John Ashton had found himself in a bit of a predicament. He had to arrange a business meeting with Dexter Townly to ensure his calendar was clear and that he would be in town. Yet, he planned to surprise Mildred Westmoreland while he was in town. Coming out and directly telling Townly that Mildred knew nothing of the visit wouldn’t do; it would seem odd and suspicious. Likewise, he couldn’t lie and say that he was certainly visiting the Westmorelands or else Townly might feel compelled to bring it up, should he see Mildred or Bertram at an event. Therefore, he decided to leave the entire topic alone and hope that everything turned out for the best in the end.
As he sat in the Townly home, Charlie at his side, across from Mr. and Mrs. Townly and their two daughters, Beatrice Townly Huxton and Alise, his mind began to wonder. He’d already met with Dexter earlier that day, and while he’d allowed Charlie to have a hand at the negotiations, which had taken
Meg found the letter on her pillow, and hesitated to open it. On the one hand, she hoped with each letter that Charlie would say he refused to be her husband and they could call the entire arrangement off. On the other hand, she hated to disappoint her father, and while she wasn’t sure whether or not God was looking down on her or not most of the time, she was fairly certain her father was. With a shrug and a sigh, she tossed herself down on the bed and tore the envelope open.April 9, 1909Dear Miss Westmoreland,I apologize that it has been quite some time since I have written. I wish that I had an excuse, but in all honesty, it has been out of aggravation more than anything else. I will apologize for my frustration, since I’m certain there was no way you could have guessed that my father and I were planning to pay you a visit on our trip to Southampton, but I was sincerely looking for
CambridgeCharlie was on his way to the dining hall for the evening meal when he bumped into Quincy. Though they no longer went out together socially, as Charlie had been able to stick with his resolve to stay focused on his studies, they still had several classes together and remained friends. A few months before, when Quincy had feared he’d gotten a young woman pregnant, he had rushed to Charlie for help and advice. Though it turned out to be for nothing, the incident had brought Quincy back to earth a bit, and Charlie noticed that he was not spending as much time at parties as he had been before. It had also brought them closer together.“How’s life?” Quincy asked. “Have you heard from Mary Margaret lately?”There was a time when Charlie would have assumed the question was asked in ridicule, but not anymore. When Quincy realized that Charlie was serious about his obligation, he had begun to take his side, even though he had
SouthamptonThe change in her mother’s disposition since Charlie had agreed to begin sending them a bit of money was unbelievable to Meg; it was as if she had transformed into some sort of happy-go-lucky girl. It wasn’t what Meg would consider a fortune, but it was enough to make sure necessities were accounted for and the lights stayed on at least.Mildred had instructed her daughter to describe a party she wanted to have and to ask for enough money for an auto in the first letter. Of course, the money would go to neither of those things. Meg didn’t even need a motor coach of her own anyway. She would much rather ride on horseback if she had to go somewhere close by, and her uncle was rarely home anymore, but his own auto was often parked in the garage where she could get Bitterly to drive her if she needed.In her last letter, she’d asked for enough for a new dress and some proper jewelry, and Charlie had sent it, asking for a picture o
Once they were several miles away from town and hadn’t seen another person or vehicle for at least fifteen minutes, Ezra pulled over. “Would you like to have a go?” he asked Meg, gesturing at the steering wheel.“Me? Drive a motor coach?” Meg asked, shocked.“Why not?” he asked.“Why, I wouldn’t know the first thing.”“It’s not difficult. I can teach you,” he replied. Before she had the opportunity to decline again, he began going over all of the various parts, showing her how they worked.When he’d finished, Meg decided it sounded simple enough. Deciding one only lived once, she shrugged and said, “All right then. Why not?”They quickly switched seats, and once she was behind the steering wheel, she realized her hands were shaking. “We’ll just take it nice and slow,” Ezra cautioned.Meg eased up on the clutch and put in t
New York City“As you can see, our workers are very busy,” Max Blanck explained to Charlie as he showed him around the work floor of his textile company, Triangle Shirtwaist. “We employee over six hundred workers, most of them young women. We prefer recent immigrants, as we want to give them the opportunity to make something of themselves.”Charlie was interested in visiting other textile companies since he would be running one himself someday—or at least he thought he would be. He was looking to do some investing of his own, and Triangle was known around the city for being able to fill large quotas quickly. Charlie wanted to see how it was done.As Mr. Blanck continued to talk up his establishment, Charlie couldn’t help but notice the girls all looked tired and worn out. The factory was stuffy without a lot of ventilation. The area was also very crowded. “How much are their wages?” Charlie asked, cutting off the s
Once he’d bid Mr. Barnaby goodbye, Charlie pulled Stephen off around the corner of the building where there weren’t quite as many people walking by. He was usually fairly understanding, but this day had gotten the best of him. “Stephen,” he said, waiting a second until he actually had the young man’s attention. “We need to talk.”“Yes, sir,” Stephen said, a sheepish grin plastered on his face.Looking into his eyes, Charlie wasn’t sure he could see any signs of life at all. “Stephen, I appreciate the service you’ve provided over the last few months….”“Thank you, sir.” The smile widened.“However, I’m afraid our arrangement simply isn’t working out,” Charlie continued.There was a vague form of recognition now. “It isn’t?” Stephen asked.“I’m afraid not,” Charlie replied, shaking his hea
SouthamptonRuth was growing into quite the curious little child, and though Patsy kept her most of the time during the day while Kelly and Daniel worked, Meg insisted on letting her stay from time to time so that she could spend the day playing with the little one.At nearly two, she was in constant motion, always getting into things and running about. Meg liked to take her outside and push her in the pram. Ruth often had a better idea and would climb out and play in the flowers. She seemed to like the lilacs and oleander the best, too, but Meg was always very careful to make sure she never put any of the plants in her mouth. She knew that oleander was extremely poisonous.Ruth had fiery red hair, the same color as her mother’s, which curled up at her neck. Her vocabulary was immense for such a small child, and she kept Meg on her toes answering inquiries and explaining what different items were. She loved to look at picture books, particularly of animals
New York City“I really think that celluloid is the way to go,” Charlie said, his feet resting on the edge of his desk, a stack of research sitting next to them. “I think it’s the wave of the future.”“All of the evidence points that direction,” Jonathan agreed with him. “It’s just a question of how much you’re willing to put in.”“Right,” Charlie nodded. That was always the question. How much of his money should he invest in whatever new business, new project, new technology was coming out next? So far, he’d made some very wise investments with the small sum his father had given him to start off with and the wages he’d been earning working for his father since he graduated from Harvard the year before. He knew, however, it may take quite a sum to re-establish Westmoreland Textiles, and that was always in the back of his mind.“I think you should go with the fu