Catherine had come of age. She was sitting in her room in her father’s well-appointed house when I flew in with my wheel of fortune.
“Catherine,” I said. “Which would you rather have? A happy youth or a happy old age?”
After some consideration she said, “Give me a happy old age.”
Soon after, her father’s ships were lost at sea, with all his goods, and he himself died of disappointment.
Catherine went to work.