by Linda Ford
Matt held back as others went to get some refreshment and then slipped the photo he’d been so intrigued with into his shirt pocket. Surely no one would miss this one. After all, there were a few set to the side that someone didn’t want included. He wouldn’t mind this one being used, but he’d rather keep it for himself. He patted his pocket and went to get a cup of hot chocolate.
*
Rebecca and Ben, along with Michael and Violet, were the first to leave so that they could relieve their mother of her babysitting duties.
“We’re going to pick up Jenny and Mama and we’ll drop her off at Heaton House,” Rebecca said. “When should we meet again?”
“Luke and I will gladly have it at our home next time,” Kathleen said. “Check your calendars and I’ll telephone you all and try to come up with a date that will be good for us all.”
“If we need another album party before Christmas, Ben and I can host it,” Rebecca said.
They’d made good headway for the first album but there were many more photos to go through. “That sounds like a good plan. I do hope it’s not too much trouble for all of you.”
“It’s not a problem at all, Millicent,” Elizabeth said. “This has been so much fun and brought back a lot of good memories.”
“Oh, yes, it did,” Violet added. She glanced at her husband and smiled. “Some were pictures of Michael and I when we were beginning to fall in love.”
Once again Millicent felt an ache deep inside. What was wrong with her lately? She’d planned her future and it didn’t include marriage or a family. So why did she seem to long for those very things right now?
She began gathering their supplies as the three couples put on their wraps and left. The boarders helped pack things back up and John and Elizabeth walked them to the door. Millicent gave her friend a hug. “Thank you so much, Elizabeth. And I am thrilled about your news. I hope this didn’t tire you out too much.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “It didn’t. I’m feeling wonderful now.”
Matt helped Millicent on with her wrap and after they all said their goodbyes, the boarders headed out into the chilly night.
It wasn’t all that late and they decided to walk back to Heaton House. Matt fell into step beside Millicent, her camera bag slung over his arm, and he held her arm lightly as they followed the others.
“Everyone had such a good time. This whole idea has been great for us, giving us a reason to get together more often and even find out a bit more about each other than we knew before.”
“In what way?” Millicent asked.
“Well, hearing the older boarders reminisce about their time at Heaton house and special outings. Not to mention the photos that reminded them of falling in love.”
“Yes, that was special, wasn’t it? Hearing them comment on their romances was quite…”
“Romantic?”
She giggled and nodded at the finish Matt gave her thought and when her gaze met his, there was a light in his eyes that sent her pulse racing.
Matt cleared his throat. “I wonder who the next couple will be to fall in love at Heaton House.”
Millicent’s heart seemed to do a little flip as she looked up to see his gaze on her once more. If only… No! She couldn’t start thinking of what-ifs.
“I don’t know. Julia shows no sign of being attracted to anyone. But maybe Emily and Joe or Stephen? Or Georgia and one of them?”
Matt gave a little shrug. “Could be any of them, I suppose.”
“Are you two telling secrets back there or what?” Joe asked from up ahead. “You keep falling farther and farther back.”
“We’re coming,” Matt called back as he picked up his pace and gave Millicent no choice but to keep up with him.
They quickly caught up with the others as they rounded the next corner. They could see the lights of Heaton House down the street.
“I hope Mrs. Heaton isn’t back yet. We don’t want her to wonder what’s in these bags!” Millicent said.
“Oh, right!” They all hurried the rest of the way, hoping they beat Mrs. Heaton back.
Millicent and Julia quickly took off their outer wraps and Matt and Joe hung them up while the women rushed upstairs with the photographs and supplies. Millicent breathed a sigh of relief when they came back down and entered the parlor, just as Mrs. Heaton came out of the kitchen.
She met them in the foyer. “Rebecca and Ben just dropped me off. She said you’d all had such a good time reminiscing about old times and new ones.”
“Oh, we did,” Millicent said. Mrs. Heaton must have arrived home about the time they did, but thankfully, she seemed to have no clue of what they were up to.
“She also said she thought you might get together more often,” Mrs. Heaton said. “Happy as they all are in their married state, I do believe they miss everyone. I assured her and Michael I’ll gladly do babysitting duty anytime.”
Her eyes were shining so, Millicent was certain she was telling the truth and she was very happy that Rebecca had paved the way for more album parties. But they needed to find a way to get the supplies out of the house and back in without Mrs. Heaton knowing what they were doing.
Chapter Thirteen
Millicent wanted to go look at possible places for her shop on Sunday afternoon but it was very breezy, and instead, she stayed in and developed the photographs she and Julia had taken. And Julia was right. Millicent loved the photo she’d taken of her and Matt. She gazed at it again. They both appeared happy. What was the photograph they’d been studying so intently when she took it?
Then she remembered. Matt had just pulled it out of the pile. It was one taken when they went skating at Central Park. They’d looked happy that day. But then he’d pulled out another one that had been snapped at the park and it appeared they’d been sparring as they still did, though mostly during those first few months after they’d moved in. Matt wore a teasing expression and grin on his face and from the height of her eyebrow, he’d said something she didn’t like and she’d responded in kind with whatever it was he’d said.
