Epilogue

Ten Years Later

It was yet another ball of the Gordons, this one in honor of the engagement of one of their nieces. George never could remember their names, and it seemed too much of a bother to. He would make his bow and escape to the punch bowl and the card room soon enough, as his dancing days seemed done, what with the gout he tended to suffer. Not that the ladies were clamoring for his attentions any more. Time had expanded his waistline and receded his hair line to the point that he wished that wigs were still in fashion. Prosperity had its drawbacks as well its blessings.

He just wanted to get past the receiving line so he could go his own way, and let Maria, who for some time had been bored enough with him to not care whether he spent his time in his club or a brothel (not that he had enough libidinous interest at the moment to even bother with the latter), pick over the latest bunch of young libertines to find a compan