Page 17 of Eleanor’s Earrings

Nathaniel smiled. “Your father may object.”

“He will have to take it up with me when I see him again.”

She closed the book gently, and Nathaniel looked away.

Eleanor Whitaker was beginning to change her father's plan.

He wondered if she realized it.

*****

BY THE THIRD EVENING, Caroline had begun keeping her own copy of Father’s mileage figures.

Eleanor discovered her beside the fire, writing on the back of an old store invoice.

“You have the route notes,” Caroline said without looking up. “I have the route reality.”

“That sounds dangerously independent.”

“I learned from my eldest sister.”

Eleanor sat beside her. “What are you recording?”

“Miles traveled. Delays. Water. Grazing. Which hills made Lydia complain.”

“You will need more paper.”

“Much more.”

Lydia, passing with an armful of wood, stopped. “I complain only when conditions deserve criticism.”

Caroline made another mark.

“What was that?”

“One complaint.”

“That was not a complaint. It was a defense.”

“Two.”

Lydia narrowed her eyes. “You are abusing mathematics.”

Caroline smiled sweetly. “Three.”

Lydia stalked away.

Eleanor laughed. “Father would approve of the mileage record.”

“He would object to my corrections.”

“He objected to everyone’s corrections.”

“Especially yours.”

Eleanor looked at the fire. “I miss arguing with him.”

“So do I.”