The Winthrop Agreement by Alice Sherman Simpson

Author:Alice Sherman Simpson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

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New Clients

Jonathan Winthrop’s wife, Alice, referred Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, American shipping and railroad magnate. She was a renowned sculptor and one of the most stylish women in the city, and she immediately became one of Mimi’s best customers. Tall and elegantly slender, she was often seen wearing beautifully cut English slacks with tailored silk shirts and long ropes of pearls. Mimi had never seen a woman wear trousers. It was bold and chic. Miss Gertrude paid her twenty dollars for one pair of wool trousers, more than Mimi had previously earned in a week. Pleased with Mimi’s fabric ideas, inspired combinations she observed from Lawrence’s elegant menswear, Miss Gertrude recognized her understanding of style and began sending her clients.

“I heard Gertrude Vanderbilt recommended you to Amanda Duchamp?” Alice Winthrop remarked as Mimi pinned the hem of one of her new party gowns. “Everyone watches what Amanda is wearing at parties and balls. She is quite avant-garde in her style.”

“I’ve read in the magazines that everyone watches you.” Alice Winthrop needed to be flattered, Mimi had learned. “Turn, please.”

“She’s well-read and refined—with the wittiest sense of humor. Educated in Florence and Paris. Au courant—and always shopping. She will be an excellent client for you, my dear.”

“I appreciate every referral,” Mimi said, thrilled to have a debutante as a customer.

“I introduced Amanda to Thomas, and he’s madly in love with her! Don’t tell anyone I said this, but he’s just a bit old for her,” she gossiped. “But you know, men love young women.”

“He’s a year younger than your husband, isn’t he? Turn.” Mimi asked as she measured the hem from the floor.

“Yes. Jon is sixty-one. As we all know, a man of fifty or eighty, for that matter, has his choice—if he has the money and power. The Winthrop men have that. I am so fortunate.”

“Yes, you are, Mrs. Winthrop.”

Alice Winthrop interrupted Mimi’s thoughts. “Men of power enjoy seducing young women.”

What was the edge she heard and felt in those words? An insinuation? Was she speaking of Amanda Duchamp or did Mimi just imagine that she was speaking of Frederick and her?

“Tom adores Amanda!” Mrs. Winthrop said.

Mimi experienced a twinge of jealousy. For a brief, childish moment, she had believed Frederick adored her. What must it be like to be adored? Had her father adored her mother? Why had he married her, only to abandon her after two weeks? Had he ever looked for her? Hard-hearted, Lottie always said about Mama. Was it any wonder? Mimi was determined that she would keep her heart open. Find joy in life.

“And, thank God, she’s quite unlike Tom’s first wife.”

“He had another? What was she like?”

“Yes. Poor little Sarah Collingsworth-Winthrop,” she said with great drama. “So sickly. That was years ago. Before you were even born, no doubt! She died within a year of their marriage.”

Mrs. Winthrop had this way of emphasizing words like so many of Mimi’s other uptown customers. When Mimi began speaking that way, Lottie said, “Stop that immediately.

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