She Walks in Beauty (23 page)
And Katherine had put to rest my last fears of marrying into the De Vries family. They may have denigrated the Carter family honor, but surely they had not done it through any conscious effort. There was no evidence of malice or greed among them. If there had been, then how could Harry and Katherine have issued from such stock? If people such as Katherine inhabited the world to which I was destined, then that world might not be so barren, so mean a place as I had feared.
THE NEXT AFTERNON, as we were deciding which private balls to attend the following week, I heard the ringing of the door. Soon the butler appeared, offering up the tray to Aunt.
Aunt plucked the card from it. Gasped. “Franklin De Vries!”
My hands flew up to my head to check my hair. And then down my front to smooth my gown. Why was he here? It wasn’t our athome day. And what was I going to talk to him about?
Aunt nodded at the butler. Fluffed her skirts a bit. “Clara?” She pointed to her cheeks, which I took to mean that I should pinch mine.
Franklin strode through the door, and Aunt and I rose.
He walked to the center of the room. Bowed. As he straightened, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the fathomless blue of his eyes.
Beside me, Aunt favored him with a nod. And a smile. “How nice of you to call, Mr. De Vries.”
Franklin smiled. “It is a pleasure, madam, to be able to observe the beauty of your niece in the calm light of day instead of in the maddening crush of humanity at the opera. Or a ball.”
“How true. Though it has been quite an exciting season, hasn’t it, Clara?”
God help me, it was my turn now. “Yes, so exciting! Don’t you think so, Mr. De Vries?”
He smiled again, his eyes fastened upon me. “Excitement in the supreme.” He turned and surveyed the room. Stepped toward the Revolutionary chair and put a hand to its back. “Is this the chair Harry sat in?”
I didn’t know what to say.
Aunt replied in my stead. “It is.”
“Harry’s a good enough fellow, but not so skilled in parlor manners. You can’t imagine the excuses I made for him all across Europe! It was quite amusing. Couldn’t seem to remember the simplest of rules.”
So Harry didn’t have the best of manners. Why did Franklin have to go on and on about it?
He creased his pants at his thighs and sat in a chair opposite our sofa. “It’s terrible! And embarrassing in the extreme. He once broke a chalice that belonged to Charles the Great. Charles the Great! Can you imagine? Over a thousand years old!”
Words leaped from my mouth before I could stop them. “I once read that there are so many artifacts of Charles the Great that they would fill half the museums in the world.”
“What’s that?”
I smiled. And I tried to make it look pleasant. “A chalice? From the time of Charles the Great? A thousand years ago? Come, Mr. De Vries, who but a family grasping and desperate for honor would believe in the provenance of something like that?”
Aunt’s eyes had narrowed to slits and she was glaring at me.
Franklin smiled. But it flashed for just a moment and was gone. “It was rather garish, come to think of it—”
Aunt broke in on him. “The museums you must have seen on your tour! Tell me, did you get to visit the Louvre?”
He told us about the
Winged Victory of Samothrace
and the
Mona Lisa
.
“They call it
La Joconde
in French.” He said it as if I couldn’t possibly have already known it.
“Yes, and
La Gioconda
in Italian.”
Franklin continued talking until the clock intoned the hour. Then he pushed to his feet. Bowed once more. “A very great pleasure.”
“Thank you for your call.” Aunt kept her smile on her face until Franklin had left the room. And then she turned to me, eyes lit by indignation. “Really, Clara! Grasping? Desperate for honor? You insulted our guest by presuming knowledge you had no right to presume.”
“But he was criticizing Harry. In his absence!”
“His brother, the younger Mr. De Vries, is a very unconventional young man. And besides, this one is the heir. Why should it matter if he maligns his brother in our parlor? Your duty was to steer the conversation. And be
polite
.”
Polite? I had been much more polite than he had even tried to be.
It wasn’t until after we heard the butler show Franklin to the door that Aunt took out the society columns of the newspapers. She passed them to me after she had finished with reading them.
T
HE
N
EW
Y
ORK
J
OURNAL
—S
OCIETY
J
ANUARY 15, 1892
Miss Carter dazzled at the Vandermeres’ last night, her dress a perfect confection of lace and satin in shimmering gold. When asked if she was intent upon capturing the hearts of all of the men in our fair city, the lovely Miss Carter demurred. Are there any stars in the firmament which shine brighter? Are there any butterflies in Central Park which dance on lighter feet? Beware you angels in the heavens, there is one still more fair who dwells among us mortals.
T
HE
T
ATTLER
J
ANUARY 15, 1892
. . . and at the Vandermeres’ ball, other intrigues were afoot. Let the observer remain vigilant. If the lives of past debutantes of this fair city are any indication, what is expected or predicted does not always occur. And many a presumably faithful heart has been known to wander.