That man. What was it about Matt that could both irritate her one moment and turn her heart to mush the next? And make her pulse gallop and her heart hammer all at the same time?
Millicent sighed and glanced at the photo once more before shaking her head and taking the others down from where she’d hung them to dry. She couldn’t let herself think about any of that now. It would only serve to feed her longing for things to be different.
But she hadn’t changed. She was still independent, wanted the vote and to set up her own shop. All things men did not want in a wife. And she was pretty sure that Matt was no different.
She gathered her photos together and took them down to her room, where later she’d write comments on the party and what everyone was doing.
Right now, it was teatime and she hurried down to join Mrs. Heaton and the others, who were sure to be in the parlor enjoying a cup.
They heard the front door open and Matt and Joe peeked into the parlor. “Ah, teatime. Any chance there’s enough left for us?”
“There’s always enough. But I’ll have Gretchen bring in a fresh pot, unless you men would rather have coffee?”
“Well, now you mention it, I wouldn’t mind having a cup of coffee,” Matt said.
“Neither would I,” Joe added. Mrs. Heaton headed for the kitchen and the men joined them in the parlor.
“Is it still breezy out?” Millicent asked.
“Yes. Not too bad at the moment, but the papers have said we might be in for an Atlantic storm sometime in the week,” Matt said. “I hope not. It’s not fun when it’s windy on the floor we’re working on. There’s nothing to block it and if it gets too bad we’ll probably be ordered to leave work.”
Millicent’s heart seemed to stop for a moment at Matt’s words of being ordered to leave. She’d never thought how windy it could get on the top of a skyscraper. A shiver coursed down her spine at the thought of what that might mean for
the men working near the edge. But Matt grinned at her as he took a seat and her heartbeat returned to normal.
“Will you have to work tomorrow?” she asked.
“If the wind gets worse, probably not. But they’ll let us know tonight or in the morning.”
“Do those inside work when the winds are bad?”
“Depends. If the windows are in place, the inside work can usually continue. And if there’s a lot to do, those of us on top just work on the lower floors, helping where we’re needed, but if there’s not that much to do, we don’t work.”
“And you don’t get paid if you don’t go in, right?” Joe asked.
“Right. But that’s why we work when we can on Saturdays. This time of year especially, one never knows what the weather will bring.”
Millicent felt that shiver of apprehension again. She hoped that storm out in the Atlantic stayed there.
*
The next week the papers were full of dire predictions of a severe storm hitting the East Coast and everyone seemed on edge. Matt worked each day but the consensus seemed to be that the winds would pick up over the weekend and shipping companies were warned to keep their ships in harbor.
“It’s not too bad up top,” Matt said on Thursday. “But the boss said to tell you and John and Elizabeth not to come tomorrow. Hopefully, things will be better next week.”
“If it’s bad enough that we can’t go, will you have to work tomorrow?”
“I won’t know until tomorrow,” Matt said. “But the boss is just being cautious.”
Millicent only nodded, while she prayed Matt wouldn’t have to work the next day.
But as it was only breezy the next morning, Matt did work and the group gathered to go to the suffrage meeting as planned on Friday evening. Although Matt wasn’t really looking forward to it, he’d decided it might be a good distraction from all the talk about the weather.
Mrs. Heaton had called for an omnibus to take them all to the meeting and he was a bit surprised to find that Kathleen and Luke, along with Elizabeth and John, were accompanying them, too.
“I didn’t know you were interested in this movement, Luke,” Joe said.
“I’m going mostly because my wife is. She wants the vote and I certainly can’t say I don’t think she should have it. Kathleen is one of the smartest women I know.”
“And I suppose you’re covering it for the paper, John?” Matt asked.
“Well, I might write an article about it,” John said. “But no, I’m going because my wife wants to go. Her aunt Bea, who is now her stepmother, and her father will be there, but I don’t want her going without me. These meetings can get heated at times and this one is at night. But the big question is, why are you men going?”
“Mrs. Heaton convinced us that it might be something we should know more about before we get all steamed up about it and, well, she made sense. Besides, with it being at night, we didn’t want the ladies out by themselves for the same reason you’re with your wife. It could be too dangerous,” Matt said.
They were let off at the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Alfred White. It was an affluent part of the city and Matt hurried to help Mrs. Heaton and then Millicent down from the omnibus. The architecture of the home told him it’d been built by the best craftsmen around, and he couldn’t wait to see the inside. They were all greeted by the butler and then directed to a ballroom. The woodwork and inside finishes were exquisite and Matt knew right away that the Whites must be quite wealthy.
As they entered the huge room filled with chairs, Matt was quite surprised by the turnout and so, apparently, were the other men. “My goodness, this is where wealthy and poor come together, it seems.”
“Yes, it does.” John turned to his wife, who was pulling at his jacket sleeve.
“There is Aunt Bea and Papa, over there.” She pointed to the side of the room and waved. “They said they would save seats for us all.”
