Summary

Alva checks that all of the floral arrangements and decorations are in order for tonight’s ball. She and the other ladies begin dressing and accessorizing. Even Lady C. has come all the way from London for the occasion. Alva is excited for the opportunity to show her refinement to New York’s society set. She and William greet their guests in the salon room while “The polished coaches were arriving, the costumed guests ascending her red-carpeted steps. Duchesses and dukes and princesses and princes. Marquises. Marquesses. Devils. Monks. A bumblebee. Bo-Peep. King Lear. An Old World maiden. A jester” (266).

Oliver Belmont arrives at the party with his new wife, and Alva is excited to hear about their honeymoon. He seems less happy than before, but Alva tells herself she should not be concerned with his happiness although “she didn’t wish...