I<br > CHAPTER ONE 1<br > 1<br > LAURA ROCK~RDHATED the phrase p or litt/e nchg<br > but she d spent most of her life painfully aware thati:<br > plied to her. Old Philadelphia money didn t often ~z<br > happiness， as was evident in the lives of the people ar(~，<br > her as she grew. She remembered her father--a fourth~<br > eration financier who accumulated wealth the wai<br > accumulated World War I paraphernalia--as a diste<br > crotchety man much too old for her mother. He taughl!<br > nothing during the years that she knew him except to sta~<br >whatever wing of the huge house that he didn t occup~<br >any given time and to remain as silent as the servants ~i<br >their paths did cross.<br > His greatest gift to her came at his death. Laura had~<br >forgotten that the first time in her life she had got d0wni<br > knees and prayed， just as she had ~n her Hisp~<br >nanny do so many times， it was to thank God for rern0v~:<br >her father from their home. She hadn t wasted any ~ :<br >praying for another one.<br > As she d pointed out to God on that cold， quiet night， l~<br >mother<br > was still quite beautiful. She had a trophy case[d<br >af the awards she d won for that beauty， and any man w0u~<br >be proud to be teen with her. In her four-year-old vayl<br >however， Laura had indicated to God that her mothe~*:<br >mmonality might need a few adjustments. "Don t let her~<br >had at him， (kxi. She gets mad easy. And don t let her hax~<br > m?od when she meets him. If he s nice， maybe he ll keg<br >mr m a good mood all the time." She had considered t~<br >oxibility of that， then， as an afterthought， added， "Ma#<br > i<br >