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"Not your mother, that's for sure," she said. "Give her a crisis and she'll go out and buy a new dress."

She flopped in the big chair in her bedroom and sat back with her arms over the cushioned sides.

"I'm warning you. My sister Leonora, who agreed to let you live with her, is not anything like me."

"That's a relief?'

"Don't be rude," she snapped. She took a breath, looked out the window, and turned back to me. "She's very stuffy. She and her husband Richard are quintessentially English. Their lives are filled with codes of behavior that make the rules I live by look like chaos. On top of that, you'll be living like one of her domestics, fulfilling chores. You might not be able to face them alone. Every day they'll remind you of how lucky you are to be able to serve them."

I retorted, "Lucky. I wonder every day what I did to be this lucky."

"You are a sassy child. Well," she said with a sigh, "they can't expect that I purged you of all your willful ways in the short time you've been living here with me. There is only so much a person can accomplish, even someone like me."

"Why, Grandmother, you are admitting limits?"

"Do you want to give me a heart attack? Is that why you're being so impudent?"

I smiled.

She turned away to hide her own smile behind her hand and then shook her head.

"I just can't imagine you living with Leonora. It was a bad idea."

"I'm sure it will be nothing compared to where I lived in Washington, D.C., Grandm

other. Are there people being shot on the street in front of her home? Does she have dope addicts in the hallways and gang members standing on the corner ready to terrorize me?"

"She has her own hurdles for you to jump," she countered. "She believes she belongs with English royalty. All right," she said, nodding, her eyes small. "You'll see for yourself." She sighed deeply. "You'll be spending most of your time at the school, anyway, I suppose. After my ogre of a doctor signs me off, join you and see that you're not being exploited."

"I think I can see to that myself," I said.

"Don't be arrogant, Rain. It's not becoming, and it will only lead to trouble."

"I'm not being arrogant. I'm being ...confident," I said. "Do you think it's easy for me to agree to pick up and go to another country?" I asked, holding my hands out.

She laughed.

"I suppose you have a point. All right, let's not beat a dead horse. Get me my pills, please," she said, gesturing toward the nightstand by her bed. I got one of her tablets out and gave it to her with a glass of water. "Your mother claims she will be here tomorrow to say good-bye. Don't hold your breath," she told me. "I'm sure she'll come up with some convenient excuse like she has to attend some political function with Grant."

"When it comes to my mother," I said, "I've grown accustomed to disappointment."

She nodded sadly.

"On the other hand," she said, suddenly smiling, "Victoria would be eager to help load your suitcases and see you off."

"I know?'

Her smile softened and disappeared.

"Maybe you're the lucky one after all. I have to stay here with my children and grandchildren, not that they'll visit me much. I don't expect see much of Brody with you gone," she added with a suspicious look in her eyes.

"He hasn't called or written to me if that's what you're asking, Grandmother."

"Good," she said. She shook her head. "Your mother has to face up to the truth one of these days."

'Why?" I asked dryly.

She stared at me. I wanted her to say because it was the right thing to do, despite the danger and the consequences. Blood used to be thicker than water.