The heavy scent of wet grass and expensive champagne mingled with the cold weight of a silver tray going by.

More than forty guests stood around the lawn in small, elegant groups.

The women wore pale silk dresses that brushed the grass.

The men wore perfectly tailored linen suits in grays and blues.

I walked past a huge stone fountain bubbling with clear water.

Three women holding delicate glass flutes stopped talking entirely as I came closer.

They looked down at my scuffed flat shoes, then at the frayed, ragged edges of the worn shawl.

I kept walking.