“You will do nothing. Whatever happened between Mr. Ward and myself is private. I won’t have anyone forced to marry me, be it for my reputation or my dowry. And if you try and push it, I will leave and you will never see me again.”

The lines on her mother’s face hardened at the threat. “After all your father and I have done for you? I cannot believe how ungrateful you are being.”

Ungrateful? Alice dashed away a rogue tear. “Should I have been grateful, Mama, when you called me stupid? Or when you ripped food out of my hands? Or made me dance with the old men with fetid breath because, as you put it, how could I expect better in a husband? You have spent my whole life telling me how little I matter to you and everyone else. So do not lecture me about gratitude.”

“I said those things to toughen you up. The world is a cruel place for women. You must be practical, Alice.”

“I didn’t need toughening up. I needed your unconditional love. I needed someone to listen to me, to make me feel like I matter. You never did that.” But Kit had. A sharp lance of pain went through Alice’s chest, but she pushed it aside for later. “You didn’t even want me to have friends my own age. I’ve been drowning for years in loneliness and insecurity, but I am done. I don’t care what happens to me anymore. I’ll go live abroad, find work in someone’s kitchen. A restaurant. Anywhere, if it means getting away from you.”

“You are hysterical,” her mother said, but there was worry in her eyes, as if she feared Alice might mean it. “And your father will never allow any of that.”

“Daddy loves me, far more than you ever did. Who do you think called you home to Boston for three days? Daddy did that for me because I asked him to. Because he knows how impossible it is to be around you.”

Every angle on her mother’s face sharpened. “The two of you conspired against me? I should have known something was amiss. I suppose this was when Mr. Ward seduced you.”

“He did not seduce me—I seduced him.” It was quite gratifying to watch her mother’s face lose all its color. “Yes, I seduced him, Mother, and I am now ruined. Furthermore, it was the best experience of my life!”

Her mother gasped. “You . . . you . . .”

“Do not dare call me a single nasty name, not ever again.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, her mother said, “Pack your things. We leave for Boston first thing. Your father will be heartbroken to learn what you’ve done.”