Chapter 35

Dr. Charlton’s calming technique only worked when Betty remembered to use it. And just how was she supposed to do that when she had so many events to organize? The good citizens of Wooster hadn’t quite grasped their roles in this scandal and, once again, Betty Miller was having to pick up the slack. The Valentine’s Day celebration was the second event she’d had to orchestrate in the interest of putting Vivian Dalton in her place. Like everything else she did, Betty deemed it absolutely imperative. Of course Vivian wouldn’t be able to go to the event, it was being held at the country club. It was just a romantic peripheral reminder to Vivian (because of course she would hear word of the country club event, celebrating couples and romance) that her marriage was a sham. Betty had always had to go above and beyond a societal leader’s usual call of duty to keep things in line and as they should be, but that was what made her Betty Miller.

For instance, last spring she’d had to take several weeks out of her extremely busy schedule in order to teach Dolly how to drive the Coupe, so that Dolly could take the car to the filling station when it needed gasoline. And really, if you thought about it, she had done Dolly a great service by teaching her to drive. There were people who might disapprove of Negroes being allowed to drive at all, but Betty thought that was preposterous. Being in service meant being able to do a wide range of errands, and occasionally that necessitated driving the car.

She didn’t know what she’d do without their dear Dolly. She cleaned their house, mended their clothing, cooked their food. Why, Dolly even offered helpful suggestions for Betty’s events every once in a while. Which reminded her, she would need to remind Dolly to pick up the flowers for the Valentine’s Day gala.

“Betty, you seem a little preoccupied with this,” Clara Weaver ventured uneasily. She had participated in the gossip about Edward Dalton’s astounding bigamy as much as the other women, but the personal assault Betty appeared determined to wage on Vivian was excessive. Vivian wasn’t even part of their social circle, and Betty spent just as much time harping on that; how she was “just so common and low-class.” It was a touch hypocritical for someone with more than a few fairly unsavory cousins herself. Clara remained still, but was shaking her head on the inside. You never knew who Betty’s next target might be.

Clara thought she saw the briefest shadow pass over Betty’s face. A rare flash of doubt on the face of the always-certain, self-assured Betty Miller. Perhaps she realized she was going too far, and she just needed a friend to help lead her out of the bizarre vindictive trance. To Clara’s surprise, Betty appeared to be reaching out for her hand when a traffic horn blared outside the shop, startling both women. Betty scowled in the direction of the noise, then turned back to Clara with renewed irritation. “You didn’t see her at church on Christ-mas Eve, although I al-ready de-scribed her be-havior to you,” Betty countered. “And, I spoke with David at the post office. He men-tioned that he ran in-to her at the open house at the high school, and she was aw-fully friend-ly to him.” Betty made sure to arch her eyebrows on the word “awfully.” “Don’t you understand what a scorned woman is capable of?”