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all the ambition in the world. All the ambition, Regina had observed, that her poor cousin Harry had not inherited.
    Regina could feel some sympathy for Harry, she realized, but very little. In the weeks in which he had moved in to her uncle’s house with his mother, she had been aware, through all the confusion, of his apologetic presence. He was a few years older than Regina herself, but he lacked her glowing color. He was a pallid, dark-haired young man. His pantaloons stretched un- fashionably across a premature little paunch that bobbled when he coughed, as he so often did, to attract attention. If he would not try, Regina thought, watching him from the corner of her eye, so very hard to be in fashion, perhaps it would not be so noticeable. But the tight-fitting jackets he aspired to only accentuated his perennial slouch and rounded shoulders. And his conversational attempts were poor mumbles, as if he expected to be interrupted at any moment. And, in fairness, she thought, he always was.
    “Harry,” commanded his mother now, “do say something. I have just told Mrs. Teas that her services will be no longer required. That as we are no longer a household containing only a bachelor and his niece, we require a butler, not a housekeeper. We have enough females here. She has asked for references. Will you take yourself off and compose one?”
    “Ah,” the unhappy Harry ventured, “but as I did not…that is to say, never employed her…what should I write, Mama?”
    “Whatever seems reasonable,” his mother shouted.
    “Perhaps,” Regina put in, trying to come to Harry’s aid, “Mrs. Teas herself can suggest some of the required wording.”
    “Very good,” commended her aunt. “Just so. Go to it, Harry.”
    When Harry and Mrs. Teas had left, Aunt Harriet sat herself down opposite Regina.
    “It’s good,” she said, shaking her gray curls for emphasis, “that you’re coming out of your sulks. I don’t mind telling you that when I discovered that I had inherited you as well as this house, I was shocked. George never said a word about your presence, but you might as well know that we were never close. You do know it, so what’s said is said. We were both very busy people, and I consider myself no more at fault than he was. But, what’s done’s done, when all’s said. Still, you’re a well enough looking girl, though you have more of your mother in you than Berryman, to be sure. But you’ve a quick mind, and a healthy body, so all’s not lost. What do you intend to do with yourself, Niece?”
    The abruptness of the question put Regina off balance. In truth, for the past weeks she had been trying to determine the same thing for herself. She was in no better case now than she was when her father had died. She had little money, and less experience with the world. She had never gotten out to see much more of the grand city to which she had been taken. At first, it was because she had lain in hiding from the omnipresent coach which had waited outside. But soon after her uncle’s death, it had disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. But then, her confusion and mourning had confined her to the house. Now a month had passed, and she still had no clear idea of what was to become of herself.
    Still, she was never silent for too long, and giving her aunt a long measuring look, she spoke:
    “I have a few options, Aunt. I have been considering them. If I could prevail upon you to lend me some passage fare, I could rejoin my governess at the school she has established in Canterbury and establish myself there as a teacher. I could perhaps seek similar employment with some well-placed family here in the city. I would not, Aunt, throw myself upon your charge for too long.”
    “What about marriage?” snapped her aunt.
    “I am dowerless, portionless, and familyless,” Regina smiled. “Not quite a catch, Aunt.”
    “Your looks would take care of that,” her aunt spoke. “If any of my girls had had your looks,