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got it out of your system.”
    Marguerite sat up and put a knuckle to her lips.
    “I know that look, and I know it means trouble. It’s like you’re doing your best to keep those words stuck in your mouth.”
    “I just have to do it again, Lilly. Once could never be enough. I’m going to learn to sail.”
    “And I’m going to be the queen of England.”
    “Well, good, you can commission a ship for me to sail around the world, Your Majesty.” Marguerite curtsied with a flourish.
    Lilly dropped her darning into the basket beside the chair. “You’re planning something, aren’t you?”
    “Please, Lilly, you’ve got to understand. I need this. If I have this one summer where I really feel alive, then maybe I can endure years as the wife of a boring man.”
    “Is that your way of tryin’ to convince me to help you?”
    “I’m not like all the other girls who are happy to be socialites. I need more adventure and excitement.”
    “And you think you need to tell me that?”
    “I knew you’d understand.”
    “What I understand is you’re making some wild plan up in that head of yours, and you’re planning on me helping you get it done, when what you should be doing is telling that man the truth about how you feel.”
    “Mother would have a conniption if I did that.” Marguerite poured water into the washbasin, dipped her hands in, and splashed the water over her face. “So, you’ll help me?”
    “Do I really have a choice?” Lilly passed her a towel.
    “Of course you do.”
    Lilly cocked an eyebrow at her.
    “I guess you could refuse, but . . .”
    “Put me out of my misery and just tell me what I have to do.”
    With a grin on her face, Marguerite pulled a list from her pocket. “Besides covering for me with my mother, I need you to pick up a few things for me in town.”
    An hour later, Marguerite asked Isaiah to take Lilly to town in the wagon to obtain the needed items. Marguerite hurried to meet her mother for lunch at one of the local restaurants. A waiter dressed in a double-breasted white jacket held the door for her as she entered. She paused to scan the room: fine linen tablecloths, lovely view of the lake’s rippling waters, fresh flowers on the tables, a host of dapper young waiters – and Roger Gordon. Her mother’s dream. Her worst nightmare.
    Her mother waved her over. Taking a solidifying breath, Marguerite made her way to the table.
    “Roger, what a surprise.” She allowed him to pull out her chair.
    “The good kind, I hope.”
    Not unless you intend to tell me you’re entering the priesthood . She forced a weak smile.
    “I came to meet with my investment partners. We have big plans for the Midway, and perhaps some other financially beneficial endeavors.” He slid the chair beneath her. “Then I ran into your mother, and she was kind enough to ask me to join you both.” Before returning to his seat, he bent and kissed Marguerite’s cheek. The thick mustache tickled, and she cringed.
    “Isn’t it a treat, darling?” Unfolding her napkin, her mother smoothed out its wrinkles in her lap. “Marguerite, how did your cheeks become so pink? Have you been out without a parasol?”
    “A little sun won’t hurt me, Mother. I intend to go wading this afternoon.”
    “In the lake?”
    “No, Mother, in a bathtub.”
    “Don’t be petulant.”
    “Yes, in the lake.” Marguerite snapped her napkin to the side and laid it on her lap, deliberately leaving a few wrinkles. Her mother’s turned-down mouth sent a silent thrill through her. “Haven’t you noticed swimming is a regular pastime here? Remember the new bathing costume I purchased in town? I’m dying to try it out.”
    “Perhaps Roger would care to join you.”
    She turned to him and raised her eyebrows. This could liven things up. “Do you swim?”
    “No. I don’t care for the water, and I’m not sure I approve of you carousing with the commoners in such a manner.” His spectacles slid to the end of his