Olivia had been dragooned into accompanying Alice to town for a dress fitting. She obviously couldn't go by herself, but mother was ill..again, and Olivia was certain that Alice wasn't going to ask Pearl - wherever she was. So, having passed the requisite time in the haberdashery, Olivia exacted a measure of revenge by insisting on stopping at a florist.

"..I would never have believed it myself," Olivia said to her sister as she crossed the threshold of the shop mid-gossip "except Prudence told me -" Olivia walked straight into a man waiting for his flowers. "Oh!"