Book excerpt: A novella, previously published in the print anthology It Happened One Season. Sebastian Trantor is in need of a wife. But although he's scouted the ballrooms, drawing rooms, and salons of London, he's yet to find a single worthwhile candidate in the young ladies paraded before him. They simper; they giggle; they are completely unsuitable. Then, he discovers Tabitha Makepeace—breaking into a desk! He quickly realizes that this clever and resourceful young lady is the bride for him—but how is he to convince her of that?