I would say my favorite sub-plot would concern that wonderful place that children just adored: Gregory and Minerva Trask's Boarding School. Greg and Minnie were people you just loved to hate. And their super-prig daughter Charity. You just wanted to grab that Bible out of her hand and wallop her so hard on the head that she'd relieve some of the tension she had in that hair bun. There was the hapless Rachel trying to protect the defenseless Jamison and Nora from the harsh disciplinary action. Laura resolves it all to free her children and all the other tormented urchins by turning the whole place into a parking lot. There, Mommie made it all better! The whole thing was so wonderfully, wickedly Dickensian.