Page 70 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

“Oh!” Mr.Campbell said in a friendly voice. “How nice to meet one of our postmasters from a small town. Every member of the postal service is important. We are making so many vast improvements because of the hard work of the men on the front lines of delivering the mail.”

Mr.Milner’s face turned red. “Thank you, sir. We all try to deliver the mail in a precise and timely fashion.”

Mr.Campbell nodded. “I know this very well.”

“Mr.Milner told my sister and me that he was in Washington for a postal conference this week. Were you at that conference as well, Mr.Campbell?” Emily asked.

The postmaster general wrinkled his brow. “I don’t know anything about a postal conference happening this week in Washington. Usually, I’m notified about such events. I do hope that my secretary did not make a mistake and leave this off my calendar for the week.”

“No, sir.” Mr.Milner took a sip from his wineglass and then set it back on the table. “The conference was a small regional affair. As much as we would have been honored to have you be a part of it, sir, we know your duties are far too demanding for our small gathering.”

“Yes, that must be it,” Mr.Campbell said absently.

“If it was a regional meeting,” Emily said, “it does not make much sense that you meet so far from home. There are many big cities in New England to meet.”

“Emily,” Mr.Dickinson said in a measured tone.

Mr.Campbell opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more on the matter, but Mr.Johnson stood up from the table. “Thank you for the kind invitation this evening, but it is time for me to leave. I have pressing business that I must attend to.”

Mr.Dickinson’s face turned red. “Please stay, Mr.Johnson. I hope my daughter speaking out of turn has not caused you to leave.”

“It hasn’t,” Mr.Johnson said, but I believed that everyone knew that it had.

I noticed then that Mr.Milner stared at the table and his arms were pressed closely to his sides. It was almost as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

“Good evening.” Mr.Johnson stomped out of the room.

When he was gone, Mr.Milner looked up and seemed to visibly relax.

Mr.Dickinson cleared his throat. “I want to apologize for my guest’s behavior. I was hesitant to invite him here tonight with so many esteemed guests at my table, but he is a businessman from Amherst. I invited him out of duty. I regret that decision now.”

“Yes, that was quite rude to leave the dinner party like that,” Emily said.

Mr.Dickinson glared at her. I would say that Emily was in a whole heap of trouble as far as her father was concerned.

Without taking the time to think about it, I went through the door after Mr.Johnson. By the time I made it to the lobby, he had his coat and hat in hand and was striding out of the hotel.

I hesitated. What did I do now? Follow him? By myself? Was I crazy for even thinking it?

Outside of the hotel I watched as Mr.Johnson climbed into a carriage and a moment later the carriage was underway down the busy street.

“Miss Willa, you look like you’re lost.”

I turned and found Buford standing on the sidewalk. “That man who just came out of the hotel. I—I think he’s up to something.”

“I do too. That’s why we need to follow him.” I looked over my shoulder to find Emily standing in the middle of the sidewalk in her ball gown.

Buford began to untether his horse from the hitching post. “Then we better go before we lose sight of him.”

Emily ushered me to the carriage. I climbed inside and she came in after me. The wide hoops of her skirt took up most of the space between us. Buford called to Betty Sue the horse, and the carriage rolled into traffic.

I stared at Emily. “How?” I couldn’t even think of the best way to ask the question.

“How did I get here?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, did you walk out of your father’s dinner party too?” My eyes were wide.

She looked out the window of the carriage. “Not exactly. I said I had a headache and needed to lie down. I’m sure my father is using that right now to explain my behavior to all of his guests. I helped him by leaving. He will say something to the effect that women don’t know what they are saying when they have a headache or some such nonsense. The key to the nonsense that men say about women is to use it to our advantage as I did in this case.”

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