Frances followed Mrs Pearson upstairs to a delightful room, furnished in pale blue. A young girl followed them silently. "This is Annie, she will be your maid until you find someone yourself," advised the older woman. "I will leave you to get settled; then, when you are ready, Annie will bring you down to the parlour for tea. Oh I am so glad to see you here, I was your mother's nurse you know."

"You must tell me all about her," responded Frances, "I would love to hear your stories, in fact I know very little about this side of my family at all."

"I am sure the two of us will have lots of opportunities for a comfortable cose. Lady Murray does not like to remember the past," she explained carefully.

Annie was young, with light brown hair tucked under a cap, and slightly blotchy skin. Deftly she unpacked Frances' bags and put things away, without saying a word. "Thank you, Annie," said Frances, and she dipped her head and smiled shyly.

"Can you show me the parlour, please?" The maid led her downstairs to a small room decorated with white and gold panelling and delicately carved chairs. Lady Murray was already seated and called for the tea tray when Frances arrived. Expecting to give an account of how she had spent her life, Frances was taken aback when Lady Murray's first question was, "What accomplishments do you have girl? Maria, Mrs Pearson that is, says you have the look of a lady, and your voice is acceptable, but what are your accomplishments?"

"I am afraid I do not have many, your ladyship. I sew a little of course but I do not play an instrument, or sketch. However, I speak French and Italian fluently, and German, a little." Frances answered honestly. She resisted the temptation to add that she could also fence a little and out shoot most men, though it would almost have been worth it to wipe the condescending smile off Lady Murray's face.

"I feared as much. What about dancing?"

"I am familiar with some country dances, but a few lessons to teach me the current steps would be helpful." She replied, trying hard not to let her offense show.

Lady Murray smiled suddenly, "You will forgive me if I do not introduce you to society just yet. You will need proper clothes and dancing lessons at least before we present you. I am sure you will feel more comfortable with that, rather than to be thrust into a round of activities too soon."

Frances had rather been looking forward to engaging in a round of social activities, but she could hardly gainsay her grandmother, and murmured a polite "Thank you, my lady." A small spark of rebellion prompted her to add innocently, "Should I call you Grandmere, or Grandmama, my lady?"

Lady Murray suppressed a wince. "You may call me Grandmother," she conceded reluctantly, she could hardly insist the girl keep calling her Lady Murray! "Maria has a good eye for fashion, she can take you to my dressmaker tomorrow. I will ask her to look through your wardrobe and see if anything you have is suitable for your new station."

Frances bit her lip, there was no point in taking umbrage. She would just have to pretend she was undertaking a new masquerade for the period of her visit, that of demure young lady. She wondered how soon she could lay hands on her ten thousand pounds and set up her own establishment. Fortunately Lady Murray retired to her room shortly afterwards for a rest, and Frances went upstairs with Mrs Pearson to look through her wardrobe and discuss what new clothes she would need to purchase tomorrow.

Lord Carleton was beginning to think he was the victim of a malicious fate. No sooner had his plan succeeded, and Frances been located by his agent's clerk at the Regent Hotel, than she disappeared again before he could talk to her. He arrived home feeling discouraged, to find a letter had been left for him in his absence. He unfolded it half heartedly, then drew in his breath as he recognised who it was from. Eagerly he scanned the short missive.

"My dear Carleton,

I have been waiting until I sorted out my affairs before contacting you again. I have a name now, Frances Metcalf. I am the daughter of Lady Amanda Murray and Henry Metcalf and they were married at Brasted in Kent, twenty five years ago. I have approached my grandmother Lady Murray and she has invited me to stay with her until my inheritance is arranged, I have been told I am to inherit ten thousand pounds! It all seems like a fairy tale and best of all it is true and not a scam!

I must tell you why I left Chatswood as I did, though perhaps you have guessed the reason yourself by now! I did not want to trap you into offering for an adventuress, your unfailing kindness to me did not deserve to be repaid in that manner. I hope in time you will find yourself able to forgive me,

Yours sincerely

Frances Metcalf"

He read it a second time. Did she want him to seek her out or not? It certainly sounded as if she cared for him but whether it was as a friend or something warmer he could not tell. He needed a private conversation with her, but how could he approach her at Lady Murray's residence without admitting a prior acquaintance? As far as he was aware, no-one outside Lady Murray's immediate household even knew of her existence yet.

He would have to wait until she was introduced socially to the ton and then seek an introduction, he must curb his impatience. For the first time, he wished she was still masquerading as Peter Francis, it would certainly have been a lot easier to arrange a meeting.

Frances and Mrs Pearson greatly enjoyed their expedition to Lady Murray's dressmaker the following day. They ordered two evening gowns, a muslin dress gathered high above the waist to wear in the day time, a pelisse with velvet trim and a blue bonnet to match and felt very extravagant.

