Page 59 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Emily, however, was undeterred. “Very well. I will give my father and the others from Amherst your apologies then.”

He hesitated. “Who are these others from Amherst?”

“My family, of course, and Mr.Milner, the postmaster from town.”

He frowned. “Milner will be there?”

“I’m sure he will,” she said. “We extended an invitation to him as well. Good etiquette would tell him that it wasn’t an invitation that he could possibly turn down. At least that’s what people of good breeding know.”

“I’ll be at your party, miss. Good day.” He spun around and clapped his heels together in the process before he marched back in the direction of the Tortoise and the Hare Inn.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The following day was a flurry of activity, and Mrs.Dickinson thought it was time to put me “to work” while I was in Washington and help her with the final preparation for the next evening’s party. So while Emily and Miss Lavinia had another day to explore the city, call upon acquaintances who were in town, and go back to the ice cream shop, I was at the Willard painstakingly writing out name cards for each and every one of the Dickinsons’ guests for their dinner party.

When Mrs.Dickinson learned I had such good penmanship, she immediately gave me the task.

“This is usually a job for a daughter in the family, but Vinnie hates writing and Emily’s handwriting is atrocious. I find little scraps of paper that she’s written on around the house at times. They are written all over with words scratched out so no one could possibly ever read them, not even her. I just toss away those little scraps when I find them outside of her room. What she does in her room is her business.”

My heart ached when she said that. I knew Emily would not want her words to be carelessly tossed aside. I had heard her say once that she wanted to be a writer, so those little scraps would be very important to her, would they not?

Mrs.Dickinson stood up from the small desk in the parlor off of the sisters’ room. “I will leave you with this task. I’m going to lie down. I’m supposed to have tea with some other congressmen’s wives this afternoon, and I know I will need my strength for those conversations.”

I wondered what she meant by that. Why did she need strength to speak?

She left the room, and I found myself alone for the first time since coming to Washington. At this point, I had only finished three of the sixteen place cards that I was supposed to write. I was taking much care with each one, and I realized it might take me another two hours to finish the lot. I should work on them so they were ready by the time Mrs.Dickinson returned from her tea.

But I didn’t do that. My head was still too full of the conversation that the Dickinson sisters had with Mr.Johnson. Emily seemed to be confident on the matter, but I remained unconvinced that he killed my brother. However, I believed he knew who did.

I needed to clear my head. I decided to take the risk and sneak out of the hotel for a few minutes for a short walk. Then, I promised myself, I would return to the place cards, and the place cards would be better for it too.

I stood up from the desk, grabbed my small satchel and straw hat, and went out the door. As soon as I was outside of the Willard, the scent of spring surrounded me. There were daffodils and tulips in stone planters in front of the hotel. When I went back to Amherst, I wouldn’t be seeing flowers like those for another four weeks at least.

However, the most overpowering scent was that of the blue and pink hyacinths that encircled a tree by the sidewalk. The sweet fragrance always reminded me of my mother. Every fall she would plant hyacinth bulbs in front of our little house just outside town, and when they bloomed in spring, it was such a joy.

I bent down to inhale the scent of the flowers more deeply.

“You have always been fond of flowers,” a man said.

I jumped and looked up to find Matthew smiling at me. “What are you doing here?” I asked and took a quick glance around. I knew that all from the household but Mrs.Dickinson should be away from the Willard that day. However, I wasn’t going to take any chances and let Matthew and me be seen together. I could be in serious trouble if it appeared that we were too familiar with each other.

“That’s not the nicest greeting in the world.” He chuckled.

“I’m sorry, Mat—Officer Thomas.”

“Please, Willa, let’s not be formal. That hurts me too much.”

I bit the inside of my lip. “Are you here to see the Dickinsons? Because only Mrs.Dickinson is in her room right now. She’s resting.”

“I was just out for a walk, and I will admit that I came this way because I knew you were staying at the Willard.”

“How did you know?” I asked and wondered if Matthew had been spying on me. Perhaps I was just becoming paranoid with all this investigation business.

“It was in the society pages that Edward Dickinson’s daughters were staying at the hotel. I guessed you would be in the same place.”

Ladies out for a walk moved around us as they made their way down the sidewalk, and guests and the bellman went in and out of the hotel with suitcases and packages.

“I think we are in the way here,” I said.

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