Contents

Prologue

FIFTY YEARS AGO, EVERY AMERICAN GIRL WANTED to be a…

One

IN THE MORNINGS, SHE LIKED TO WALK ALONG THE seawall.

Two

THE BRANCHES OF THE TREES WERE SO THICK AND verdant…

Three

“THEY SAY THEY’LL BE CALLING TROOPS HOME SOON,” Colonel Copper…

Four

THE HEAT WAS STIFLING, AND EVERY CONCEIVABLE inch of floor—from…

Five

“THEY’VE ALL GROWN SO SMALL,” PENELOPE SCHOONMAKER announced, several hours…

Six

“DRINK UP NOW, BOYS!” CRIED DIANA HOLLAND, IN a brassy…

Seven

BY FOUR O’CLOCK ELIZABETH WAS FEELING RATHER fatigued, for she…

Eight

ELITE NEW YORK WAS SITUATED IN A HIERARCHY of boxes,…

Nine

“HOW LUCKY I FOUND YOU JUST WHEN I DID, because…

Ten

MONDAY AFTERNOON WAS THE TIME WHEN elegant people dropped by…

Eleven

DIANA WATCHED THE SKYLINE OF HAVANA DRAW away from her…

Twelve

IN THE CAIRNS BROWNSTONE, ON AN EMINENTLY respectable stretch of…

Thirteen

CAROLINA STEPPED INTO THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL in a cloud…

Fourteen

“OH, NUMBER SEVENTEEN!” DIANA REQUIRED A DAINTY twirl to fully…

Fifteen

A HAZE OF CIGAR SMOKE HUNG OVER THE GILDED ballroom…

Sixteen

DINNER HAD BEEN CLEARED AND PORT WAS being served in…

Seventeen

THE NOTE SLID INTO CAROLINA’S FIELD OF VISION with such…

Eighteen

PENELOPE ENTERED THE LARGE SECOND-FLOOR drawing room Monday afternoon, and…

Nineteen

THE YOUNG COUPLE DESCENDED THE HIGH TRAIN platform and joined…

Twenty

THE TWO MRS. SCHOONMAKERS STRODE ARM IN arm across the polished…

Twenty One

BUT WHY HAD HE NOT COME TO MEET HER?

Twenty Two

HENRY STARED INTO THE ALABASTER OVAL OF A face that…

Twenty Three

“SO WHICH ONE OF THESE FELLOWS IS MY RIVAL?” the…

Twenty Four

THE GHOSTLY GASOLIER LIGHT FELL ON MR. AND Mrs. Cairns, as the…

Twenty Five

ON TUESDAY THE HEAT BROKE, AND FOR DIANA ALL OF…

Twenty Six

“IT SIMPLY WON’T DO,” CAROLINA SAID, STARING INTO a reflection…

Twenty Seven

“WHAT DOES SHE THINK SHE’S DOING HERE?”

Twenty Eight

THE REVEREND’S DRONING HAD CEASED AND THE bagpipes had picked…

Twenty Nine

THE RIDE BACK TO THE SCHOONMAKER MANSION on Fifth was…

Thirty

“THE PUBLIC DOES LIKE THIS SORT OF THING,” Davis Barnard…

Thirty One

THE WALLS WERE DEEP RED. A LACY WHITE CANOPY obscured…

Thirty Two

“THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN.”

Thirty Three

THE BELLS HAD RUNG ONE O’CLOCK, BUT ALL OF the…

Thirty Four

MRS. HENRY SCHOONMAKER WAS PERFECTLY content to step outside the gothic…

Thirty Five

HENRY HAD WAITED ON THE STOOP OF NO. 17 Gramercy…

Thirty Six

DIANA UNDID HER HAT AND DROPPED IT ON THE piece…

Thirty Seven

BY THREE O’CLOCK CAROLINA HAD REMOVED THE veil, although she…

Thirty Eight

THERE WERE NO MORE ANGELS FOR ELIZABETH, not even in…

Thirty Nine

HENRY HAD STAYED UP ALL MONDAY NIGHT GOING over documents…

Forty

DAYLIGHT HAD BECOME SHIMMERINGLY VISIBLE IN the fanlight over the…

Forty One

“I DO HOPE IT WON’T BE A BOTHER,” MRS. HENRY Schoonmaker…

Forty Two

“MISS BROAD, IS THERE ANYTHING I COULD GET for you,…

Forty Three

“I DON’T KNOW THAT I AM READY TO GO IN…

Forty Four

THERE HAD BEEN DAYS, AND MAYBE EVEN WHOLE years, when…

Forty Five

TO HER HORROR, PENELOPE WOKE TO THE VIEW of her…

Epilogue

“I AM ALWAYS RELIEVED TO SEE IT SHRINK.”