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tale and she would stand by it. “Whatever his reasons, Mr. Godding has indeed gone, and Mrs. Plackett is … affected by it. Please excuse Mrs. Plackett for failing to greet you personally. Thank you so much for coming this evening.”
    Reverend Rumsey and Admiral Lockwood each fortified themselves with butterscotches and rhubarb tart, then made their exits together, after both kissing Miss Fringle’s hand with deep gallantry. The choir mistress basked in the attention.
    “Oh, young lady?” Admiral Lockwood had poked his head back into the hallway, and now beckoned toward Smooth Kitty.
    She went to him. He took several steps down the hall so that no one else could see or hear him, and pulled a small parcel from a pocket within his coat.
    He handed it to Kitty. It was surprisingly heavy, about six inches by four, and wrapped in brown paper and twine a bit roughly, as if done by old and shaky hands.
    “For your headmistress,” he said. “You’ll see to it that she receives this, won’t you?”
    Kitty took the parcel and nodded. “Instantly the moment she wakes,” she said, considering this to be essentially a truthful statement.
    He patted her on the head—the second time tonight that an older man had f lattened her curls. “There’s a good girl.” He left.
    Kitty resisted her curiosity about the parcel and stowed it in the drawer of a wooden hutch in the hallway, then rejoined the others in the parlor. She found Miss Fringle thumping her cane on the f loor.
    “Very well, girls. Show me to your headmistress’s bedroom.”
    Dear Roberta began to cough loudly. Dr. Snelling patted her vigorously on the back.
    “Mrs. Plackett is confined to her bed already,” began Smooth Kitty.
    “And sleeping deeply,” added Stout Alice.
    “Being seriously ill,” said Dour Elinor.
    “But nothing that a night’s sleep won’t cure,” added Smooth Kitty, with a nervous glance at the doctor.
    “We could help you to an upstairs room,” offered Disgraceful Mary Jane.
    “You’ve already helped me to this excruciating injury,” Miss Fringle replied. “No, I shan’t hazard the stairs. Constance’s room will do. I don’t take up much space. Captain Plackett bought her a much larger bed than necessary when they married, but I always said he was an extravagant man. There’s room for us both.” She paused, then lowered her voice as if confiding in the girls. “Captain Plackett bought her a house that was too big, come to think of it, then up and died leaving her in need of pupils to pay its upkeep. But men are never famous for thinking ahead.”
    Dr. Snelling coughed suggestively. “If you don’t think ahead, Miss Fringle, and give that ankle some rest, I shall order your charming niece to confiscate your shoes and so confine you to your bed. As for extravagance, I recently heard Captain Plackett’s wealth from overseas was more than enough to leave Mrs. Plackett comfortably off.”
    “Pah! What wealth?” Miss Fringle snorted. “If there was wealth, I’d know.” The girls, exchanging silent glances, agreed. They ate their daily bread on Mrs. Plackett’s economy, and witnessed how she pinched and scrimped. They were quite certain she possessed no fortune to speak of.
    Dr. Snelling shrugged. “Idle gossip, perhaps.” He gathered his instruments back into his bag and checked his gold watch. “Nothing more to be done for you, Miss Fringle,” he said. “Mollie Bennion will have birthed and weaned her baby by the time I arrive if I don’t leave now, and then how shall I collect my fee? As you say, Mrs. Plackett sleeps soundly. I’ll leave a sleeping draught for her if she should wake and have trouble settling. See that she gets this, won’t you, young ladies?”
    All seven young ladies nodded solemnly.
    “She’ll sleep like the grave,” Dour Elinor said.
    Disgraceful Mary Jane pinched Elinor where no one could see.
    Miss Fringle’s eyes narrowed at Elinor’s remark, and Kitty worried a bit, but the