At the New-York Historical Society's annual Strawberry Festival Luncheon on Monday, the society's president, Louise Mirrer, sounded remarkably Victorian in her remarks about the event's honoree, Nancy Newcomb.

"She has performed exquisitely in public life, and in her personal life, she has been beyond reproach," Ms. Mirrer said, sounding like she could have been speaking at the society's first Strawberry Festival, back on June 15, 1856.

Fortunately, in 2008, the language seemed to suit Ms. Newcomb, a former senior executive at Citigroup who was the society's chairwoman for eight years (during which time she hired Ms. Mirrer, and the society's budget and audience grew tremendously).

But even Ms. Newcomb's greatest admirers at the event took issue with Ms. Mirrer's choice of words.

"Beyond reproach?" Ms. Newcomb's husband, John Hargraves, said from his seat, clearly relishing the opportunity to tease his wife.

New York City's public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, also addressed the matter.

"Nancy is a dear, dear friend, but I'm not so sure I'd argue she has always been beyond reproach," Ms. Gotbaum said, pausing dramatically as if she were about to dish, before declining to elaborate.

So it was left to Ms. Newcomb to reproach herself.

"I should have worn my strawberry pin," she told me.

Things didn't stay prim and proper for long.

Speaking at the podium, a society trustee, Sarah Nash, encouraged bad behavior.

That is, she encouraged the author she was introducing, Linda Fairstein, a former sex crimes prosecutor who now writes crime novels, to write about crimes at the New-York Historical Society.

After all, Ms. Fairstein likes incorporating New York cultural institutions into her plots. Her latest release, "Killer Heat," opens with a dead body found on Governors Island. "Death Dance" started with a murder at the Metropolitan Opera House. Next year's volume will feature a crime at the New York Public Library.

Ms. Fairstein, who often researches her books in the society's library, seemed amenable to the idea. "Be careful what you wish for. Bad things could happen here."

The event raised more than $200,000 for education programs.

agordon@nysun.com