Florence’s jaw fell open and she heard Mamie suck in a breath. Build around this house? What did that mean?

Everyone began shouting questions and observations, but Florence sat perfectly still, wondering how they planned to accomplish such a feat. This house had been her oasis away from the pressure and conformity of her own family home. And someday it would belong to her.

With a club surrounding it?

Duncan held up his hand. “Quiet down. Thomas, to answer your question, I have a contact at City Hall who told me of the plans.”

“Are they able to do that?” Mama asked. “Doesn’t your mother or the city have some way to prevent it?”

“Unlikely. There is nothing in the zoning laws to prevent it. In addition, the homeowners on this block have already sold and many have left, so there’s no way to pool our resources. This house is the only one remaining.”

“This is ridiculous.” Granny placed her glass on the side table with a thump, her bracelets clinking together. “They cannot mean to wrap another building around this house like a fur stole. The idea is ludicrous.”

“Ludicrous or not,” their father said, “the developer is bound and determined to build here. It makes no sense but it’s clearly a land grab for someone.”

“Who is this developer?” Uncle Thomas asked. “Perhaps we should speak to him.”

“I am in the process of discovering the name or names of the people behind the project. You’d best believe I will be paying everyone involved a visit.”

“Daddy, your lawyer, Mr. Tripp,” Mamie said. “He might be able to come up with a way out of this.”

Florence snorted softly. “You could not be more obvious,” she muttered. Her sister was in love with Frank Tripp but trying to keep it hidden from the family.

“Shut up,” Mamie said out of the side of her mouth.

“I plan to consult him, Marion,” her father replied. “We should prepare ourselves for the worst, however.”

“Meaning I either live surrounded by some club, with hooligans coming and going at all hours, or lose my home?” Granny practically screeched. “Is that what you are saying?”

“Mother, I’ll do everything in my power to prevent it,” Duncan said.

Considering her father’s indomitable will, Florence thought it likely he would succeed. No one went against Duncan Greene and came out unscathed.

She wondered for the hundredth time this week why Clay hated her father. What had possibly happened between them? Clay didn’t even know Duncan Greene. Her father had been raised uptown, in this house, in wealth and privilege. Clay had grown up on Delancey Street, which was far downtown. Under no circumstances would their paths have crossed at any point, especially considering her father didn’t gamble.