashed into the lawn, bringing Tessa down with her.
Tessa squealed as her hands skidded across the grass. “My gloves!”
“Your gloves?” Julianna screeched. “My hat!”
Lydia rushed over. She looked horrified, her impeccable updo now in disarray. “Good heavens! Girls, are you alright?”
“I am not!” Julianna pounded the grass with her fist. “That horrid boy tore up my hat! The duchess gifted it to me on my sixteenth birthday!”
“T-the duchess?” Lydia stuttered. “Duchess Wilhelmina? The hostess of this year’s Season?” She paled when Julianna nodded.
Tessa whimpered. “How much was it, exactly?”
Julianna shot her a glare. “It was priceless. You ought to keep your brothers on leashes, Tessa.”
Mr. Sternfeld, who had been watching with an unreadable expression, finally walked over to help Julianna to her seat. She began sobbing unabashedly onto his shoulder and raving about how awful small boys were. Tessa trailed meekly behind them.
“Do calm yourself, Ms. Alderidge,” Mr. Sternfeld said.
She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. “Oh, Mr. Sternfeld. I am so distressed!”
The gentleman chuckled. It sounded forced. “Why not have some tea to settle your nerves?”
I smiled.
Julianna took a sip of tea.
And spat into her handkerchief with an ear-splitting scream. Specks of dirt marked her teeth.
“Tessa! Your brothers will pay for this!”
Lydia came over with Fred in tow. He was covered in marigold petals and dirt but looked immensely pleased with himself. I gave him a wink.
“Mr. Donahue, apologize to Miss Julianna at once,” my stepmother said.
Fred merely smiled.
“You destroyed my hat and put dirt in my tea, you awful boy!” Julianna said, sobbing hysterically. “You will pay for this!”
Lydia’s frown deepened as she looked at Fred. “You put dirt in her tea?”
“I didn’t. Ted did.” The boy jutted his chin to his brother.
“Your parents will be hearing about this,” Lydia said, glowering at each boy. “Both of you will be punished severely.”
I almost felt bad for the brothers, but only for a second.
Ted pointed at me. “She told us to do it.”
2
“You have ruined this family, Amarante!” Lydia said for the third time that evening. She blew her nose into her handkerchief as Genevieve gently patted her back. I continued working on my embroidery.
It had been two days since the Great Tea Scandal. My stepmother was still livid though I had personally apologized to the Donahues and Alderidges per her orders.
Fred and Ted were punished to spend twice as much time on their studies, but I still wanted to give the little scoundrels a good shake for exposing me. Tessa merely stuck her nose in the air and harrumphed, as if she had been the one to drink fertilized dirt.
Julianna and Dame Patricia Alderidge, of course, were both furious. That was no loss to me. I was never on good terms with either of them. But Lydia fell into hysterics when Dame Alderidge declared the end of their friendship.
“Mama, please,” Genevieve said. “It was those boys who stirred up all this trouble.”
My stepmother shot me a glare. “I raised you for the better half of your life and this is how you repay me,” she said, sniveling. “Patricia won’t acknowledge me. She’ll tell everyone at court what a horrid stepdaughter I have. And Genevieve! Oh, my poor, dear, beautiful Genevieve! Your name will be dragged down with this scandal!”
Genevieve and I exchanged a look. She was trying not to smile. “This hardly counts as a scandal, Mama, and I am sure Dame Alderidge has other people to gossip about.”
“She gossips about everyone. Everyone!” Lydia wailed.
I wanted to remark that Dame Alderidge wasn’t a very good friend, but held my tongue.
“And Mr. Sternfeld. Oh, Mr. Sternfeld is sure to take back his dinner invitation.” Her words were muffled as she buried her face into her handkerchief again. “The tea party was supposed to be in his honor. And you ruined it!”
This time, I couldn’t help but speak. “I’m sure I did him a favor. Julianna was clinging to him like a leech.”
Lydia glared at me again. It would’ve been intimidating if her nose were not so red. “I’m sure he prefers Julianna now! I can’t blame the man. She won’t put dirt in his tea!”
Genevieve cleared her throat. “Actually, Mama, Mr. Sternfeld sent us a note today. He wanted to know if we were still available for dinner tomorrow.”
“A letter? Helene, have we received a letter from Mr. Sternfeld?”
Lydia’s personal maid, who was standing behind the couch, nodded. “It was addressed to Miss Genevieve, Madam.”
My stepmother’s lips trembled. “A note personally written by Mr. Sternfeld addressed to Genevieve?”
Genevieve colored. “It’s nothing, Mama.”
Lydia made a high-pitched noise at the back of her throat. “Nothing, dear? It is everything!” She shot up from the couch, nearly tumbling over the coffee table. “There is no doubt about it! The gentleman fancies you, Genevieve. I knew you weren’t so beautiful for nothing!”
Lydia whooped and laughed. Her handkerchief lay abandoned on the armrest, already dry.
Genevieve was now very red in the face.
“That rotten Patricia will have nothing to say if Mr. Sternfeld chooses Genevieve. Her daughter never stood a chance!”
I sputtered. “But I thought—”
“Hush!” Lydia said, pacing before the fireplace. “We must present ourselves properly tomorrow. Especially you, Genevieve! Hurry! Go upstairs and find something flattering to wear.”
My stepsister blinked. “Now?”
“Yes now!”
Genevieve shot me an astonished look as she left the parlor. Even she wasn’t used to her mother’s odd moods.
I tucked the needle in my embroidery, ready to slip off, but Lydia stopped me with a frown.
“Yes, stepmother?” I said nonchalantly.
She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not done with you. Your
