by Jen Turano
Knowing there was nothing to do but step in to a situation that was certain to get worse if he didn’t, Everett cleared his throat but was spared any type of response when they were suddenly joined by an entire group of ladies and gentlemen, all of whom were dressed in fashionable outfits suitable for summering in Newport. Leading that group was none other than a smiling Caroline, but her smile lost almost all of its warmth when she shifted her gaze away from him and settled it on the children.
“Goodness, Everett, this is a lovely surprise, seeing the children with you here at the Newport Casino,” she finally said as her face began to take on a telling tinge of pink.
“I was just about to see them back to the cab,” Everett said as he stepped up to Caroline, took her hand, and brought her gloved fingers to his lips. Before he could explain further, though, Millie was edging around him.
“Miss Dixon,” Millie exclaimed as she smiled brightly Caroline’s way. “I don’t know if you remember me, but we were both in attendance at Mrs. Hart’s ball a month back, although I was there in the capacity of a maid, while you were, of course, a cherished guest.” The brightness of Millie’s smile edged up another notch, showing a great deal of teeth. “I’m Miss Millie Longfellow, Miss Harriet Peabody’s friend.”
Caroline sucked in a sharp breath before she snatched her hand away from him. “You hired Miss Longfellow?”
Everett frowned. “I know I must have mentioned that to you.”
“No, you didn’t.” Caroline stepped closer to him, and lowered her voice. “What could you have been thinking? All of our friends have heard of Miss Longfellow and her radical behavior around children. Hiring her on is certain to bring us additional censure from our peers.”
A trace of temper sliced through him. “If memory serves me correctly, I did tell you that the only option available was not exactly suitable, but you insisted I go out and hire that option.”
“I wouldn’t have done so if I’d known we were speaking about Miss Longfellow,” Caroline hissed back at him.
“I am still standing right here, listening to the two of you disparage my character, and that means belittle if either of you didn’t know,” Millie said.
Caroline drew herself up and seemed just about ready to explode, until she glanced around at the crowd watching her. She smiled at their friends and then returned her attention to Millie. “May I hope you’re enjoying the privilege of being here at the Newport Casino?”
“It’s lovely, though Mr. Mulberry has yet to finish telling me the history of the place.”
“There’s not much of a history since the Casino has only been around for a year,” a voice said from the crowd.
Everett refused to groan when a lady by the name of Miss Gertrude Rathbone, one of Caroline’s dearest friends, stepped forward and began strolling in their direction. She came to a stop directly in front of Millie. “I don’t believe we’ve ever been introduced.”
“She’s just the nanny, Gertrude,” Caroline snapped, right as Millie dipped into another curtsy, although if Everett wasn’t much mistaken, she’d added a bit of attitude to the whole curtsying business.
“I’m Miss Millie Longfellow,” Millie said in a remarkably loud voice, which had the crowd now gathered around them falling silent.
“Wonderful,” another lady said as she hurried forward, edging Gertrude out of the way so she could stand in front of Millie. “I’m Miss Nora Niesen, and I’ve heard the most delightful stories about you, Miss Longfellow. I’m Miss Dixon’s companion, by the way, although I’m not a true companion, since I don’t get paid. I’m more like a last resort Caroline had to make do with when her last companion left. However, that has nothing to do with you, and since I’m dying to ask you some questions, since I know rumors can be a little unreliable, tell me . . . did you really get set upon by Mrs. Wilson’s goats?”
Millie grinned, and before Everett knew it, the two women began chatting about everything under the sun, acting as if they’d been the best of friends for years.
“This is an interesting turn of events,” Gertrude purred as she linked her arm with Caroline’s and sent Everett an arch of a brow. “Interesting employees you’re taking on these days.”
“Good help is difficult to find,” Caroline said. “And if I’d have known exactly who Everett was—”
“Aren’t you and Gertrude, along with Nora, supposed to play tennis soon?” Everett interrupted, not particularly caring to listen to Caroline disparage, as Millie would have said, Millie’s character.
