“We’re very glad you’re here,” said Mavis. “As a matter of fact, we are delighted! Welcome.”
“Delighted is the perfect word,” Charlotte pronounced. “How’s everything going?”
“Fine,” Fred fibbed, thinking of Carl Vincent’s numbers filed right behind him in his desk.
“Really?” Mavis’s eyes probed.
“Just diving in,” Fred said, feeling suddenly guarded. He tried to make his voice sound enthusiastic. “There are a lot of things I need to learn about.”
“One of the things you have probably already learned,” Mavis said, “is that Charlotte and I are among the more recent appointments to the board. The result, I would say, of some….” She hesitated, turning to her friend.
“Persistence,” Charlotte supplied.
“Yes. Persistence,” Mavis agreed.
“The school was getting pretty close to shutting down, you know,” Charlotte said.
“I know. We will all work together to make what Marjorie built here permanent.” He imagined himself apologizing to Marjorie for such a lame statement.
Mavis’s eyes focused intently on his. “You’re right. Respect for Mrs. Boyd. That’s how we need to approach everything. But I refuse to let anyone make me feel guilty.”
“I’m sure that’s not what you meant,” Charlotte murmured to Fred. Then more loudly: “How’s Gail adjusting?”
“Quite well. Everybody has been very kind,” he said, pushing out of his mind the fact that Peggy Plummer and Eudora Easter and Rachel Bickham, head of the Science Department, were the only teachers who have dropped in to say hello to his wife. “She’s finishing hanging our pictures as we speak.”
“Well,” Mavis said, “we’re sure you’re busy, so we should get right to the point and tell you why we’re here.”
“Definitely,” Charlotte murmured. “Time to get down to business.”
“We’re here to stand firmly behind you when you get rid of Joan Saffire,” Mavis announced, looking straight into Fred’s eyes. Joan Saffire was the assistant director of Development.
“Absolutely,” Charlotte nodded vigorously. “We’re right behind you.”
“Uh … I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Fred said.
“There will be a rebellion, of course,” Charlotte said, looking hard at Fred. “A huge fuss. Lots of the alumnae, virtually all of the faculty, and many of the board—all the trustees who voted for Mrs. Boyd to stay, as a matter of fact. That’s almost fifty percent.”
“Charlotte!” Mavis exclaimed.
“Oh, come on!” Charlotte said, not taking her eyes off Fred’s. “He knows.”
Fred felt little drops of sweat running down from his armpits inside his shirt. No, I don’t, he wanted to say—for that was the truth. “
Don’t you?” Charlotte asked him.
He still didn’t answer. Because now, of course, he did know. “
If I remember correctly, we were talking about getting rid of Joan Saffire,” Mavis said.
Charlotte shrugged. “So we were.” “
Well?” said Mavis to Fred.
“I don’t want to appear not to be listening,” he said trying to keep the tentativeness out of his voice. “Or reluctant to accept advice, but I, uh, I think I need to remind you that it is the head who makes these decisions.”
“She’s Marjorie’s niece,” said Charlotte. “You didn’t know that?”
“Yes, I knew that.”
“Charlotte, please.” Mavis looked sternly at her friend. “That’s not the reason. She’s incompetent, that’s why.” Then turning to Fred: “The main thing is that she’s always saying the wrong thing. She insults people.”
“People like Joan Saffire need to keep their politics to themselves!” Charlotte blurted.
“Why don’t you tell Fred about when your husband asked Aldous Enright if he would accelerate his pledge,” Mavis said softly to Charlotte.
“Ladies,” Fred asserted. “This isn’t an appropriate way to evaluate—”
“You need to listen to this!” Mavis said.
Fred put both hands up, a double stop sign, but Charlotte was already talking. “When Gerald called for the appointment, Mr. Enright just exploded!”
“It seems that Marjorie’s niece had already talked with him,” Mavis interrupted. “She called on him to ask him to make a bigger pledge and to restrict it to financial aid.”
“Financial aid!” Charlotte exclaimed. “From Aldous Enright? Everybody knows he doesn’t believe in financial aid!”
“And when she talked with him, she talked about poor people in a way that made it look as if anybody with money is a fascist,” Mavis said. “This woman, who everybody knows wouldn’t even be here if she weren’t Marjorie’s niece, is lecturing Aldous Enright about financial aid!”
“So, not only did Mr. Enright not accelerate his gift, he canceled it,” Charlotte announced.
There was a moment of silence while Fred thought of what to say. He hadn’t been in office for a morning yet, and already this! “Maybe Mr. Enright would have canceled it anyway,” he tried.
“He would not!” Charlotte said. “I already said: People like her need to keep their political opinions to themselves.”
“It’s only one incident, though,” said Fred. Then he cut himself off. That tack wouldn’t work either.
“Of course one incident isn’t enough!” Mavis was insulted. “We’re only telling you one incident as an example. I don’t believe in firing someone for one mistake any more than you do.”
“I appreciate your concern,” he said, desperate for an end to the conversation. “Very much. I will bring it up right away with Dorothy Strang.”
“Dorothy is an excellent director of Development,” Mavis said. “But what difference does it make what Dorothy Strang thinks of Joan Saffire? The board has no faith in Joan Saffire. That’s what counts here. That is, the part of the board who raises money doesn’t. The rest just loves everybody. So why are you trying to sell us on her?”
“I’m not selling, Mrs. Ericksen, I am insisting on ethical process.” Fred hated the sanctimonious sound of his voice.
“This is no time for delicacy,” Mavis warned.
“It certainly isn’t,” Charlotte said.
“And I resent being painted as the villain,” Mavis said.
“Look, why don’t we call on Aldous Enright again—give it another try,” Fred said, “and in the meantime I guarantee you that I will make sure Mrs. Saffire’s performance is evaluated. I could do more harm than good by appearing to fire people arbitrarily before anybody trusts me.”
“If you want to earn my trust, Mr. Kindler, just do what you have to do, and do it right away.”
“When is it going to happen?” Charlotte asked.
“I can’t tell you that,” Fred said.
“I tell you, you don’t have the time to be so delicate!” Mavis’s voice was quavering now. “Because if you don’t get this place in order, they’re going to let boys in here, and if that happens I don’t care if the place does shut down!”
“I’m