Ondine took my hand and faced the ballroom. “When I was nineteen, I was supposed to leave college because my family couldn’t afford another semester,” she said. “A scholarship from the Ashford Women’s Independence Fund paid my tuition, housing, and books. Years later, I learned the woman who created it had once been nineteen herself, with two suitcases and nowhere to go.” A murmur moved through the room. My father’s face lost every trace of color.
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