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Lady Jane looked toward the servants with immediate irritation. "Why is that trunk still there?" she demanded, pointing toward a large case. "Must I instruct every person in this household individually before anything is done correctly?"

The servant hurried to obey.

Olivia and Louiza descended from the carriage and stood together beneath the shelter of the entrance. They exchanged one nervous glance before curtsying.

"Good morning, Aunt Jane," Louiza said. They both curtsied.

"Lady Charnley," Olivia added, performing her own curtsey with rather more care than she felt.

Lady Jane looked at them. Her expression did not change. Then her eyes narrowed.

"I was expecting one girl."

Olivia's heart gave a nervous little leap. This was the moment. She had lied to a carriage driver, trespassed into a carriage and escaped through a window, but somehow standing before Aunt Jane felt considerably more dangerous.

"Our mother changed her mind," Olivia said quickly, lifting her chin.

Lady Jane stared at her for several seconds. Olivia prayed that her face looked innocent. She suspected it did not.

At last, Lady Jane gave an irritated huff. "Apparently she did."

Then she turned sharply and swept into the house without another word.

Olivia looked at Louiza. Louiza looked at Olivia.

"Well," Olivia whispered, taking her sister's arm, "she seems delighted to see us."

Louiza pressed her lips together to hide a smile. "Olivia."

"I am merely observing," Olivia whispered.

"You are being cheeky," Louiza replied.

"I have been called worse."

Together they followed their formidable aunt inside, leaving the grey rain behind them. Olivia had no idea what awaited them at Charnley Manor, but she suspected Aunt Jane had already decided that two Shirley sisters were twice the trouble she had ordered

Once inside, Olivia and Louiza stopped together in the vast entrance hall, where the polished black-and-white floor reflected the grey light filtering through the tall windows. Olivia looked about her with cautious curiosity. The house was magnificent, certainly, but it possessed all the warmth of a mausoleum. There were no cheerful flowers, no bright paintings of smiling children, and not a single comfortable-looking chair upon which a person might sit without first wondering whether Lady Charnley would object to the cushions being disturbed. Olivia had the distinct impression that happiness had once attempted to enter Charnley Manor and been shown firmly to the door.

"I cannot afford to support two young ladies in the lifestyle expected of them," she announced, as though discussing the weather. "Therefore, one of you shall serve as my maid, whilst the other shall enjoy the social opportunities I can offer."

Olivia gasped. For several seconds, she wondered whether she had misunderstood her aunt, but the woman's expression made it perfectly clear that she had not.

"A maid?" Olivia repeated, pointing at herself in astonishment. "But …"

"That is the way of it," Lady Jane interrupted, lifting one hand. "Now tell me, which is the promising twin my sister mentioned, and which one is the bad influence?"

Olivia glanced at Louiza. Louiza glanced at Olivia.

The question should have been simple. Their mother had spent years making certain everyone knew which daughter was supposed to be the good one and which was supposed to be the troublesome one. Yet Olivia could not bear the thought of Louiza being condemned to a servant's life simply because Louiza was the gentler sister.

"I am the bad twin," Olivia declared at once.

"No, I am," Louiza said simultaneously.

They both stopped. Lady Jane stared at them.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Louiza."