“Say, are you the girl who fell off the Titanic?” said the second woman, her voice as deep as a man’s. She looked me up and down. “Ace has told us all about you. He said you were Irish, and you were probably traveling in steerage when you almost drowned. And he said that when you woke up, you’d forgotten who you were, so his aunt took you in. What a story!”

I winced. I’d never told anyone about traveling in steerage. Sinclair couldn’t have known, which meant he’d made it up. He’d belittled me in front of these disgusting people. Is this what he really thought of me?

“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “I almost drowned and then I lost my memory.” I tried my best to sound polite, even though these two were starting to annoy me and I was furious with Sinclair. I felt like an act in a carnival. I shrugged and went back to the ballroom.

The band had taken a break, and a man at a piano was playing Christmas carols along with some popular tunes, while the guests sang along. I sat in one of the chairs that lined the wall, watching the people come and go. As I sat, my annoyance grew. How could Sinclair bring me to such a grand event and then leave me sitting like a spare dinner? Mrs. Shaw’s caution about how he often abandoned friends crept into my head, but I shook it away.

When the dancing began again, I was relieved when one young man after another came over and asked me up onto the floor. To hell with Sinclair, I thought, I don’t need him. But as I was dancing with a tall, dark-haired feller, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Sinclair tugged me roughly away from my partner and tried to pull me off the dance floor. There was an ugly look on his face, and the smell of whiskey was all over him.

“Go back to your cards,” I said angrily. “I’m having a fine time without you.”

I looked around for my dance partner, but he had disappeared. People were beginning to stare. I took a deep breath, shrugged Sinclair off me and walked as steadily as I could to the edge of the ballroom. I asked for directions to the powder room and hurried down the hall. I could feel Sinclair close behind me.

“Don’t run away from me, you slut!” he shouted.