Whyborne
“I’m so pleased you could come, Dr. Putnam. That is, Dr. Putnam-Barnett,” said Mayor Tate. “And your husband and Dr. Whyborne, of course.”
The Tate house was the largest within the town proper. Mr. Tate, a big man with a generous belly, greeted us as warmly as his wife. Miss Tate was naturally present for the dinner party, as was Miss Norton. I bowed politely over their hands. Both of them smiled and blinked their eyes a great deal in my direction.
“And this is Parson Norton, Miss Norton’s father,” Mayor Tate went on.
Parson Norton had thinning gray hair and a rather red face. “I look forward to seeing you in church Sunday morning,” he said as we shook hands. I muttered something vague in reply.
“I’m glad to report we’ll be giving Whyborne Railroad and Industries our business in a few days, once the harvest is finished,” Mr. Tate said, once introductions were finished. “Folks here need some hope, and the sight of your train cars stuffed with our corn, heading to Widdershins, will uplift many a heart.”
Dear lord, I hoped the man didn’t intend to talk business throughout the evening. I hadn’t the slightest interest in Father’s empire. “I saw the grain elevators when we arrived on the train.”
His chest puffed out slightly. “I own those—or a share in them, anyway. The old grain company no longer believed in our little town, closed up operations, and moved on. Fortunately Loyal Grain showed an interest, and I was able to convince them to invest in a joint operation.”
“Fascinating,” I lied. Thank heavens Mayor Tate chose that moment to indicate we should proceed to the dining room, saving me from any further talk of business.
I soon found myself seated at the long table between Miss Norton and Miss Tate. Mayor Tate sat at one end of the table, with Christine to her right. “I assume you’re active in the matter of women’s suffrage?” Mayor Tate asked once the parson had droned his way through a lengthy prayer for grace.
Christine’s eyes lit up. “Naturally! I must say, I was quite impressed to discover Fallow has a female mayor. The men of your town must be uncommonly sensible.”
Mr. Tate and Iskander exchanged a look.
“I am the seventeenth woman to hold such a position in Kansas,” Mayor Tate replied modestly. “But it isn’t due just to the men—women can vote in municipal elections in our fair state.”
“Kansas is far ahead of Massachusetts in such matters, then,” Christine said with a scowl. “My own work has left me little time to become involved in suffrage, I fear.”
“Perhaps you could speak to women’s groups, and show them what we might achieve?” Mayor Tate suggested.
The young ladies seemed uninterested in political matters. “Do you have a large practice in Widdershins, Dr. Whyborne?” Miss Norton asked.
It took a moment for me to realize what she meant. “Oh! No. I’m not that sort of doctor. I work at the museum.”
“How fascinating,” said Miss Tate. “Oh dear, your wine is getting low—please let me refresh it for you.”
Miss Norton shot her friend a glare across me. “Do try the potatoes,” she said, adding some to my plate without asking. “I cooked them myself.”
“Our cook was considered one of the best in Virginia, before Mother lured him here,” Miss Tate said smugly.
Miss Norton’s smile grew more and more fixed. “I find a woman should know how things ought to be done first hand. Only then can she judge whether the work of another meets her standards.”
“How interesting. I have never found it necessary to know how to plow a field in order to judge whether the resulting meal in front of me is any good.”
Miss Norton’s face flushed an angry red; apparently the remark carried the weight of some history between them. I shrank back in my chair as far as possible, but neither woman seemed to notice my attempt at a retreat.
“I’m certain a man of Dr. Whyborne’s stature would prefer a wife who understands the nature of hard work, so as to provide a suitable home,” Miss Norton grated out. “Rather than one who would laze about and see only to her own comforts.”
“Mr. Tate,” I said loudly. “What were you telling me earlier about grain elevators?”
Tate blinked at me in surprise. “Er...that Loyal Grain provided the funds, and I oversee their operation?”
Clearly he thought me a lunatic. I didn’t care. “Fascinating. Please tell me more. Spare no details of their workings, I beg you.”