A young woman is caught between two mothers in 1850s Manhattan in this novella by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Age of Innocence. Tina is a girl torn between two women. There is her adoptive mother, Delia Ralston, a member of one of Manhattan's ruling families, and then there is Charlotte Lovell, the woman who gave her up so that she could have a chance at a better life. As Tina grows up, the tensions between Delia and Charlotte begin...

Delia rejected passion in favor of a secure marriage but Cousin Charlotte followed her own heart, even though it meant remaining unwed and giving up her baby. Charlotte's sacrifice has allowed the child, Tina, an advantageous position in New York City's fashionable society as Delia's adopted daughter. Now Tina's a graceful young woman and ready to marry - and the anguish that Charlotte has long suppressed is ready to explode. In addition to her...