He nodded, his appreciation deepening. “Then, please,” he said, “permit me to be your loyal servant for a fleeting hour or so. I’d gladly be on your leash.”

His words nearly took my breath away.

He froze, his hands up and turned outward, looking as if a no would shatter him.

I shot my mother a look of defiance and then turned to him. “Actually, I am a little hungry, Mr. Foxworth,” I said.

“Garland.”

“Yes,” I said. “Garland.”

He held out his arm. “Onward to the food, then,” he declared.

I laughed and took his arm.

What a scene. In minutes after arriving, I was on the arm of who I thought was by far the most handsome man at the gala. Even though I had thought that might happen, I couldn’t help being a little surprised, a little giddy, that it actually had.

I tried not to look left or right. I hoped he was really unmarried and unengaged. Otherwise, the gossip surely would send my mother into a closet, shutting the door behind her.

Chapter 3

Apparently, my father had vouched for Garland Foxworth’s integrity, because my mother didn’t come rushing over to the table to drag me off and rescue me and the Dixon reputation from some playboy who had pounced on an innocent young girl.

“Would you prefer the beef or the chicken or the pork, Corrine?” Garland asked after escorting me to a seat at an empty table and helping take off my cape.

“The beef tonight, please,” I said. As he turned to go, I cried after him, “But not much.”

“Oh, I know. A proper lady always leaves the dinner table hungry,” he said. “One of the things my mother taught me so I would know exactly how to behave in such company.”

“She wanted you to be with a proper woman only?” I teased. I was aware of how quickly I had become comfortable enough with this stranger to do so. He looked impressed. Really, what a beautiful smile, I thought.

“Oh, absolutely only,” he said. “Let me fix you a plate the way our cook used to fix my mother’s.”

Our cook, I thought, as he walked toward the food. How rich would he be? I wondered. And why did he say “used to fix”?

When I scanned the guests at other tables and groups of them talking off to the sides, it seemed every one of them was looking at me and talking about me. Emma and Elsie were standing with the Howard twins, all of them staring at me with childish expressions of surprise splattered like spilled milk over their pale faces. Emma started to wave, so I turned away from them quickly.