Katherine Woodfine - The Jewelled Moth

First published in Great Britain 2016

by Egmont UK Limited

The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

Text copyright © 2016 Katherine Woodfine

Illustrations copyright © 2016 Júlia Sardà

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

First e-book edition 2016

ISBN 978 1 4052 7618 4

Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1684 0

www.egmont.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain 2016 by Egmont UK Limited The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN Text copyright © 2016 Katherine Woodfine Illustrations copyright © 2016 Júlia Sardà The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted First e-book edition 2016 ISBN 978 1 4052 7618 4 Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1684 0 www.egmont.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

Dedication

Front series promotional page

PART I The London Season PART I The London Season From the opening of Covent Garden to the Royal Academy show, from Ascot to the Royal Drawing Rooms, the London Season is rightly considered the finest and most elegant of any European capital. Young ladies preparing to make their debut in London society will feel themselves to be especially fortunate. However, they will enjoy the delights and entertainments of their first Season all the more by ensuring they are equipped with a correct understanding of etiquette: the rules that govern the proper behaviour of a young lady in society. From Lady Diana DeVere’s Etiquette for Debutantes: a Guide to the Manners, Mores and Morals of Good Society , Chapter 1: The London Season – Court Presentation – St James’s and Buckingham Palaces – Who may be Presented – Court Dress – Rules and Regulations – The Drawing Room – The Levee

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

PART II Excursions and Amusements

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PART III The Proper Paying of Calls

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

PART IV The Debutante Ball

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

PART V The Supper Party

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

AUTHOR’S NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Back series promotional page

PART I

The London Season

From the opening of Covent Garden to the Royal Academy show, from Ascot to the Royal Drawing Rooms, the London Season is rightly considered the finest and most elegant of any European capital. Young ladies preparing to make their debut in London society will feel themselves to be especially fortunate. However, they will enjoy the delights and entertainments of their first Season all the more by ensuring they are equipped with a correct understanding of etiquette: the rules that govern the proper behaviour of a young lady in society.

From Lady Diana DeVere’s Etiquette for Debutantes: a Guide to the Manners, Mores and Morals of Good Society , Chapter 1: The London Season – Court Presentation – St James’s and Buckingham Palaces – Who may be Presented – Court Dress – Rules and Regulations – The Drawing Room – The Levee

CHAPTER ONE

The green parrot was squawking downstairs. Mei rolled over and closed her eyes again, longing to slide back into sleep. She could hear voices in the street; the singing of the kettle; horns hooting on the river; and horses’ hooves clattering over the cobbles outside: all the familiar sounds that spoke to her of morning . For a moment or two, she just lay there, letting them wash over her, but at last she forced her eyes to open once more. She could already feel the warmth of the sun streaming through the chinks in the curtains, falling in long stripes over the bedclothes. She had overslept again, and Mum might be in a scolding mood.

Hurriedly, she sat up in bed, and pushed aside the curtain that separated her corner of the room from the larger portion where her three brothers slept. Their beds were already empty: her eldest brother, Song, must have left for his job in the kitchen at Ah Wei’s Eating House, and the twins, Shen and Jian, would be on their way to school.

At once, she hopped out of bed. It really must be late: why hadn’t Mum called her? Only a minute or two later she was hastening down the stairs, still doing up the buttons on her striped frock as she went.

The stairs were steep and narrow and creaked as she went down them. The Lim family house was an odd little place, squashed right up against its neighbours in a cramped street in Limehouse, East London. It was all crooked angles and dark corners and patches of damp, but every square inch of it was friendly to Mei. She had been born here in the bedroom above the shop; she and her brothers had grown up here; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live anywhere else.

As she always did, she jumped down the last few steps into the stone-flagged hallway. To one side was the door into the shop, which stood ajar, letting all the familiar scents of tea and spices and tobacco flood in. To the other was the back room, where the range was, and where the family spent most of their time. But before she pushed the door open and went in, she came to a sudden halt outside.