"She loves him? Ha! She hardly knows him, Alice," Ralph shouted.
"She's known him for two whole months, I know people who claim to have fallen in love in a day," Alice reasoned.
"I don't care about other people!" He thundered.
"Ralph..."
"No, Alice. I'm not endorsing this match. Theodore is a good friend, but he's not the kind of man I want my little sister to marry. He'll break her heart, destroy her spirit..."
"Ralph, listen to yourself. You're being unreasonably stubborn."
"Unreasonably?" He gaped.
"Yes. When was the last time you saw Lord Fortescue with another woman?"
"Just the other day..." he trailed off, desperately he trying to recollect something that hadn't even taken place.
"I knew it," Alice smirked.
Ralph muttered something under his breath. Alice didn't think she wanted to know what he'd said.
She set her hand on his shoulders and pushed him onto the chair, looming over him.
He looked taken aback by her forwardness.
"Look Ralph, your sister loves Lord Fortescue and he loves her back. His intentions are pure, well not that pure but at least..."
"What do you mean?" Ralph cut her off, his low voice scaring Alice.
"Oh nothing..."
"Alice," he growled.
"Oh alright. Rosalyn is ruined."
"What?" Ralph roared, getting up from his chair. Alice pushed him back down.
"It's not so terrible," she hedged.
"That bastard will marry my sister or I'll kill him with my bare hands," he threatened.
"There, that's more like it," Alice smiled, relived for now. But she did worry a little about Lord Fortescue's safety. Ralph was not going to let this go easily.
"You need to help, Ralph. We have very little time, we must do something before Lady Petal and Lord Fortescue's betrothal is announced. You can deal with them later."
"What do I have to do?" Ralph murmured, squeezing his eyes shut, as if in pain.
Alice explained what he he had to do. He protested many times but Alice managed to convince him somehow.
"I think this is extremely foolish. Not to mention, I might end up hurting Lady Petal's feelings," he complained.
"She's ruining Rosalyn's life. Do you really care?" She asked drily.
"Not anymore," he said, his eyes turning hard.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. You know when to act, do you not?"
Ralph merely nodded.
Alice sashayed past him, satisfied.
Hyde Park, London.
"Is she here yet?" Vanessa whispered impatiently.
"Not yet," Sarah whispered back, standing behind a tall hedge.
"Why are we whispering?" Alice whispered.
"I don't know," Sarah giggled.
"There she is," Vanessa gushed, excited.
"She's alone, that's good," Sarah said.
They began to stroll then. Vanessa twirled her parasol, trying to appear casual.
"Act natural," Alice hissed.
"I am," Vanessa huffed.
"We're almost there, will you two stop?" Sarah snapped.
They fell silent.
And then, "oh Lady Petal! What a pleasant surprise."
Lady Petal looked up from her book, looking confused. These ladies were extremely popular and never went out of their ways to greet her.
"Good morning," she smiled, nonetheless.
"Do you mind if we join you?"
"Not at all."
They made inane conversation for a while.
"So you like to read?" Sarah asked pleasantly.
"Yes. Nothing better than a good book," Lady Petal nodded uncomfortably.
"You're holding it upside-down..." Alice started to say but Vanessa pinched her, effectively shutting Alice up.
In no time, they'd steered the conversation in a more personal direction.
"We noticed your closeness with Lord Fortescue the other night," Alice murmured.
"Do you love him?" Vanessa asked before she could reply.
"There's only one man I've ever loved," Lady Petal replied.
"Lord Fortescue, you mean?" Alice asked cheerfully.
Lady Petal merely shook her head.
"Um...it's actually Lord Orford," Lady Petal blushed.
All of them gasped, as if shocked.
"Then why are you allowing Lord Fortescue to court you?"
"Court? We're as good as betrothed," she said.
Again, they gasped.
"You must tell us how he proposed. It must have been something extremely romantic," Vanessa said.
"There was no proposal."
"What do mean?"
"Well, my mother and I staged a compromising situation," she lowered her voice, looking guilty.
Although Lady Petal had only acted under her mother's instructions, she was old enough to know that what she'd done was wrong. But she'd done it anyway. And that made her just as bad as her mother.
"Why would you do that?" Alice gasped.
Tears began to prick by Lady Petal's eyes.
"Mother said I made a fool of myself by proposing to Lord Orford during the Camden ball. I don't know how..." she said looking confused.
Alice swallowed guiltily.
"So now I must do whatever mother asks of me to repair the damage I've done to my reputation," she finished.
"Why Lord Fortescue?"
"No reason except that he was unlucky- there at the wrong place and wrong time," she shrugged depreciatingly.
"Any man would be lucky to have you," Alice said forcefully.
Lady Petal looked a bit taken aback by Alice's outburst, but offered her a tremulous smile.
"I'm so glad I finally have friends. And I feel light hearted after sharing this with you," she said, holding their hands.
Sarah, Alice and Vanessa squirmed uncomfortably as they struggled with the knowledge that Lady Petal was a fool, but a decent woman. And if they carried out their plan, they wouldn't be able to live with themselves, no matter the cause.
The three of them shared a look, not saying a word. But they were in agreement.
"Lady Petal, since we are friends now..." Sarah said, clearing her throat.
"Yes?"
"We would like to share something with you."
"Please do," she smiled.
"Lady Rosalyn and Lord Fortescue are in love with each other," Vanessa said baldly because Sarah was taking too long.
Lady Petal gasped.
"I feel terrible," she whispered.
"You can release him from your betrothal, can you not? It's not like it has been announced officially," Alice asked hopefully.
Petal shook her head, "I cannot. My mother will kill me."
And judging from her expression, she believed it to be true.
"Where's Lady Rosalyn?" she asked.
"She's at home. She hasn't come out from her room since last night, she had a falling out with Lord Fortescue last night."
It was close to the truth.
"I had no idea. This explains why he was chasing after her last night in the maze," Lady Petal hung her head.
"I believe you should take a stand, Petal. And I'm not just saying this for Rosa's benefit. You let your mother control you far too much, she's ruining your life," Vanessa said.
"She says I'm an idiot," Petal whispered.
"You're not," they all said firmly and this time they meant it.
Yes, she was probably not as smart as the rest of them, but she was not an idiot.
After a while, Petal looked up and straightened her shoulders.
"I'll do it. I'll cry off," she said and the girls had to control their squeals of delight.