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“People will judge nevertheless,” Abigail replied. “And they will judge you, my dear.” She looked directly at Leah. “They won’t all understand your heart in this matter, and some will even ostracize you. Are you prepared for that?”

Leah had been warned about it enough times that she wanted to say yes, but other thoughts came to mind instead. “I’m not sure I can exactly be prepared. But given that you’ve brought the matter to my attention, what would you do, Mrs. Wetherington?”

The woman smiled. “That’s a good question. I suppose the fact that you’ve a good reputation as a godly young woman will go before you. However, I’m equally certain that others will be scandalized no matter how well you conduct yourself. You are open to seeking advice, as you’ve just proven, and perhaps the rest should be up to those of us who support you. If we proclaim our support loudly enough, then maybe those more critical folks will fall into line.”

“You make a good point,” Grandmother agreed. “We should form an alliance of our friends. I’ll host a tea, and we’ll get women of influence together and explain that Leah will need our support and good will, in addition to our donations.”

“Yes, yes! I believe if we make a stand that we believe in what she’s doing, then others will be less likely to criticize. After all, we are the influential voice of Minneapolis.”

Grandmother smiled and gave Leah a look of confidence. “See there? We’ve already resolved the matter.”

“Oh, I see my husband. I will leave you to your hosting duties,” Mrs. Wetherington said, leaning forward to hug Grandmother. “I’ll look forward to your invitation. Don’t forget to make it soon.”

Grandmother patted the woman’s arm. “I will put pen to paper tomorrow.”

As Mrs. Wetherington departed, Mother joined them. Her face was flushed from the growing warmth of the room. “I wanted to make certain you weren’t overheating, Mother. I know how you are, and the room is getting quite warm.”

Leah looked to her grandmother’s flushed cheeks. “You do look warm.”

“I appreciate that you are both so careful of me.” She smiled and touched a hand to her face. “I suppose it would be wise for me to step outside a moment and cool down.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mother said. “There’s something I wanted to ask you about the orphans’ foundation. Mrs. Gladstone posed some questions about it, and I wasn’t quite sure what the new bylaws were calling for.” They moved off toward the hallway, not bothering to say anything more to Leah.

She glanced around and saw her father standing alone and went to join him. Just as she did, her grandfather and Uncle Evan came as well.

“It looks to be a very successful party,” Grandfather said, clapping Leah’s father on the back.

“Yes, Evie said the donations were coming along quite well. Folks seem to be in a merry spirit despite the war looming and troublesome problems elsewhere,” her father replied.

“You mean the border conflicts?” Uncle Evan asked.

“Oh, that and the general state of things here in the US.” Leah’s father looked quite grim. “Did you see the article in the paper yesterday? A young woman took her life and left behind a note that claimed it was cheaper to die than to live. She spoke of her husband’s weekly income of twelve dollars. Twelve dollars to provide for an entire family. She listed it out. Four dollars for weekly rent, two dollars for her husband’s carfare and lunches, leaving just six dollars to cover everything else—lights, fuel for heating, food, medicine, clothes. I’ve spent more money on a single meal when dining out.” He shook his head. “I sometimes feel quite selfish.”

“You are far from selfish, Father. I saw your check for the poor. You are very generous.” Leah clutched his arm.

“It just seems it’s never enough.”

“Sometimes it does feel that way,” Grandfather agreed.

“Then I worry about all our boys. The war isn’t slowing down. Bucharest just fell, and England has a new Prime Minister who says they haven’t even begun to fight.”

“It is hard,” Uncle Evan agreed. “I worry for my boys as well. Roman’s eighteen and old enough to be drafted, and the other two aren’t far behind.”

“I was just speaking to Micah and Clayton about that very thing this morning,” Father replied. “Both are ready to go if called upon. We spent time in prayer that God would bring an end to the war, and if not, that He would give us the strength to deal with what is to come.” He shook his head. “I can’t bear the idea of burying my children.”

Leah couldn’t say a word about that, for her own concerns about a draft were just as gloomy. She patted his arm, then slipped away before they spoke of the matter further. She felt her eyes blur with tears. Why couldn’t this war just end? Every day people were dying, and the reports of the enemy’s heinous deeds were frightening. The idea of Micah or Clayton giving their lives on the battlefield was too much to bear. Why did God allow for such things?

She avoided the people around her and slipped through the billiards room and into her grandfather’s office. No one would bother her here. She had no pockets and therefore no handkerchief, so she lifted the hem of her velvet dress to dab her eyes.

“You should know you aren’t alone.”

She started at the sound of Erik Sjolander’s voice and dropped her skirt. Thankfully she had a heavy slip on beneath the dress.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“It’s none of your concern.” Leah did her best to compose herself. Not only was she embarrassed, but his announcement had startled her far more than she’d expected.

“Perhaps not, but I can’t help but make it my concern when I see someone in tears.” He came forward and offered her his handkerchief.