While they were out, a letter was delivered to Lady Murray and she asked Hanson to read it to her. She was exceedingly glad she had not waited for Mrs Pearson to return when he opened the letter, and after glancing at it, suggested in a wooden voice that they move to the privacy of the parlour.

"My dear Lady Murray,

I am writing to you tell you about the wanton behaviour of the person who goes by the name of Frances. I understand she is a connection of yours. She dresses in male attire and recently spent a week at the house of Lord Richard Carleton, as his close companion! I do not need to tell you the scandal this would cause if it became known. I hope you can do something about this,

Yours sincerely,

A friend"

Lady Murray felt a curious mixture of horror and vindication, "I knew something like this would happen!" she said harshly. "There was bad blood in Henry and it has come out in the daughter. She must be mad!" she concluded with certainty. "The girl obviously needs to be looked after, she is not capable of keeping herself decent."

She thought for a moment, "Send for Mr Pilkington immediately, Hanson, I will get him to investigate this. Also, I think we should ask Dr Russell to call tomorrow. I fancy his services will be required to keep her under control. Arrange it will you? Mind, not a word to anyone else, especially Mrs Pearson - I will break the sad news to her myself, she will be very distressed."

"Yes, my lady. What shall I do with the letter?"

"Give it to me. I will need to show Mr Pilkington." Lady Murray took the letter and held it carefully, it was the most valuable thing she had received for ages. She waited impatiently for Mr Pilkington who, fortunately for both of them, was not busy when Hanson called and was able to return with him in the hackney.

"I have received some interesting news about my granddaughter," she told him calmly, passing him the letter. "You may find this will be of assistance to us."

Her solicitor took the letter gingerly and quickly skimmed it. "Yes indeed, my lady, very interesting, if true," he added suavely.

"That's what I want you to investigate for me, privately of course. I do not want this to be known outside these four walls, at least not yet!"

He nodded and bowed himself out of the room, "At once, my lady."

She went slowly upstairs to her room, plans forming in her head only to be discarded as she realised their weaknesses; her scheme needed to be foolproof. Surely she had some laudanum handy? She would make sure Hanson arranged for some to be put in Frances' morning cup of hot chocolate, that would keep her docile until Dr Russell arrived and she could put the rest of her scheme into place.

The two shoppers returned to the house, unaware of the disaster looming over their heads. Lady Murray remained in her room, she did not think she could manage to treat Frances with civility and pleaded a headache when Mrs Pearson went up to enquire. "I shall just rest here quietly, Maria, but please come up and see me before you retire for the night," she requested in a faint voice.

Mrs Pearson knocked lightly on her door later that night after Frances had retired, and was bid to enter. Lady Murray was propped up in her bed and turned a tragic face towards her old companion. "Maria, you must prepare yourself for terrible news," she turned a searching gaze upon her and patted the side of the bed. "Be seated, I have had a great shock. Our Frances is not ... not well" her voice faltered convincingly.

"My lady, what on earth has happened?" cried Mrs Pearson anxiously.

"While you were out this afternoon, I had a visit from Mr Pilkington." Lady Murray thought correctly that this would carry more weight than an anonymous letter. "He has been looking into the girl's history for me, to see if we could verify her claim and unfortunately he made a terrible discovery. Before she came to us she was living with a man!"

She continued, over Mrs Pearson's gasp of horror. "Not only has she lost her virtue but I fear she has been seen wearing men's clothes in public. I can only conclude that she is suffering from an inflammation of the brain, so I have asked if Dr Russell might call as a matter of urgency tomorrow. We will see what can be done, perhaps a quiet life in the country ..."

"Good heavens! What are we to do? I cannot believe it, is Mr Pilkington certain of his facts?" Mrs Pearson was devastated.

"Unfortunately it is all too true," Lady Murray sighed. "We will see what can be done tomorrow, after I have seen Dr Russell. I know I shall not sleep a wink tonight but we must get what rest we can. Good night, Maria, I am sure I do not need to tell you, but not a word to the girl until Dr Russell has been, I will talk to her myself after I have decided what to do."

"Of course, my lady, oh I cannot believe it!" she exclaimed again. Not only had Mrs Pearson become fond of Frances but she had been eagerly looking forward to presenting her to their friends and the round of social activities this would entail. Grateful as she was to Lady Murray for providing her with a home and a comfortable life, sometimes it did all seem rather quiet, not to say dull. A lively young person was just what they needed, she had thought.

Sadly she went to her room, only to lie on her bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After a while her natural optimism began to reassert itself. Perhaps it was not quite as bad as Lady Murray feared, she was always one to see the worst side of things. Who was the man involved? Perhaps if he were not totally unacceptable he could marry Frances and make her, if not respectable, at least less scandalous.