Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

Nearly every morning, Portia and her friend Lilian take the way through the cemetery on the way to class at Miss Paullie's in Cavendish Square. Miss Paullie's is an expensive, exclusive school for girls who are—in one reason or another—unconventional. A dozen girls take classes there in the mornings; in the afternoons, they take a variety of different field trips in order to further their social and creative learning.

Portia doesn't like class much. In fact, before staying with Anna and Thomas she really had no use for formal learning. As such, she always seems to be in trouble for one reason or another, usually for not paying attention in class.

This morning, she sets her bag on her lap, under the table, and gets ready for the lecture on economics. Instead of listening, she slides a letter out...