Worst of all, Kai was the only person who could throw Caroline off balance. John had seen it happen a half dozen times and it still surprised him; he had yet to find an explanation that made any sense. Caroline, who could face down the nastiest of critics in open debate at a conference panel, seemed to fall apart when Kai Watanabe’s attention turned in her direction.

Now Kai’s perfectly shaped face was lifted up to John’s. “What documentary?”

“Miss Zula gave it to me. Done by the company that’s coming down to do the filming. And, yes, Caroline and I have watched it together.”

“And?” Kai said, her fork poised. “Did you like it, Caroline?”

Caroline cleared her throat very gently, which meant she was irritated by Kai’s questions but was struggling not to show it.

“Yes, I did.”

Kai’s fork hovered still. “Why?”

“What documentary is this we’re talking about?” Miss Maddie said. “Is it the one about the opera singers?”

“Lord, no,” said Miss Zula. “It’s the one about the old L&N Railroad.”

“Oh, yes,” Miss Maddie said. “About the Shortt children going off to Berea College.” She turned to Miss Zula. “Who sent that to you, sister? Was it somebody from one of those northern schools?”

As far as Miss Maddie was concerned, no institution north of Princeton had any claim to her attention, and she refused to remember their names.

“That’s right,” Miss Zula said, smiling at Kai.

Miss Maddie warmed to her story. “A poor farming family in … where was it now?”

“Virginia,” said Miss Zula, who was watching the table with undisguised pleasure. No doubt she would write a short story about this. Miss Maddie collected postcards, and Miss Zula conversations.

“Virginia,” Miss Maddie nodded happily. “Subsistence farmers, the very poorest, but hardworking? Oh, my. And they managed to send all five of their girls and three of the boys off to Berea College. The boys all studied to be teachers and the girls all became nurses. Every last one of them. The first one in 1915, if you can imagine such a thing. One after the other they got on the train and off they went.”

“Yes,” said John. “Even the one who shouldn’t have gone.”

“Now, that’s true.” She wiggled a little in her chair, a sign John recognized. Miss Maddie was settling in for a good long discussion, but at the other end of the table, Miss Zula had made other plans.

She said, “What did you think of the documentary, Caroline?”

John got a sudden trace of Caroline’s perfume, which meant that she had begun to perspire, a rare thing.

“It might have been melodramatic,” Caroline said. “But it wasn’t handled that way at all. I thought it was very good.”

“Please explain,” Kai said.