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Ivy’s meeting with Olivia couldn’t have gone better. Her friend was delighted with Ivy’s plan to include Sarah and Henry at the charity ball, but that was nothing to her elation at hearing Philippa was willing to host the event.

‘The grand Duchess of Dorsett agreeing to host a ball for orphans. Why, it will be the event of the summer season! The ladies in the Committee couldn’t recollect the last time the duchess hosted even an afternoon tea at her mansion, let alone a dance.

It’s all thanks to you, Ivy. I know she never would have agreed to it had I asked. ’

‘I still don’t understand why the two of you hold such animosity toward one another.’

Olivia only shrugged while looking closely at the lace on her glove. ‘Chalk and cheese we are. Or mayhap diamonds and sapphires. Whatever it is, we don’t mix. And I, for one, am glad of it. The last thing I need is to be trapped together with the insufferable Duchess of Dorsett.’

‘She’s not insufferable.’ Ivy really liked Olivia.

But she wouldn’t allow her to speak ill of Philippa.

Not when the duchess had given Ivy a chance to change herself.

When Ivy went to Philippa after Millie’s Yuletide wedding and asked to learn the skills of self-defence, Ivy never imagined Philippa would open her eyes to the power lying dormant within herself.

Learning to wield a sword, throw a right hook, shoot a pistol, and grapple with someone larger and stronger than Ivy taught her something invaluable: she was far more powerful than she thought.

But Olivia taught her something as well.

Offering Ivy the position of headmistress and entrusting the lives of seven and twenty children into Ivy’s care was a gesture of faith that Ivy did not take for granted.

Standing in the gap between her orphans and an intruder bent on hurting them took Philippa’s lessons and Olivia’s faith and combined them into action.

She wasn’t squaring off against a hypothetical opponent, but rather a real man intent on harming children entrusted to Ivy.

Both women played an integral role in moving Ivy from a place of weakness to strength, and yet Ivy would bet all her new-found confidence they would rather pull out their nails and soak their fingers in methylated spirits than stand next to one another at a ball.

I don’t understand it.

But she hardly had time to consider the inner workings of Philippa’s mind or the motivation of Olivia’s dislike.

After Olivia departed in a flurry of hugs and kisses, Ivy spent the remainder of the afternoon supervising the children in their chores and joining them for their supper.

Sarah was not pleased to learn Ivy couldn’t read to them before bed, but when she shared the news that both Sarah and Henry would be joining Ivy at the fancy ball full of wealthy lords and ladies and helping to divest these titled toffs of their extra coins to raise money for the orphanage, Sarah’s attitude shifted.

She and Henry helped corral twenty-seven very excited young people to their rooms a full half-hour before their usual bedtime with promises of an extra chapter being read the next night.

Ivy couldn’t help smiling to herself at the sound of excited whispers emanating from Sarah’s room as she walked down the eastern hall and descended the stairs to the entryway. Her timing was impeccable. A smart knock on the door alerted her to Millie’s early arrival.

‘I received your message. Are you well? What has happened?’ Her oldest and best friend was a vision in cream and sage.

Her linen gown was cut low in the front, displaying Millie’s luscious figure to its best advantage, and the lighter fabric was perfect for a summer evening gathering with friends.

Ivy marvelled at the twists and turns her life had taken.

Never would she have imagined such a dashing and dynamic group of people all gathering because she asked them to join her.

To plan an attack against a group of very dangerous lords.

And the wonder of it all was that while fear was a subtle flavour, it didn’t dominate the melange of emotions filling her.

Leading Millie into the parlour, she gestured to the somewhat threadbare settee while she took the wing-back chair for herself. ‘I am quite well. At least, I am not un well. More to the point, I find myself in a state of unusual disquiet.’

Millie’s copper brows drew down in confusion. A coil of red hair broke free from her loose twist and curled charmingly against her freckled cheek. ‘Disquiet?’ She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. ‘Ivy, you are worrying me. Please, speak plainly. What has put you so out of sorts?’

Ivy fiddled with a frayed edge of upholstery where the fabric met the ornately carved wood. ‘Edward.’

Millicent’s brow rose so high, it nearly disappeared into her hairline. ‘Edward?’ Her tone conveyed a world of meaning while her lips twitched. ‘Are we on such familiar terms with the Commissioner of Scotland Yard?’

