bed and worried aboutLouis. He hated to see his friend so bereft over Abigail, who surelywasnt worth it. He would have to think of some way to make himselfless appealing to her without outright insulting her or embarrassinghimself too much. Why couldnt she just be interested in Louis, whowas so interested in her? Henry was perfectly willing to be a polite,solicitous dance partner to girls, and that ought to be enough. Hecould only hope that his tepid responses to Abigails advanceswould temper her ardor over the coming weeks.OnFriday, Henry came home to a pleasant surprise: an invitation toJesses birthday party in two weeks time. He had never beeninvited to Jesses party in the past, or at least he hadnt seenany invitations, and he was excited and apprehensive about theprospect of socializing with his cousins circle of friends.Martinwas excited, too. There are quite a few Ganymede boys among hisfriends slaves, or so Russ has told me. Theyre not from mycohort, of course, but theyre still familiar faces.Itllbe fun, Henry said, determined that this would be the case. Iwonder if Jesses friends will be as, uh, uninhibitedas he is?Martinsnickered. I thought of that, too. What if all Lawton boys arelike that?Ha!Im imagining that proper Eli is the odd one out! If Lawton wasfull of boys fawning over their slaves, Henry would have to bring hisgrades up so he could transfer.WhenHenry brought the invitation up during the family hour that evening,Father merely grunted and did not look up from his newspaper.Mothersaid, Im so pleased youre becoming better friends with yourcousin, darling. Im sure itll be a lovely party. You know, whenI was a girl, invitations to Wilton parties and balls were muchsought after.Whenyour father was alive, Wiltons could afford to have extravagantparties, Father pointed out. Gilbert doesnt have thatluxury.Well,give him some extra in his budget, then, Mother said testily. Lethim give his boy a nice party. We can certainly afford it.Fatherfrowned. If Gilbert needs more, he need only ask and offerjustification, he said stiffly. But Im not going to startpadding his allowance any time youthink he might appreciate more money.ToHenry, this sounded very reasonable, but Mother did not seemconvinced. We have more money than you can count, Mother said,full of haughty hostility. Whats the harm in sharing withfamily?Ithink Ive shared amply with your relatives, Louisa, and I willcontinue to do so as long as such help is required. However, I dontthink it necessary to concern myself with minutiae like birthdayparties unless Gilbert sees fit to bring such things to my attention,and even then I would be doing him a great courtesy to hear hispetition. Id thank you not to lecture me about my obligations toyourfamily.Theyreyour family, too, Hiram, Mother insisted. Theyre all thefamily youve got.Hmph.Father indicated he was through with the conversation by simply notresponding and turning his attention back to his papers.Thistalk of family made Henry think about Fathers relationship withMrs. Murdock and the little boy he had with her. He could never askFather, of course, but he could ask Louis, and Louis could maybe findsome things out. Where did she live? Was it