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Mrs. Peabody did what she could, but even she seemed slightly
overwhelmed, and of course Victoria could never be found in time to make
herself useful. In the past weeks, she had begun to gather a circle of
friends, most of them fairly intellectual, one or two of them writers,
and several of them artists, all living in odd places. She had begun
visiting them at their studios, and she found that they shared many of
the same political views. She was making far more friends than Olivia,
who always seemed to be busy taking care of either the house or their
father.

Victoria had always told her that she needed to get out more than she
did, and Olivia promised she would, as soon as she finished organizing
the party. After that, she would be free to do whatever she wanted.

In fact, they were going to the Astors' ball the next day, and she could
hardly wait to enjoy someone else's evening. But tonight was her big
moment as a hostess. This was the first New York party she'd ever given.

And she was actually trembling with excitement when she and Victoria
came downstairs in the dark green satin gowns she'd had made by their
seamstress in Croton.

They had bustles in the back and small trains and the low-cut bodices
were encrusted with jet beads. Their hair was piled high on their heads,
and they were wearing high-heeled black velvet slippers. And they each
wore the long strand of pearls they had gotten from their father when
they turned eighteen, and identical diamond earrings. They were like a
vision of symmetry, a perfect duet, and even the way they moved seemed
in complete unison, as Olivia checked everything one last time, and
Victoria followed her around the room looking happy and excited.

The band had just begun to play, and the house looked extraordinary,
almost completely lit with candles. All of the chandeliers had been lit,
there were fragrant flowers everywhere, and the twins themselves looked
incredible as they stood in the candlelit drawing room, next to their
very handsome father. He took a step back for a moment, looking at them,
and it was impossible not to be struck by how beautiful they were, how
graceful, and how poised. One of them would have been dazzling, but two
left one staring at them in mesmerized disbelief, which was exactly what
happened when the guests began to arrive and saw the twins standing
beside their father. Prepared as people may have been, suddenly seeing
them there took one's breath away, and the guests stared at them
constantly, unable to remember which was which, and in some ways, seeing
them more as a unit. Neither seemed whole without the other just behind
her.

They identified themselves quickly to their friends, and Edward
introduced them to everyone, but most of the guests had no idea which
twin was Olivia and which Victoria, and Charles Dawson didn't even try
when he arrived. He simply greeted them both with a warm smile, and
glanced with interest from one to the other. And it was only when he
actually began speaking to them in the drawing room that he began to
sense again which one was the wilder one, and in a lowered voice, he
even dared to tease her about it.

"This is a long way from the Fifth Precinct, isn't it? " he asked with a
spark in his own eye, and Victoria looked at him with unabashed
defiance, as she grinned at him, not even embarrassed lest anyone might
hear her. "I told Olivia, you should have let them arrest me. I expected
it. I was actually very disappointed when they didn't."

"I don't think your sister was, " Charles said quietly, admiring her.

She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in years, and so was her
sister. "I think she was very relieved we got you out of there as fast
as we did. I frankly thought we'd have a harder time of it, " he said,
sounding relieved himself. It had been an awkward moment.

"We can always try it again, I'll call you myself next time, " she said,
her voice a sensual hint of future naughtiness, and he wondered how
Edward Henderson kept his sanity, with two daughters like this to worry
about, except that Charles had understood that Olivia was far better
behaved than her allegedly "younger" sister, and Edward had said as much
to him. He had said that Olivia was his godsend.

"Let me know if you ever need any help. I'll be there, " Charles said
quietly, and then drifted away to speak to several other guests he knew,
and of course, his associate John Dawson. They were under the tent
covering the garden by then, admiring the ice sculptures when the last
guests finally arrived, and Olivia was mingling with their guests
freely. It was Victoria who was still standing near the door, when the
Whitticombs arrived. She had no idea who they were, and had no
recollection of the earlier conversation about them. She noticed only a
very pretty woman in a silver coat and dress, with a silver turban which
exposed a lock or two of pale blonde hair. And she was wearing an
extremely impressive diamond necklace. And the man at her side was even
better looking than she was. He almost took Victoria's breath away as
she looked at him, and a moment later his wife drifted away, to meet up
with friends she had seen going to the tent, inexorably drawn toward the
champagne and the music. She was a very pretty girl, but he seemed not
even to notice her, as he stared at Victoria in the dark green and
extremely fashionable dress, put together by nimble fingers in Croton,
and slightly redesigned by her even more talented twin sister.

"Hello there, I'm Tobias Whitticomb, " he said, accepting a glass of
champagne from a passing silver tray, and never taking his eyes off
Victoria's spectacular figure. He looked into her eyes as he said his
name, as though he expected her to know everything that it meant about
his reputation. "And you are? " he prompted her, his eyes never leaving
her face, wondering why he had never seen her before, and who she was.
She was quite a rare beauty.

"I'm Victoria Henderson, " she said modestly, suddenly embarrassed in
the face of his obviously sophisticated manners.