Caroline’s toe started tapping against the well-manicured lawn. “We can’t play. Birdie Taylor broke her leg two days ago, and because of that, she’s refusing to participate.”
Everett’s lips began to curl. Before he could point out that he highly doubted Birdie had broken her leg on purpose, or that she’d be much use on the court with a leg in a cast, Dudley, who’d not spoken a word since Caroline had shown up on the scene, cleared his throat. “I’m sure you’re very disappointed over the inability to play tennis today, Caroline, but perhaps Everett can suggest something we can do instead to ease that disappointment.” He arched a brow Everett’s way.
“Well, as to that, I’m sure I can come up with something,” Everett said slowly, a little confused as to why Dudley was stepping in. “But, before I address that, I really do need to get the children on their way to Seaview.”
“Not until you tell me the history of this Newport Casino,” Millie said, speaking up before she, oddly enough, began inching away from Nora. She stopped inching a moment later and jerked her head ever so slightly to the right.
Directing his attention that way, he spotted Elizabeth, Rosetta, and Thaddeus, all lined up in a row, and all of them standing in front of balls that seemed to be aimed directly at Caroline. Giving them a small shake of his head, he couldn’t claim to be exactly surprised when the children pretended they didn’t see him.
“Of course, I did promise you a history lesson, didn’t I, and ah, well, that Mr. Bennett I mentioned before was, ah . . .” He started moving as casually as he could to stand beside Millie, hoping that presenting the children with his back wasn’t another bad choice he was making today. “He was the respected owner of the New York Herald, and he had this friend by the name of . . .” The sound of what clearly had to be a mallet swinging behind him distracted Everett for a second, but luckily, the someone swinging that mallet seemingly missed the ball.
“Captain Candy,” Nora finished for him even as she craned her neck and tried to see around him.
Everett shifted a little to the left. “That’s right, and Mr. Bennett invited this Captain Candy to join him at the Reading Room, where he then encouraged the captain to ride his horse up the steps and right into the building as a bit of a lark.”
“You know, maybe this really isn’t the best story to tell right now, especially with these particular children standing behind us,” Millie mumbled. “It might just give them ideas.”
Glancing back to the children, Everett noticed that all three of them seemed to be tilting their little ears his way. “Clearly it was a mistake, but they might find the ending of the story interesting.”
“Does Captain Candy fall off his horse and suffer a horrible injury?” Elizabeth asked.
Everett frowned. “No, he simply got himself banned from the Reading Room, and that annoyed Mr. Bennett, which had him building the Newport Casino.” He nodded. “That is why one should not ride a horse into a club, house, or anywhere else a horse doesn’t belong.”
“But since riding a horse got this new club built, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea,” Elizabeth said before she squinted her eyes and then moved the croquet ball a few inches to the right, once again putting it directly in a path with . . . Caroline.
“Elizabeth . . . you don’t want to do that,” he said quietly.
“She doesn’t want to do what?” Nora asked, appearing right beside him, where she promptly glanced to Elizabeth, then to Rosetta and Thaddeus
who were now positioning their balls just so. Spinning around, Nora spread her arms out wide as if that could possibly add more protection.
“I’ve just had the most marvelous idea,” Nora chirped. “Since we were so looking forward to playing tennis, but Birdie let us down by breaking her leg . . .” She nodded at Millie. “Do you happen to play, Miss Longfellow?”
“Ah, well . . .” Millie began.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Nora,” Caroline interrupted. “Of course Miss Longfellow doesn’t play tennis, and it’s not well done of you to embarrass the poor dear in front of all these people.”
From the second Millie lifted her nose into the air, to the moment she opened her mouth, Everett knew disaster was about to strike Newport.
“I’ve played tennis before, Miss Dixon. A previous employer of mine had two sons who loved the game and always needed someone to practice with.” She shook her head. “I certainly couldn’t keep up with them, but they did teach me the basics. So, if you still want to play a match, I’d be willing to fill in for that Birdie lady.”
