:08:00
New York then knew
that a half-hour later...
:08:03
...the Beauforts' annual
opera ball would begin.
:08:22
Carriages waited at the curb
for the entire performance.
:08:27
It was known in New York
but never acknowledged...
:08:30
...that Americans want
to leave amusement...
:08:33
...even more quickly
than they want to get to it.
:08:48
The Beauforts' house was one of
the few in New York with a ballroom.
:08:53
Such a room, shuttered in darkness
364 days of the year...
:08:58
...was felt to compensate for whatever
was regrettable in the Beaufort past.
:09:04
Regina Beaufort came from
an old South Carolina family.
:09:08
But her husband, Julius,
who passed for an Englishman...
:09:12
...was known to have dissipated
habits, a bitter tongue...
:09:15
...and mysterious antecedents.
:09:18
His marriage assured him
a social position...
:09:21
...but not necessarily respect.