20 August, 1893 — Dempsey Estate

The rest of the event hadn't been much to speak about one way or another, but Oz was still ruminating over his conversation with Emilia Wright. He traced it over again and again, trying to determine how many people had been listening closely enough to remember what was said and how they might have interpreted it. Unfortunately he knew the answer to the first question was at least one, and since there was no accounting for who people talked to (or how stories might be distorted on every retelling), he had no choice but to assume the worst. By the end of the week, everyone would be familiar with whatever the worst possible version of the tale was.

He found Thomasina in the upstairs parlor that the pair of them had more or less monopolized as their writing room and study since they'd married. He flopped dramatically into one of the armchairs and put his feet up on the nearest end table. "I may have accidentally declared my support for women's suffrage today."

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