“Her name is Miss Taylor, but . . .” Caroline stopped talking, looked around at the crowd, who all seemed to be highly amused, and then looked back to Millie before she . . . smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, not one filled with amusement, and it did not bode well for Millie. “If you’re certain you want to play, who am I to deny you the treat of playing tennis at the Casino?” She shifted her attention to Nora. “Since this was your idea, Miss Longfellow can be on your team.”
As Everett opened his mouth to voice his opposition to what was clearly a very bad idea, Nora linked her arm though Millie’s and began strolling away. Caroline and Gertrude fell into step behind them, and before Everett realized it, he’d lost the opportunity to protest.
“We’re just off to get our racquets,” Caroline tossed over her shoulder. “We’ll be on the court in less than five minutes if any of you care to watch the match.”
Determined to stop the madness, or at least stop the crowd that had begun moving toward the tennis courts, Everett started forward. But he came to an immediate stop when a croquet ball went whizzing past him, missing him by no more than an inch. Turning, he leveled a glare on Elizabeth, who leveled a glare right back at him.
“Why did you and Miss Longfellow have to go and stand in front of us?” she demanded.
“Because it’s never acceptable to try to hit someone with a croquet ball, or any type of ball, for that matter, as you very well know.” Everett moved closer to her. “And furthermore, your poor judgment, and the fact you talked your little brother and sister into joining you, has just earned you a bit of punishment, such as an afternoon spent in your room at Seaview.”
“That’s hardly fair,” Elizabeth said.
“And this is hardly the moment for additional dramatics, although it’s encouraging to see you take a firmer line with them, dear,” Abigail said, bustling up to Everett, her face pink and her expression troubled. She immediately took hold of his arm. “Thank goodness I was getting overly warm in the hansom cab and got out to cool off, or else I wouldn’t have heard about the disaster that’s about to occur.”
“It’s only tennis,” he said as Abigail began prodding him forward.
“It’s not, and you should realize that,” she countered. “I do wish we hadn’t sent that wagon on ahead with all of our trunks, though. I packed the most adorable white lawn gown in one of those trunks for Millie, and it would have been perfect for this occasion.”
“I’ve never gotten the impression Millie’s exactly keen about fashion.”
“Oh, she’s not keen about fashion at all, which is why I’ve had to step in, but . . . no need to delve further into that. She has enough on her mind at the moment, poor dear, without wondering exactly how I’ve stepped in, and she’ll see for herself once . . . Well, again, this is hardly the time to talk nonsense. It is a shame she has to play in that hideous skirt and blouse, though, with an apron on no less. I’m afraid people might laugh at her.”
“I think that man was laughing at my dress, and I didn’t like that at all,” Thaddeus said, coming up beside Everett with Elizabeth and Rosetta right behind him. He pointed a little finger at Dudley’s retreating back. “He’s not a very nice man.” With that, Thaddeus slipped his hand into Everett’s and tilted his head back, catching Everett’s eye. “Are you mad at us for trying to conk Miss Dixon in the head with a croquet ball?”
“A bit, but we’ll discuss that at a later time. I’d much rather talk about your refusal to wear pants, and . . . when you think you might get over that refusal, which would probably lead to people not laughing at your choice of clothing in the future—not that Mr. Codman was in any way justified in doing that.”
Thaddeus began swinging Everett’s hand back and forth. “I can’t change back to wearing pants because I don’t have any pants anymore.” He looked a little smug. “I buried them back on Fifth Avenue.”
Everett slowed to a stop. “Why would you do that?”
“That’s what you do when you don’t want someone to find your things.”
Unable to keep from smiling over that odd bit of logic, Everett squeezed Thaddeus’s hand. “I suppose you do have a point, but . . . if you want to wear pants again, you should know that there are stores here in Newport that sell clothing for little boys. I’d be more than happy to purchase you whatever you want.”
When Thaddeus didn’t immediately agree to that idea, Everett didn’t bother to pursue it, knowing now was hardly the time to get into a debate with a five-year-old. Steering everyone around the Casino and over to the wooden stands that had been erected for the convenience of the guests, trepidation began to steal through him as those stands quickly began filling with what seemed to be every guest enjoying the Casino that day.
