Miss Maitland, Private Secretary

The story opens on a breezy Long Island morning as Chapman Price walks out of the estate called Grasslands, ending an eight‑year marriage that has fueled the season’s gossip. Suzanne Price collapses onto a sofa, her eyes brimming with salty tears, while the Janneys watch the breakup from their balcony with a mix of relief and dread. Their conversation drifts over the gardens, greenhouses and shaded woods surrounding the house, hinting at the social ripple a divorce will cause. In the background, a new household order begins to take shape, with whispers of fresh appointments and shifting loyalties.

Mrs. Janney, a strikingly elegant widow in her mid‑fifties, presides over the estate with a calm authority, her white muslin dress and modest amethyst brooch reflecting a taste that never flaunts wealth. Beside her, the elderly Samuel Van Zile Janney, a gentleman of old‑world manners, adjusts to a marriage that has startled his long‑standing social circle. As they settle into their shared life, the arrival of a poised private secretary promises to add another layer of intrigue to the tangled web.