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“Mayne will do it,” Griselda said firmly. “My brother will do anything that needs to be done.”

“Not Mayne.” Esme looked at Helene. “It’s your husband’s …friend. We need her.”

“For what?” Helene asked.

“She has to marry,” Esme said decisively. “Become respectable.”

“I don’t know if Mayne will wish to go that far,” Griselda said, feeling a sudden flash of panic. “He does mean to marry, but—”

“No, I don’t mean she should actually marry someone,” Esme said. “But she has to pretend to be married. Helene, would you mind very much if we asked the young lady to join us?”

“Join us?” Griselda squeaked. To tell the truth, she’d never been in the room with a kept woman. It was a good thing that she’d left Mayne in the coach. He had an uncompromising streak when it came to his little sister’s acquaintances.

“I don’t even know if she’s in the house,” Helene was explaining. “We don’t exactly—I have no idea—” she foundered to a pause.

“I shall enquire,” Gina said firmly. “What is her name?”

“McKenna,” Helene said. “Miss Lina McKenna.”

The three women sat in utter silence, listening to Gina sending Leke off to request that Miss McKenna kindly join them in the library.

Griselda found herself rather disappointed, to tell the truth. The young woman who was ushered through the door by Leke some ten minutes later was nothing like what she imagined a Bird of Paradise to look like. Miss McKenna had soft brown curls, and large eyes. She was beautiful, in a young sort of way. But she didn’t look debauched, and she certainly didn’t look as if she was—well—spicy. Naughty. Any of those rather exciting words that one associated with strumpets. Mostly, she just looked painfully nervous.

“Miss McKenna,” Esme said, having made sure that the girl was seated. “I am afraid that the news of Lady Godwin’s residence in the house, in tandem with your presence, has created rather a sensation amongst London society.”

Miss McKenna gasped and looked to Helene. “They found out?”

“She’s ruined,” Esme confirmed. “No one in polite society will ever receive her again.” Her voice was quiet but merciless.

Miss McKenna swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “In God’s truth, I am so sorry.”

Helene found a smile wobbling on her lips. “It’s hardly your fault. I think we have universally come to the agreement that the fault lies directly at the door of my reprehensible husband.”

Griselda was rather interested to note that Helene showed no sign of loathing her husband’s mistress. Perhaps Mayne was more acute than she had given him credit for. Helene was, indeed, an unusual woman.

“I did not wish to remain in this house,” Miss McKenna said looking only at Helene, “and I’m ashamed that I ever agreed. I only did so because Lord Godwin offered me the lead in his next opera.”

Griselda was feeling more and more confused. The supposed strumpet spoke like a lady, albeit a Scottish one. Griselda could hear a burr in her voice. And she wasn’t even wearing rouge, for all Griselda could see. How could this woman be a self-respecting élégante? Helene didn’t seem to have shed a single tear over the fact she was ruined, but Miss McKenna was obviously biting her lip to keep back a flood.

“You do not have the manner of a common woman,” Esme commented.

“No,” Miss McKenna admitted.

“How many of Lord Godwin’s acquaintances have you met frequently, since becoming his mistress, enough so that they would recognize you instantly?”

Miss McKenna’s face washed with color. “Almost none,” she whispered. “Mr. Darby. Mr. Forbes-Shacklett. Oh, and Lord Pandross, but he hasn’t been to the house in months.”

“Simon Darby and Pandross won’t present a problem; Rees can shut them up. Are the Forbes-Shackletts in town?” Esme asked Gina.

“I don’t think so,” Gina said slowly. “Lady Forbes-Shacklett was going to present her daughter this year, but then the family went into mourning, and I believe they remained in the country.”

Esme drew a deep breath. “I think it’s possible.” She turned back to Lina. “I am sure you are aware how remorseless society will be to Lady Godwin. Her children will be shunned, should she have any. She will have to live in the country. She will lose her friends. How can we risk the reputations of our own children, by continuing to fraternize with a woman of her sort?”

Gina opened her mouth indignantly, but Esme silenced her with one glance.

Lina was trembling. “I am sorry,” she said miserably. She had never felt so wretchedly ashamed in her entire life. “I’ll leave the house immediately. I’ll never—”

“I should like you to do something for Lady Godwin first,” Esme interrupted. “There is only one way we can overcome this scandal. We must be so brazen that no one could possibly believe the truth.” Esme turned to the others. “May I present to you Rees’s third cousin, four times removed, recently widowed and come to London for peace and quiet?”