The group hurried over to where Elizabeth’s family had indeed saved them seats and as everyone settled down, a woman came to a built-up stage of sorts and began to speak.
“My husband and I welcome you to our home. I’m so pleased at the turnout tonight. I want to introduce you all to Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery, who will be speaking to us tonight about working to get women the vote.”
A nicely dressed woman stepped up onto the platform and turned to Mrs. White. “Thank you and your husband for opening your home for this event and for your support in our endeavor, Mrs. White.”
Then she turned to the audience and smiled. “And thank you all for being here. It is such an encouragement to us working to get the vote for women. Many of you are new to these meetings and many of you have been coming to them for quite a while now, not giving up, bringing others, getting the word out that we must never quit in our goal of attaining a woman’s right to vote!”
Matt sat up a bit straighter and sighed. He hoped this woman didn’t begin a tirade about how men kept women under their thumbs and it was time to fight.
“For those of you who have daughters, wives, mothers and sisters who’ve had no voice in what our government does, the time to help them is now,” Mrs. Avery said imploringly. “We don’t want to take the vote away from men, but we do want it for ourselves. Is that so terribly wrong? I don’t think so and I don’t think you do, either.”
Matt felt as if she were speaking directly to him as he thought about his mother and his sisters. He glanced at Millicent, who seemed to be hanging on to every word, as were the other women from Heaton House. Would it really be so bad if they had a say in how they were governed? What if they had the vote and men didn’t?
Whoa! Where did that come from? He’d never really given much thought to it.
“For you men out there. What if the women you love and care about have no one to take their interests to heart, or lost the man who did?”
She had his complete attention now. He’d never, ever thought about things in that way. By the time the meeting ended, Matt was overwhelmed with all that he’d never considered. And a bit ashamed that he hadn’t.
He waited with Joe and Stephen while the women of Heaton House hurried to meet the woman who’d just given the men of Heaton House much to think about.
*
When they arrived back at the boardinghouse after dropping off the married couples, Mrs. Heaton asked for hot chocolate to be brought in, and as they waited for it, Matt actually apologized for being so judgmental without ever going to a meeting.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about all this. I’ve heard many of these groups want to fight for other rights I’m not in favor of at all, but I heard nothing about that tonight.”
“You’re right, Matt. There are other groups wanting rights for all manner of things,” Millicent said. “But the most important one in our opinion is getting the right to vote.”
“Well, this meeting certainly gave us much to think about,” Joe said.
“Then it was worth your time, wasn’t it?” Mrs. Heaton asked.
“I believe so,” Matt conceded.
Their landlady was one smart woman and Millicent appreciated her more every day.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to keep quiet about going to the meetings any longer,” Emily said, making everyone chuckle.
“So are we all,” Julia said.
“We are sorry about that, aren’t we?” Matt turned to Joe and Stephen.
“Yes. We didn’t realize we were being so hard on you all. But we’ll be better from now on.”
“That’s all we want—for you to have an open mind when we bring these things up. That’s not too much to ask, is it?” Millicent asked.
“No, it’s not. And we do want to know when you go to the meetings. Sometimes there is trouble at them and it wouldn’t hurt for us to be with you, if that ever happens,” Matt said. “Will you agree to tell us?”
Millicent looked him in the eye. “I will.”
He grinned. “Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
She smiled back at him. It truly was a relief not to have to keep the fact that they attended the meetings secret any longer.
Chapter Fourteen
The weekend was quite enjoyable in spite of storm warnings for the area. Matt did work on Saturday and reported that the winds seemed to be picking up and ships were staying put. But they all stayed in that evening and enjoyed a good meal after Mrs. Heaton asked Matt to say the blessing.
He prayed for those at sea to get to shore before the storms hit and for there not to be too much damage. After dinner they retired to the parlor and Julia played the piano while they sang along. At least it helped drown out the gusts of wind that hit the windows from time to time.
On Sunday, the wind forced them to take the trolley the few blocks instead of walking to church. There, the minister prayed about the weather and asked the Lord to keep everyone safe.
It was a bit calmer out when they left church and they decided to walk, but by the time they got back to Heaton House for Sunday dinner, it’d picked up again. Still, it was hard to believe there was a huge storm only a day or so away.
Monday morning the winds were no worse than the day before and Millicent began to hope that the forecasters had been wrong all along. She and Georgia spent most of the day working on Mrs. Heaton’s album and after lunch they made a quick trip to Macy’s for more supplies. But the winds had picked up by the time they got back to Heaton House and they were both glad they’d made it in time for tea.
“Oh, I’m glad you girls are back. It’s getting bad out there,” Mrs. Heaton said. “Michael telephoned a short time ago and said he’d heard we were in for several days of really bad weather.”
“Is there anything we should be doing?” Georgia asked.
“If it gets too bad, we’ll close the outside shutters, but I think we’re fine tucked in here in Gramercy Park. Those living right on the coast might have some problems, though. I think we should pray and trust the Lord to get us all through.”