A substantial investment portfolio.

An estate in Westchester that had appeared in architectural magazines.

People in our city spoke about his wealth as though it were a permanent feature of the landscape.

His family mansion alone was famous.

So when he asked for my number, I gave it to him.

A few weeks later, Arthur sent an enormous arrangement of roses to my apartment.

Not long after that, he proposed with a diamond ring large enough to catch attention from across the room.

My parents begged me not to rush.

“He is almost eighty,” my father warned.

“Do you actually love him?”