Free Mirror Image by Danielle Steel

from the summer. This was the opening of the season. And it sounded intriguing to both of them as they listened.
    "In fact, " he said, smiling at both of them, and looking better than he had in years, "we've already been invited to a ball at the Astors', and the Whitneys are giving a huge party two weeks from now. I'm afraid you ladies will have to do some shopping." It all sounded exciting to both of them, but Olivia was even more excited about their party. Her father had said that he wanted to invite about fifty people. Just big enough to be lively, and small enough to get to talk to almost everyone at the dinner. He promised to give Olivia the guest list the next day.
    He had already written down all the names, and she and Bertie would have to get busy. He knew only too well that Victoria would be no help to them.
    And the next morning, Olivia was already at her desk, poring over the names, and writing out invitations. The party was to be in two weeks, the same week as the ball at the Astors'. They were going to be very busy. Olivia was also pleased to realize that she recognized many of the names from two years before, although she couldn't always add faces.
    But she remembered meeting them, and thought it would be fun seeing them again, particularly here at the house. She loved entertaining for her father. She had already put together several menus in her head, and early that morning she'd been examining their linens.
    She was going to have to have more of them brought down from Croton.
    The crystal and the china were adequate here, and she knew exactly what she wanted in the way of flowers, and she hoped she could still get them by late September.
    Olivia stayed at her desk most of that afternoon, working on her plans, and Victoria went out for a drive with their father. They drove uptown in the Cadillac, and eventually took a slow walk down Fifth Avenue, where Edward ran into several people he knew and was proud to introduce his daughter. They were both in high spirits when they got home, and so was Olivia. She had organized the entire party.
    And that night, when they went to see The Seven Keys to Baldpate with Wallace Eddinger at the Astor Theater, their father seemed to know everyone in the theater. And as usual, when they were introduced, they created quite a stir. The girls were wearing matching black velvet evening suits with little ermine wraps and collars, and each of them wore a single long black beaded feather in her hair. Together, they were like a double vision straight out of a fashion magazine from Paris, and by the next morning, they were once again in the papers.
    But this time, Edward was calmer about it than he had been two years before, and the girls were less excited by it. They were two years older, and they were somewhat used to causing a sensation in public.
    "That was wonderful, " Victoria said, talking about the theater the night before. She had liked the play and had been so engrossed by it she scarcely noticed the attention being lavished on them by the people around them.
    "It's a lot better than getting arrested, " Olivia whispered to her with a grin, as she went to get their father another cup of coffee.
    They went to church together later that morning, at St. Thomas, and everyone greeted them, and then the three of them got in the car behind Donovan, and came back to the house on Fifth Avenue to spend a quiet Sunday together. And the next morning, Olivia had work to do, running the house and ordering things for their party, and her father left to meet his attorneys, which was, after all, why they had come here. Both John Watson and Charles Dawson came back to the house with him later that afternoon, and Olivia had a little moment of terror when she first saw them come in. She was afraid Charles might slip and say something to her about the day he had taken her to the Fifth Precinct.
    But in fact, he said nothing at all to her. He nodded politely to her as they arrived, and said good-bye to