n Gala dripped crystals, light scattering

f my gown, a Davenport blu

posed to slide the historic Ban

ynasties, ever

Harrison Davenport Sr., watched from his table, a rare smile on his

venport Covenant, the quiet truth that a woman of my spec

od on the small, elevated st

y gold piece I' d seen only in p

ncroft smile that had won

g here," he began, his

smile ready, the one I' d

tinued, "about finding that one person wh

anning the room, and t

nd Daisy

nager, a girl who always hovered a

top, it just went

oked small, overwhelmed in a borro

Ethan said, his gaze fixed on Daisy n

rish, he slid the Bancroft signet

om, a collective intake of br

acticed smile feeling

d, his voice ringing with false s

, a flicker of somethin

e regretful, "indicates that Ms. Davenport, while a remarkable woman, is perhaps

here, a public b

wave of whispers

ather' s eyes on me

fool, a mo

the supposed report, fabricat

oosing a simpler, mo

arded the master key to the ki

just some quaint family story,

as its

wn when he could