"Libby, you are unfailingly and appallingly masculine." I kicked my feet under my chair with even more gusto, knowing it would further infuriate the Headmistress. As predicted, she sniffed ever so delicately, the sound that any student at the Hargrove Ladies Academy could recognize as the sound of impending doom. "I have written to your parents to inform them that effective immediately, your studies here have been terminated," she said, rising out of her cushy office chair to tower above me, a pose she affected frequently as it allowed her to look down her substantial nose at her pupils. "Yes, Miss Halpern," I trilled, utilizing the same monotone as when I chorused with the rest of the girls. She sniffed again, her neck turning an angry puce. "My dear, you are completely and utterly incorrigible. There is nothing left for me to do with you and I daresay there is little hope for your future!" she sputtered, visibly trying to restrain herself from whatever indecencies she truly wished to spout. "Yes, Miss Halpern," I repeated, letting my gaze wander to the windows. The buds were popping on the trees, most of the snow and ice from this past winter running down the branches as the world thawed. The songbirds had returned, their melodious din making me long for the outdoors instead of this stuffy office. "Will you please listen to me!" she trilled, slamming a thick stack of paper down onto the desk to tear me from my reverie. "You are by far the worst pupil I have ever had to finish. These are the reports from your teachers, all of them professing the exact same difficulties. You are rude, incorrigible, uncouth, impetuous and I can say with utmost certainty that you, Libby Marks-Whelan, will never, ever be a lady!" "Thank goodness," I breathed, slumping my shoulders in relief. I glanced up at Miss Halpern and stifled a grin at her quaking shoulders. Her jaw muscle quivered and the precariously balanced monocle tumbled from her right eye. "Out! Out this instant, you disrespectful, deviant little...little...!" she squealed, searching for an appropriate insult. I took my leave, ducking the swat of her hand before she slammed the door to her study behind me. With a gleeful little giggle, I kicked my heels together and stuck my tongue out at her door. Freedom! I strolled through the dark wood panelled hallways of Hargrove, well aware that this would be my last time inside a finishing school of any sort. My parents had made it abundantly clear that this effort would be their last. I'd already failed out of most every school besides Hargrove, so it had taken a substantial "donation" for Miss Halpern to even so much as consider my application. I was certain my mother had saved her alma mater for last, hoping that at some point I would have outgrown my impish desire to wreak havoc. Sadly there weren't enough finishing schools in the country to outlast that particular goal. I passed the door to Miss Cumberland's sewing class, the quiet music and hushed voices reminding me of the gilded cage I was soon to escape. "Out you go," I said, fishing in my apron pocket for the tiny mouse I'd stowed there this morning. The poor thing had curled up and gone to sleep, but it stirred as I cradled it in my hands. I had planned on leaving it in Amelia Earnscliffe's bed during lunch, but thanks to my imminent dismissal, I'd been forced to come up with a different plan. Stooping down, I shooed the mouse through the door to the sewing room. I took no more than than three steps before the first shrill scream erupted, soon accompanied by many more. Burying my hands into my pockets, I grinned as I skipped down the hall towards the dormitory. In my room, word seemed to have already reached the maids. The one in charge of the four girls I shared a bedchamber with was already packing my clothes into trunks with what could only be described as relief. "Apologies, miss, but they told me it had to be done before luncheon," she said, not wasting the effort of curtseying. Such was the way of things, I'd come to realize, when you get kicked out of finishing school. As soon as someone takes you down a notch, everyone who resents you is quick to remind you with forgotten curtseys and curt words. "What remarkable efficiency, if only it had been so apparent during my stay here," I quipped, taking solace in her bing stare. On my desk, amidst the meagre stack of books to be packed, was a wax-sealed letter. "When did this arrive?" I asked, as the maid sat on one of the trunks to close it. "Sometime after breakfast," she shrugged, uninterested. I arched an unimpressed eyebrow at her nonchalance as I broke the seal and pulled the letter from the envelope. Elizabeth, It is with all my heart that I hope this letter finds you well. Being at school, you have probably not heard the news about your cousin