My mother and her lascivious behavior, my struggle between Frederick and Herbert, the confusion and pain of both fell away. Consuelo and the world in which she struggled to survive took up all the space of my mind.
These men were the leaders of the country, the businessmen upon whose work the country worked and was fed. They had lifted the country out of its sorry state left behind after the War of Secession. These women were the bastions of good taste and deportment, at least on the surface of life. The homes they built were the finest in the country. They brought such beauty in their architecture and their art as few other places did. I knew they would stand the test of time, as did the chateaux and palaces they mimicked. They were a gift to all who would ever see them. Surely, these pe
