“Do you doubt that was my intention, sir?” I asked instead.

“Long ago I decided not to ponder too long on the way a young woman thinks. Too many forks in that road.”

“So you’ve had a number who confused you? Now I’m the one truly surprised. Something like that happening to a man of worldly experience.”

He threw his head back with a laugh and slapped his knees. “I do say you are the most challenging young woman I’ve met, Corrine. Are you a good student? Do you intend to be a teacher, a nurse, or someone’s secretary?”

“Hardly,” I said. “I don’t intend to work. I’m not one of these radical women looking to establish a career. And I’m not a good student. I despise being forced to do numbers, even though my father would appreciate it. History bores me, not to mention science. I simply don’t have the patience for lectures and taking notes, as well as reading assignments.”

“Well, that’s not a tragedy for a woman these days.”

“Maybe. But I do pride myself on being a good student in the world. In that way I am more my father’s daughter.”

“Probably so,” he said, nodding and looking more thoughtful. “Are you free tomorrow? May I show you and your aunt Foxworth Hall? I promise to go easy on the history.”

“I am not sure my great-aunt’s up to it,” I said. “You saw her. To be honest about it, I am not sure she’ll notice if I’m here or not. In the morning, I expect Hazel will have to reintroduce me to her.”

“I see. And your parents gave you no restrictions, instructions?”

“I do not think of myself as someone who still needs her parents to give her instructions,” I said. “I thought I demonstrated that at the Wexler gala.”

His eyes took on a new intensity, his face almost vibrating with delight and exhilaration. He looked at the doorway and then toward the kitchen like someone afraid to be overheard. For a moment, he tapped his derby against his leg as he pondered. I don’t know why, but my anticipation of what he would say next kept me from taking a breath.

“I imagine, then, that they wouldn’t notice if you were gone now,” he said.

“Gone now? You mean go to Foxworth Hall now?”

He took out his pocket watch, snapped it open, and then nodded. “It’s not that late. You must have had your dinner early, which makes sense considering your aunt’s age.” He paused, smiled, and sat back. “You’re not Cinderella in disguise, are you? If we should violate midnight, my carriage won’t turn into a pumpkin, will it?”

“No, I am not Cinderella, and I don’t have a curfew, sir.”