“You’ll see that the Wexlers’ ballroom is closer to a closet compared to the one in Foxworth Hall.”

“And servants?”

“I have a very good cook, Mrs. Wilson, a few gardeners, as I told you, and a maid, Myrtle Steiner. She’s plain-faced, with what I call a roly-poly figure, but she runs the place like it’s hers.”

“Only one maid in so big a mansion?”

“Obviously, I don’t use all the rooms on a daily basis. The doors are closed. No need to dust them until just before they’d be used. However, to be sure, there’s my bedroom, a guest bedroom, a living room I frequent, the kitchen, dining room and bathrooms, all seen to daily.”

“When did you use the ballroom?”

“Truthfully, I’ve had no reason for a gala, but I expect I will soon. Right now, it’s been just a big private party room. Whenever it was used for that, which I haven’t for some time, I bring in a half dozen or so to clean and wash and polish before and after.

“Lucas, who is quite handy for a man his age, serves as something of a house manager, looking after lights and pipes and such. Once we’re inside, he’ll run ahead and light candles and torches so you can have your first tour. It is spectacular to see it at night, isn’t it?” he asked, nodding.

We were pulling up to the large double entrance doors with gaslit sconces.

“Yes,” I said, but tentatively. I hadn’t yet really seen it. To a stranger, it might not have the magic he believed it possessed, but it was obviously very important to him that I be more than impressed, perhaps overwhelmed.

We stopped.

“There, that wasn’t too long, was it?” Garland asked.

“No.”

“And the ride was fine. Of course, being beside someone as charming as you, time flies anyway.”

“Not too fast, I hope. I don’t want to be left behind.”

He roared. “A wittier young woman I have yet to meet.”

“And hopefully won’t,” I added.

He laughed again. Lucas opened the door for us and waited to help me step down. He then hurried to open the front doors, which were so thick and tall that it seemed he was opening the portals to some netherworld.

“M’lady,” Garland said with an exaggerated bow, “my humble home is at your disposal.”