“Why on earth did you let them lock us away?” Audrey whined.
“Because you haven’t been subjected to the indignities I have when those men downstairs don’t get their way. It is most unpleasant to be manhandled, and far more undignified than this.” Emily smoothed her midnight blue velvet skirts and sat down on Horatia’s bed, looking at her expectantly. “Besides, I believe Horatia knows exactly what is going on.”
Audrey looked to her sister as she limped over and joined Emily on the bed. “Well?”
Horatia sighed. “Very well. But you must not say a word until I’m finished. No, Audrey, not even a peep.”
Audrey, whose lips had already opened up, stopped and clamped back shut.
After a brief narration of the night’s events, heavily edited for propriety’s sake, Horatia waited for either of her c
