The Unscheduled Variable

The conversation flowed with surprising ease for the remainder of the evening.

Ernest discovered that Eleanor had spent the previous four years managing the Valemont family's extensive agricultural and tenant holdings between Helmarte and the western valleys. She was not a theorist. She possessed a sharp, granular understanding of land economics, crop rotation yields, tenant lease structures, and rural market failures.

She understood what happened to a village when an early frost destroyed the rye crop, and why smallholders fell into debt when wagon transport costs fluctuated.

"So you would actively oppose running the western line directly through the historical center of the provincial market towns?" Ernest asked as the dessert plates were cleared.

"Unequivocally," Eleanor stated.

"Many municipal councils argue that a central station revitalizes the traditional marketplace," Ernest noted, testing her reasoning.