"I know I've not much experience," Imogen admitted, "but you'll see Mrs. Blishwick herself was quite pleased with my learning, and I've all my credentials." She spoke with the confidence of a girl who belonged there, though she was not quite certain she felt it.

Getting work was the normal way of things after leaving Blishwick's—if one did not already have a position to go to—and was, in her case, particularly pressing. Still, her first interview had not gone as well as the would-be housemaid would have liked, and she was determined that this one would be more successful.

It had to be, or everything she had done would be for naught.

"You'll see I also earned top marks in household charms," she added for good measure. In spite of her age, as a graduate of the school, she had been granted a waiver to allow magic in the course of her duties. That much, Imogen hoped, would be a huge mark in her favour.