Annabelle. She has suddenly come down with a bout of the chickenpox, which is most inopportune given that the Season is but a week away. As you know, this is to be my debutante year and, if the rumors are to be believed, it will also be the prince's inaugural year. I'm sure the magnitude of such a coincidence has not escaped you. Due to Annabelle's illness, however, I am left in quite a predicament. Annabelle was to be one of my three ladies in waiting, so now I am left with a vacant spot to fill at the very last minute. The Season's rules are so strict that at this point, my only choice is to recruit a family member - the last one left, of course, is you Elizabeth. I am desperate and I hope you can find it in your heart to postpone your studies and assist me for the next few months. I have written a letter to your parents as well asking their permission, but I'm certain you grasp the urgency of the matter. If you are so inclined as to be of assistance (please Elizabeth, please!), do not waste any time writing me, I will be awaiting your arrival at the palace. I do hope you can find it in your heart to help me, I would be forever indebted to you! Ella I re-read the letter a second and third time, shocked. Apparently Ella hadn't gotten wind of my reputation, otherwise I was fairly sure she'd never have dared to extend such an invitation. Then again, perhaps she was so desperate that I really was her last hope. I chewed my lip in thought. If I went to Highcastle, the capitol, to help her, I'd be forced to be little more than a prettily-dressed servant for the summer, tittering over gossip and doing anything I could to raise Ella above her peers. Granted I'd be invited to a good number of parties and balls, but the real point of a lady in waiting in a Season was to ensure that the debutante succeeded in her quest to find a husband. Ella's not-so-nonchalant mention of the prince meant that she'd set her sights high. I wasn't surprised, as she had always considered herself far more grand and important than anyone else in our family. "Miss, the carriage has arrived," the maid said, as two footmen appeared to take my luggage. "Carriage?" I asked, looking up from the letter in surprise. "Your parents have sent one," she shrugged, watching the footmen carry the trunk out. "That was quick," I snorted. She avoided my eyes and I realized my expulsion was probably not solely due to the frog I'd left in Louisa Vanderbilt's bed yesterday afternoon. Apparently Miss Halpern had been planning this long enough in advance for my parents to have sent a carriage from Draughton, a half day's ride away. Without a second thought, I slid the letter into a pocket and bounded out of the room. Classes were letting out for luncheon and the hallway filled up with the gentle patter of feet and the sounds of quiet conversation. It did not do for ladies to stampede, as Miss Halpern always said, but stampede I did as I rushed down the stairs towards the carriageway. "Gone so soon?" Louisa called archly after me as I flew past her on the stairs. "I've been summoned to the palace in fact," I called back, turning around to walk backwards through the entrance hall just to see the look of shock on her face. Next to her, Amelia Earnscliffe's jaw popped open. "You're part of the Season?" Louisa demanded, wiping the shock from her face with a sniff of disdain. "I'm off to dance with the prince," I gloated, waltzing in a circle before laughing my way out the front door. A closed-top black carriage with four very familiar horses stood idly at the base of the stairs as the pair of footmen loaded the luggage onto the rack at the back. "Jonas?" I called, lifting my skirts to leap down the stairs in a most unladylike fashion. "Little miss?" came an unmistakable voice from around the back of the carriage. A small, burly man with hair the color of a carrot came bounding around the carriage, his ruddy face lit up as he swept a bow. "And here I was thinking they'd have turned you into a lady," he chuckled, taking in my disarrayed hair and stained apron. I grinned. "Not a chance," I replied, "You've come to take me away?" "I've been sent to take you home," he said, his face falling, "And I'll warn you little miss, your parents were none too pleased about it," My stomach turned a somersault. "Well best not to worry about that, I won't be going home Jonas," I said matter-of-factly. "Oh no?" he asked, a grin slipping onto his face. "We'll be going to Highcastle to see cousin Eleanor," I said, pulling out the letter. "I'm sure that's a letter from your parents?" he asked, the gleam in his eye evidence enough that he would play along with my little ruse. "Of course," I lied with a smile, well aware that Jonas couldn't read, "It seems that cousin Eleanor needs some help for the Season." *************