He looked down, shook his head, and sighed before he looked up. “Wear what you brought tonight. Tomorrow I’ll have Dora show you my mother’s entire wardrobe, and you can choose whatever you think can be updated, altered.”

“But—”

“It would mean a lot to me if you could bring some of her beautiful things back to life,” he said sharply, and then smiled. “At least try. Please. Besides, Corrine, you can’t look foolish in anything. You’re far too attractive. Gorgeous clothes, even expensive jewels, will only embellish what is already there, provided by generous Nature herself, Nature who has given me a great gift.”

His gentle, handsome smile returned, rushed into his cheeks and his eyes, and softened his beautiful, perfect, and manly lips. This was the face that had captured me so quickly at the Wexler gala. I felt the chill and dread recede.

“As long as I don’t have to wear a bustle,” I said, relenting.

“Whatever. I so want this to be a memorable evening for you, for everyone. It’s important to me that you are comfortable and happy at Foxworth Hall. Embrace it, and it will embrace you.”

He stepped forward to kiss me. He wanted it to be short, a father’s kiss, but I held on to his shoulders so firmly that he laughed and then kissed me the way a man should kiss a woman, his lips letting me clearly know that he wanted to touch me deeply in my sex. I was moved and even moaned. Did we have time? He heard my thoughts.

“Later,” he whispered, with the seductive eyes of someone proposing a secret assignation. He stepped back. “I’ll have Dora return to help you prepare yourself. She’s very good at attending to the needs of another woman. You’ll see. Only, be a little nicer to her. You might have noticed that she’s a little fragile.”

“She has a limp.”

“Born with one leg shorter than the other,” he said. “But she can do all she has to and more. See you in a while.”

He left, and I realized what he had just said. She’s very good at attending to the needs of another woman. How would he know that? What other woman? Where?