‘We might be,’ Ivy hedged as her face grew warm.

‘Ivy Cavendale! Tell me all. You must or I shall expire on this sad little settee.’ Sweeping off the couch, she knelt in front of Ivy, completely heedless of the wrinkles being created in her gown. ‘What is going on between you and the Commissioner of Scotland Yard?’

Ivy wanted to crawl under the table and never emerge. ‘Nothing is going on. At least, not much more than a few kisses.’ She was quite certain death by embarrassment was possible, and she would be the first victim.

‘Kisses?’ The word fairly exploded from Millie.

‘You kissed him? Or did he kiss you? Let’s hope you kissed each other.

Ivy! This is most decidedly unexpected.’ She waved a hand in front of her as tears filled her eyes.

‘I wasn’t sure you would ever want… Wait.

Unless you didn’t wish for him to kiss you.

’ Just as quickly as her eyes had lit with joy, they darkened with a much more deadly emotion.

‘Did he force himself on you? Is he bullying you? Because Drake will cut that man’s tackle off before you can boil the kettle for tea.

And when he’s done, I’ll drag what’s left of him into the garden for target practice with my throwing knives.

’ She gripped Ivy’s hand so tightly, Ivy worried they might be fused for eternity. ‘If he hurt you, Ivy, we will end him.’

Ivy’s head started to spin. ‘Good Lord, we aren’t ending anyone. He didn’t force me. Quite the opposite, actually.’

Millie loosened her grip. ‘Truly? You actually wanted to kiss him? Only because you’ve always expressed a decided fear of such intimacies.’

Ivy shrugged. ‘Yes, but I’m beginning to think some fears can only be defeated by facing them.’

‘Ah.’ Millie nodded slowly, though her mouth still turned down in a hesitant frown. ‘And you think he is the right person to face your fears with?’

Exhaling a long breath, Ivy’s voice only shook a little. ‘I do.’

Millie’s gaze never wavered. ‘Have you told him? About your father?’

Ivy’s throat grew tight. She had never been able to tell Millie the truth about her father, but she knew her friend suspected. It seemed a betrayal for her to have told Edward secrets she never shared with Millie. She nodded. ‘I don’t know why I told him. I should have told you first.’

‘Ivy, I’m your best friend. You didn’t have to tell me because I already knew. Mayhap not the details of what that bastard did, but you don’t have to count the teeth on a tiger to imagine how easily it might rip someone asunder.’

‘I always thought if I told you, the shame would be so great, it would swallow me whole. I couldn’t bear the thought of you looking at me differently.’ Something cruel and hard squeezed her ribs, making it impossible to take a breath.

‘Oh, my sweet friend.’ Millie pulled Ivy into a hug, fresh cotton and citrus enveloping Ivy in a scent as familiar and comforting as Millie herself.

‘I will never see you as anything more or anything less than my fierce, beautiful, brave, and dearest friend.’ It was an unexpected benediction.

A granting of permission for Ivy to fall apart.

So she did. Millie hummed softly, her hand patting Ivy’s back like a mother soothing her child as Ivy let years of hidden pain surface like poison from a deep infection and spill out of her in a rush of tears.

Eventually, the storm passed. When Ivy pulled away, she felt lighter.

‘I look a right mess.’ Wiping tears from her cheek, she sniffed loudly.

‘We can fix that.’ Millie brought supplies with her. A bottle of crisp German Riesling and chocolate. She rushed to the kitchen and returned with a cool, wet cloth for Ivy’s face and two mismatched glasses. ‘I must say, it is rather interesting that you told him your secrets.’

Ivy held her glass up for Millie to pour and avoided her friend’s eye contact. ‘Perhaps he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’

Snorting, Millie almost spilled wine as she filled her glass. ‘Don’t think you can lie to me, Ivy Cavendale. We’ve been friends for far too long. You trust him.’

I do. I trust him not to harm me.

‘Should I not?’

Millie plunked the bottle on the table and sipped her wine. ‘Philippa trusts him. Even if she doesn’t like him. Oh! Maybe you can get him to spill that particular story. We’ve all wondered what their history might be.’

Ivy scrunched her nose. ‘I’m not going to pilfer secrets from the man.’

‘No. I don’t suppose that would do given how important trust is between you. Right. So. You are going to face your fears with the Commissioner. How can I help?’