It was a risk, Lavinia thought, to do anything outside the usual in society. If Lavinia's recollection was correct—and it usually was—Miss Zabini's family had seen its fair share of scandal, which likely could be attributed to the fact that she was a debutante in spite of appearing somewhat north of twenty. The modiste hoped the risks they took together would pay off for the debutante, whom she was quickly deciding to like.

"At the garden party," Lavinia mused, having already heard the vague details of the event, "most of the ladies will, no doubt, be wearing low-cut dresses and drooping cuffs and it will all be very lovely—" she herself had already begun work on three such dresses "—but hardly stand out. I would see you instead in a steel bodice, or perhaps copper—playing the knight instead of the damsel."