Gradually the structures of the train station disappeared and then followed buildings of Glasgow, before finally the countryside of Lanarkshire rolled away from them, rich and green still.
“Josiah,” Mother said.
Josiah turned away from the lovely view to look at her. “Yes Mother.”
“Who was the young lady you spent all afternoon with yesterday?” she asked.
“Miss Evangelina Dunbar,” Josiah replied.
“Oh, I met her mother,” Mother said. “Rather a dear woman, even if she was slightly frivolous.”
Subtly Josiah nodded, not because he agreed with Mother that women who enjoyed socialisation for its own sake were frivolous, but just because that was what she expected him to do — besides, Mrs. Dunbar was Evangelina’s stepmother, not her mother.
“How old is she?” Mother asked.
“I didn’t ask,” Josiah replied.
“She looked like a frivolous sort of girl with the dress she was wearing,” Mother said.
“It was a lovely dress Mother,” Vina said. “It’s coming along with the latest of fashions.”
“Nonetheless,” Mother replied. “She looked frivolous, why did you spend the whole afternoon with her Josiah?”
“She’s called to be a missionary,” Josiah replied.
“Oh,” Mother said. “Oh she is, is she?”
“Yes,” Josiah replied. “And already she’s an avid fundraiser for charitable causes supporting the hungry and needy in Glasgow. She even goes and does some work to minister to them for herself, but her parents are worried about her coming to harm, so she doesn’t do as much as she wishes to.”
“I wouldn’t have expected it of her,” Mother said. “I think I would like to meet her.”
Josiah nodded, feeling a fear that Mother was going to ask where Evangelina was called to, as he wasn’t altogether sure, he only hoped that it wasn’t China.
“It will be a very good thing for you to have a wife before you go to the mission field,” Mother said. “Someone like you needs a woman by his side to keep him steady, but, then again, so do most men. They can’t function rightly without a wife.”
“Even I Mother?” Alvin asked.
“Yes, but of course for you, the need of a wife is to produce an heir, which you’ve already received,” Mother replied. “And as a hostess for soirées and things. You don’t need a wife quite in the same way that Josiah needs one, and I’m glad to think that we’ve finally found a young woman who is interested in the prospect, but, of course, we will have to see how everything falls into place from there.”
Josiah felt somewhat insulted, but, at the same time, he felt quite confused and puzzled. What did Mother mean? Why did he need a wife more than Alvin? And what did he need a wife for above having his own companion and someone who could produce heirs for him too?
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