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marry him?”
    “No. I haven’t given up yet, but I’m beginning to think it’s hopeless. Father won’t even discuss it anymore. I just might have to find someone else pretty soon if Father doesn’t show some signs of coming round.”
    “Have you anyone in mind?”
    “No. It’s going to be very difficult to find the man my father will approve of. He wants me to have a husband of strong will—‘A man you can’t boss so easily,’ were his exact words. But that kind of man would defeat my whole purpose.”
    “I still say you should wait for love,” Lauren sighed.
    “No, my dear,” Corinne said, her stiff lip showing her determination. “Marriage will be my life, so I must have control of it. I can always find love on the side.”
    “Corinne!”
    “Well, it’s true. In fact, I thoroughly intend to have discreet love affairs. I feel there’s nothing wrong with that since I know full well that every married man does the same.”
    “Not every man.”
    “But most of them. So why shouldn’t I?”
    Lauren shook her head sadly. “You have such a cold outlook on life, Corinne.”
    “No, I’m realistic. I know what to expect from a marriage, and I know the way I want it to be. And what I don’t want is a man who will try to assert his will over mine.”
    “Would that really be so bad?” Lauren asked. She just couldn’t understand her cousin’s need to rule in her marriage.
    “For me it would, yes. Now help me with this necklace, will you?”
    Lauren came over to fasten a tear-drop choker of rubies and gold about Corinne’s neck. A matching bracelet was added, and Corinne chose a small ruby ring instead of her large one. She didn’t like to overdo it. The older matrons all wore many eye-catching ringsat once. Corinne liked to wear only one at a time, though she had many to choose from. She decided against ruby earrings. The glittering pins that held her long dark gold hair in place were enough.
    “Who will be here tonight?” Lauren asked, nervous again now that they were ready to go downstairs.
    “Just the usual crowd, though Edward and John Manning will be here with their father,” Corinne said absently. “And Adrian Rankin.”
    Lauren smiled. These handsome young men were part of Corinne’s crowd of intellectuals and artists. “What about this man your father is giving the party for? Is he young?”
    “The party is for me,” Corinne reminded her. “Father just decided to combine business with pleasure. But about Mr. Burk, I have no idea. But he probably isn’t young.”
    Lauren’s face changed to a look of excitement. “Did you say Burk?”
    “Yes, I think Father said Jared Burk.”
    “Why, that’s the man everyone is talking about. Haven’t you heard about him?”
    “No, I haven’t been attending the daily social functions lately.”
    If Lauren only knew why I haven’t, she thought. Corinne hardly ever went out in the day anymore. She spent her days sleeping because she sneaked out each night to meet Russell and a few other friends at their favorite gambling house. Her father probably knew, but he hadn’t come right out and forbidden her to gamble, not even when the last club she attended asked him to pay off her debts.
    Her luck had changed recently. Why, just last week she had won a considerable amount. But it was nothing compared to what she would win if she could just playin a no-limits game. Corinne’s greatest desire was not to have to worry about I.O.U’s that might reach her father, to be able to risk a thousand, two thousand, even fifty thousand on the turn of a card. But that day wouldn’t come until she married, or until she reached twenty-one. And she was too impatient to wait.
    “I overheard our fathers talking about Mr. Burk,” Lauren was saying. “And my mother’s friends have been gossiping about nothing else.”
    Corinne’s interest was aroused. “What is so intriguing about this Mr. Burk?”
    “That’s just it. No one knows anything about him except