Numerous members of the staff rushed around setting up additional chairs to accommodate the overflow, and then servers appeared, handing out glasses of lemonade. After getting lemonade for the children and Abigail, Everett took a seat on the wooden bench and turned his attention to the lawn tennis court.
The crowd suddenly grew quiet when Millie, with Nora by her side, appeared on that court, swinging a racquet and looking downright cheerful, even if she did look completely out of place in her dark skirt, although she had taken off her apron. She’d also done something to shorten her hem, showing ankles clad in dark stockings, the sight of those ankles having his pulse, strangely enough, speed up. What made that circumstance seem even stranger still was that when Caroline walked onto the court, wearing the latest in fashionable tennis attire, she was also showing a bit of ankle, but the sight of her ankles didn’t seem to . . .
“This is going to be a nightmare,” Abigail said as she took a sip of her lemonade and shook her head rather sadly as she looked around.
Shoving all thoughts of ankles aside, Everett summoned up a smile. “Millie will be fine. She seems very adaptable, and she also seems to be a good sport.”
“I’m not actually that worried about Millie at the moment.”
Before he had a chance to process that statement, the ladies took their places, Caroline either not seeing his wave or deliberately ignoring it. Millie, on the other hand, was waving enthusiastically to the children, all of whom, surprisingly enough, were cheering for her—something that was no doubt irritating Caroline no small amount.
“I’ll serve first, shall I?” Caroline called across the net as she plucked a ball out of her pocket, stepped up to the line, and tossed it into the air, leaving Millie, who was supposed to be the recipient of the serve, barely any time to get ready.
All the breath seemed to leave him as the ball traveled rather slowly over the net. But then Millie drew back her racquet and . . . slammed the ball back Caroline’s way, the force of her swing completely unexpected given her small size. Before Caroline even moved, the ball shot past her.
“Was that out?” Caroline demanded, swinging around.
“It was in,” called a lady fro
m the stands.
Caroline spun to face Millie as Nora flashed a cheeky grin.
“Love-fifteen,” Nora called.
“I know how to keep score,” Caroline snapped back.
Unfortunately, the game did not get better for Caroline after that.
Millie had obviously not been exaggerating when she’d claimed she’d played tennis before, but it was clear that she hadn’t been playing with young boys. She was all over the court, hitting anything Caroline or Gertrude managed to get over the net, while Nora simply strolled back and forth, swinging her racquet, and at one point, whistling a jaunty tune.
When it was Millie’s turn to serve, matters turned downright concerning. Gertrude was the first to try and return Millie’s serve, but when the ball came rushing at her, she screamed, dropped her racquet, and ran the other way, earning a screech from Caroline until she seemed to recall that her turn was next.
“Give her a fast one, Miss Longfellow,” Thaddeus called.
Millie lowered her racquet to send Thaddeus another wave.
“Miss Longfellow, we are in the middle of a match here,” Caroline yelled across the net.
“Forgive me, Miss Dixon. You’re quite right.”
As if the world had suddenly slowed down, Everett watched as Millie threw the ball up, and then the racquet connected squarely with it, the thud of the connection reaching his ears. It began to move, and then the world sped up as the ball hurled at Caroline, and . . . smacked her right in the middle of the forehead, the impact knocking Caroline off her feet. Her skirt fluttered up, showing a bit of leg.
Millie immediately began running across the court. Darting around the net, she raced to Caroline’s side, and yanked Caroline’s skirt back over her legs.
Before Everett had a chance to see what Millie would do next, Abigail was tugging on his arm, and he realized he needed to act . . . the sooner the better.
By the time he got to Caroline, made certain she wasn’t seriously hurt, and on her feet, he knew he had to get Millie as far away as possible from her. Caroline was shaking with rage and muttering threats under her breath. Telling Caroline he’d be right back, he nodded to Millie, who was still trying to apologize to Caroline, even though Caroline was not acknowledging the apologies and was resolutely looking the opposite way from Millie.