"Oh dear, " he said, clearly disappointed, "you're married to our host.

What a lucky fellow." He smiled at her woefully, it was his wife who had
responded to the invitation, and Victoria was laughing at him, not
remembering anything she had heard about him from her father or her
sister. She hadn't been paying close attention to them, and their gossip
about one of their future guests had seemed singularly unimportant.

And now, all Victoria could see was his shiny black hair, the laughing
dark eyes, and the handsome figure. He had a face like an actor, and
everything about him said that he was full of fun and mischief.

"I'm not married to the host, " she corrected Whitticomb, laughing at
his mistake, and wondering if he meant it. "I'm his daughter.

"Oh thank God. The evening has been saved. I couldn't have borne it if
you'd been married to him, charming though he may be. In fact, we've
done some rather pleasant business." He said it very smoothly as they
walked into the drawing room, and without even asking her, he swept her
into his arms and began dancing. It was as though they were magnetically
drawn to each other, and there was no way to resist it.

He told her he had studied in Europe for several years, at Oxford
actually, he had played polo there, and two years later, had gone all
the way to South America to play polo in Argentina. He told her a fair
amount about himself, and all of it was intriguing. He was fascinating,
and danced exquisitely, he whirled her around the floor, making her
laugh, and being irreverent about almost everyone in the room.

Eventually they left the dance floor and he told her funny stories about
everyone he could think of, everyone except Evangeline and their
children. He never mentioned them, and by their second glass of
champagne, he and Victoria were fast friends, and he was vastly amused
when he lit a cigarette, and she took a long drag of it when no one was
looking.

"My, my, you're a racy one. What else do you do? Drink to excess, smoke
cigars, stay up fascinatingly late? Are there other vices I should know
about? Absinthe, perhaps? Some mysteries of the Orient?

" He was constantly and totally playful, but beyond that he was handsome
and sophisticated and standing dizzyingly close to her. She knew she had
never met anyone else like him. After their last dance, she excused
herself, and said she had to check on dinner. But she promised to be
right back. Then she did something she knew Olivia would be furious
about, but she had to do it. In fact, she did it for her twin too, and
was satisfied that she had assured the outcome of the rest of the
evening.

As Victoria crossed the room to return to Toby, she saw him looking
extremely confused. Olivia was talking to him, and he was actually
blushing. He had whispered something in her ear, about slipping into the
garden for a cigarette, and he was holding her around the waist, as he
had done to Victoria while they were dancing, but Olivia did not look
pleased, and realized instantly what had happened. And with that,
Victoria appeared, and Toby Whitticomb found himself facing both of
them, feeling as though he had double vision.

"Oh my God." He looked almost ill as he stared at them. "Did I drink
that much champagne? What's happening? " He stared at them in disbelief,
never having realized that there were Henderson twins, and for once he
was completely stunned into silence.

"Did you behave very badly with my very proper older sister? " Victoria
asked him with a wicked grin, as Olivia stared at both of them.

She had no idea yet who he was, or how her sister knew him.

"I'm afraid I did, " he said, trying to recover from the embarrassment
of having grabbed Olivia around the waist, when he didn't know her,
though he scarcely knew Victoria better, but she seemed far more open to
advances like his, and far more forgiving. "I offered her a cigarette in
the garden, I do hope she smokes too. Perhaps we could all go, although
I'm afraid I need another drink now." He gladly grabbed another glass of
champagne, and took a long swig as he stared at both of them in
continuing disbelief and amazement. "You know, you are absolutely
extraordinary, both of you. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's a bit of a shock at first, " Olivia said graciously to him
although she didn't like his manners, or his air of familiarity with her
sister. "But one gets used to it. Or at least, people seem to."

"I'm terribly sorry if I was rude, " he said, sensing that she was not
as easygoing as her sister. "You must be yet another Miss Henderson.

I've outdone myself tonight, I thought your sister was Edward's wife, "
he laughed at himself this time, and they all did, "and I'm Toby
Whitticomb." He held out a hand to her and Olivia immediately stopped
laughing. She was extremely cool and prim when she shook his hand, and
Victoria immediately saw her tightness.

"I've heard a great deal about you, " she said, hoping to dampen his
interest in her sister.

"In my case, that's usually not a compliment, " he said, looking
undisturbed by it, just as the butlers began announcing dinner.

Olivia was greatly relieved by that, knowing that she had chosen a good
seat for her twin, between two attractive, wellborn young men, far, far
from Tobias. Her own seat was somewhat more dutiful, next to one of her
father's oldest friends, and a young man who was excruciatingly shy, and
painfully unattractive. But she had thought to do a good deed for him,
and had sat herself next to him, and her father's old friend, who had an
acute hearing problem. For Olivia, it was going to be a very long
dinner. And she had given her father two of their most honored guests on
either side of him. She wanted him to have a perfectly delightful
evening. He hadn't entertained in New York in years, and it was as much
a rebirth for him as for them, and she wanted it to be absolutely
perfect.