I had been at the Vandermeres’ ball, of course, but I hadn’t noticed any such intrigues. I made a note to ask Lizzie. If any flirting had taken place, if she hadn’t been a part of it, she would know who had been.
A faithful heart—known to wander? Whose could it be?
I still hadn’t solved the mystery by the time of the New Year’s Ball. It was held at Madison Square Garden. And since the guest list was expanded to one thousand, Lizzie was to be there. As was Harry. And Franklin.
A boy dressed in livery handed me out of the carriage that night. Thankfully, the arcade in front of the Garden had been enclosed so none of the assembled crowds were able to catch a glimpse of me. But even so, I heard a few whispered “Miss Carter!”s as I walked into the building.
As I did so, I was enveloped in a jungle. Winter’s chill grip found no hold here. There were palms and other exotic plants lining the entrance. And branches of cypress had been woven overhead. The main ballroom had been decorated with masses of pink blossoms and light-colored greens, a perfect portrait of an early spring. And the lights had been draped in pink gauze so that their electric brilliance was dimmed.
The throngs were so great that it was difficult to move. I ran into Mr. Hooper as I tried to push into the interior of the building. I turned from him as soon as I saw him open his mouth, praying that he would not ask to sign my dance card. He did not. But Harry signed for a lancers and a polka and Franklin for two waltzes.
During the first intermission, Harry escorted me up to where his sister was watching the dancing from a box. Along the way I saw Mr. Douglas, lurking in the shadows. I nodded his way and he nodded back before I was pulled into the box by Harry.
“You’ve brought Clara to me!” Katherine extended a hand and drew me down to sit in a chair beside her.
“She was my excuse to evade all those fluttering debutantes. I don’t know what they want with me when Franklin is the heir.”
I did. And the memory of my deceit still had the ability to prick my conscience.
We stayed there speaking of his travels and her life in Germany until the orchestra took up its place again. But as they launched into a lancers, Harry didn’t move to take me out onto the dance floor. Which was actually quite refreshing. I enjoyed being able to listen to the music without having to dance to it.
When the music to his polka began, still we stayed in conversation with Katherine. In fact, I sat right there talking with Harry until his dances were over. Both of them. And he only realized it as the second one came to an end.
“But I haven’t even danced with you yet!”
“I know. You claimed two dances on my card and didn’t even bother to show me to the dance floor!”
“Really, Harry. How could you?” His sister looked only mildly distressed.
“But I have to have at least one dance.”
“You had two dances.”
“And danced neither of them! Give me your card.”
Katherine was laughing at him. “Don’t do it, Clara. Someone has to teach him some manners.”
“I can’t, Harry. They’re all taken.”
I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find one of the Lorillards. “Forgive my haste in removing you from this box, Miss Carter. Our polka begins and you hid yourself so well up here … it was difficult to find you!”
“But—” Harry’s protest was loud but ineffectual.
“I’m sorry.” I left the box with Katherine’s laughter tinkling in my ears.
After that, Franklin came to claim me for the first of his two dances. As it ended, he turned me into a whirl and then spun me into the arms of Harry.
“But—”
Franklin bowed. “I leave you to a better man than I.” He disappeared into the crowd.
Harry let go my hands and took a step back from me. “You aren’t disappointed?”
“No.” In fact, I wasn’t. I was relieved. It was fatiguing to keep up with Franklin’s waltz and put on a smile and think up something to converse about just in case … all the while dancing with my eyes closed. I needed a respite. And Harry was just the person to provide it.
“While you were dancing with Lorillard, I convinced Franklin that he needed a cigar.”
A cigar? I ought to have been annoyed, but I couldn’t be. Not when he had rescued me.
“Look at what a mania you’ve started.”
“What mania?”
“The one for dancing with your eyes closed.”
“I haven’t.”
“You have. Look. Just keep your eyes open for a moment as the dance begins.”
I did it. And Harry was right. All around me, girls closed their eyes and raised their chins, leaned into the music as if it might carry them away from all of their trials. As we turned first this way and then that, the skirts of the gowns blurred together into one fabulous palette of color. It was magical. Glorious!
His hand wrapped around my waist. “It always reminds me of Holland in the spring.”
“What does?”
“A ballroom. With all of the colorful gowns. It’s like the tulip fields in Lisse.”
“You’ve been to Holland?”
“I have.” He paused to look at me. “And what’s more: I want to go again.”
This then was one advantage to wealth. “I’ve always wanted to travel. To Italy.”
“That’s one place I haven’t yet been.”
“Why not?”
“We were recalled. A year early. It has been ordained, you know, that Franklin must wed.”
Oh, I knew.
“But if you’ve always wanted to travel, then why don’t you?”
I very nearly shrugged before I remembered not to. “I can’t.”
“Why not?’’
“Because … because … it’s just not done. How would I do it? What would I say?”
He grinned. “Bon voyage—I’m off to the Continent. That seemed to work for me.”
“But you’re a man.”