The Invitation

The Invitation is bonus material—the first five chapters of the original version of Cry of the Peacock—reworked to be told as a short story.

Arabella and Mariana Gray are presented with an invitation to assume residence in their landlord's grand country estate. Mariana considers it the opportunity of a lifetime, while Abbie fears being beholden to her landlords, toward whom her recently deceased parents had long held resentment.

When the invitation is refused, and the sisters go instead to live with an aunt in London, will they regret their decision, or will they find purpose to their lives they had never expected to know? The question is the same for both sisters. The answer, however, is vastly different.