Saratoga Trunk (novel)

After fixing up the rundown house in Rampart Street, Clio ventures out, hoping to encounter the Dulaines, now comprising her father's widow, the widow's mother, and the widow's daughter (and Clio's half-sister) Charlotte Thérèse. At the French marketplace, Clio stops for a bowl of jambalaya and is immediately attracted to Clint Maroon, a tall Texan in a white hat, who is eating at the counter. The attraction is mutual, and Clint offers to drive Clio to the cathedral in his carriage, but a disapproving Angélique interferes, and Clio leaves without him. After the service, Clio, Angelique, and Cupidon eat breakfast at Begue's, the restaurant patronized by the Dulaines every Sunday. While eating, Angélique spots the Dulaines walking in, but they leave quickly after presumably recognizing Clio. Later Clint and Clio meet again at the restaurant, and afterward he drives her home.

Soon after, Clio and Clint begin a courtship. Eventually, Clint moves into Clio's house. Although they are in love with each other, Clio, who is obsessed with her plans for revenge, intends to marry a rich and powerful man to prove that she is as good as her father's family. Clint, a gambler, who never intends to marry, is out for revenge against the railroaders who ruined his father in Texas.

Clio continues to embarrass the Dulaines at every opportunity, planning, if necessary, to sabotage the society debut of her half-sister Charlotte Thérèse. Exasperated by Clio's unrelenting machinations, Clint leaves for

Railroader Raymond Soule, the same man who ruined Clint's father, is trying to steal the railroad from Bart. Clio poses as the widow of a French count, a claim that many doubt until she is unexpectedly backed up by socialite Mrs. Coventry Bellop, who intensely dislikes Van Steed's mother. Clio's beauty and melodramatic posturing quickly capture Bart's attentions.