Not having time to work on the proposal was damaging to my mood.Alice beeped me a few minutes later, interrupting my work."Andy, I've got a call for y...u on line 3," she said in her usual cheerful tone."Take a message," I growled back."No, I think you want to take this one. Sounds like new business," she insisted.I sighed and picked up the receiver. Settling it between my shoulder and ear, I regarded the open proposal on my desk as I hit the flashing button marked line 3."Thanks for calling. It was worth the effort.?There was a long silence. Then she speaks again. ?I'd like you to do something for me.??What??She pauses and then says, ?You may not want to do it, but I need you to promise me that you'll do it anyway.??No. I won't make a blind promise. You tell me what you want and I'll decide if I can do it or not.?She pauses for a longer time. Then she starts speaking slowly and carefully. ?I want to get pregnant a lot. You know that.??You told me that.? I recognize her approach.. Believe me, you don’t want the girls to win. We’re going to be really vulnerable having two newbies teamed together, so please, for all our sakes, work with us. We’ll give you a fair warning after the girls are defeated before we come after you. If you don’t believe that’s true, just remember we do this every Saturday. If we can’t depend on each other, we’ll always lose.”“Now who’s trying to get in my head,” I said cautiously, looking him in the eyes before nodding my agreement.“But if I. Anne, there are more women anxious to attend these balls than men. That inviting you and your brothers means that they may get the notorious Dorwich at their balls makes the hosts eager to extend those invitations.”Since it was raining, and there were five of them, they went by coach. James sat with Joyce and Alice facing Anne and Lady Stroud. At Barhill House, James greeted their host while the ladies went upstairs with their maids to repair the ravages of the journey. There was a slow parade.