(1988) The Golden Room (24 page)

‘Bruce and I will be going back to Kentucky. I’ll make up some story for Dad about the wedding being cancelled. He’ll believe me.’

‘You’ll find someone else,’ Minna assured her. ‘There are plenty of men in Kentucky -‘

‘There’s no one I want except Alan,’ Cathleen said. ‘If I can’t have Alan, I’d rather be a spinster.’

Minna made no further effort to placate her niece. She turned to her nephew. ‘What about you, Bruce?’

‘I’m a little luckier than Cathleen,’ he said. ‘From what I won at the Derby, I can go back to Kentucky and set up a breeding farm.’

‘No marital prospects?’ asked Minna.

‘No. I -‘

‘That’s not true,’ Cathleen broke in. She fixed her gaze on her brother. ‘Why don’t you tell Aunt Minna that you’re in love with Karen Grant -‘

‘With a prostitute?’ said Minna with a frown.

‘She’s not a prostitute,’ Bruce objected. ‘Karen Grant is Mayor Harrison’s secretary. She was sent to the Everleigh Club to get evidence of illegal activities. After she met me, she changed her mind about being a spy for the mayor.’

‘I see,’ said Minna slowly. ‘Are you considering marrying Karen?’

Bruce thought about it. ‘I’d like to. Yes, very much. Still, I won’t be that rich. And I don’t know how Karen would take to life on a Kentucky farm.’

‘Find out,’ said Minna. ‘Ask her.’

‘Maybe I will.’

Minna considered her niece and nephew. ‘When will you leave for Louisville?’

‘In a few days,’ said Bruce. ‘I have to arrange to ship Frontier out of Washington Park to Kentucky.’

‘Then you’ll need somewhere to stay after we’re closed down,’ said Minna. ‘Let me put my mind to it. I have a few matters to settle first. We’ll talk again late this afternoon. Meanwhile, better pack up.’

By three-fifteen that afternoon, all the Everleigh girls had assembled in the Moorish chamber and gathered about Minna and Aida.

Minna counted the twenty-seven of her girls.

When her eyes fixed on Karen Grant, Minna dismissed her. ‘You don’t belong here,’ Minna told Karen. ‘I know the truth. I can only say that I appreciate that you held back and are not responsible for what I’m about to announce. Go upstairs and keep Cathleen and Bruce company. I’ll get to you later.’

After Karen had exited, Minna directed her attention to the rest of the assembly.

‘I’ll make this short and bittersweet,’ Minna began. ‘Speaking on behalf of Aida and myself I must inform you that the Everleigh Club is no more. It is being shut down this evening - permanently, I gather - on the order of Mayor Harrison and Chief of Police O’Neill. This lovely place is being shuttered, and we’re all out of work.’

There were outcries of anguish from most of the girls, and several broke into tears.

‘I know, I know,’ Minna continued. ‘It’s terrible news. We’ve had good times, haven’t we? You’ve all been darlings.’

Feeling miserable as her girls, Minna found a gold-tipped, perfumed cigarette, lit it and began to puff nervously.

‘If the mayor says we must close, that settles it,’ she resumed. ‘He sent the chief of police last night to inform me. The closing order will be posted at six. Then Aida and I must go to jail, I hope only briefly. What the mayor and the chief say goes, as far as I am concerned. I’m not going to be angry about it either. I never was a complainer and nothing that the politicians and police of this town can do to me will change my disposition. I’ll close up shop and walk out of the place with a smile on my face.’

One girl called out, ‘What about us, Minna?’

‘There are plenty of other houses.’

‘Not like this one,’ the girl called back.

‘No, not like this one,’ Minna agreed. ‘I’m afraid there never will be one like the Everleigh Club. You all have a little money due you, enough to last a month or two. After you get it, I suggest that you clear out of the Levee entirely. It has nothing substantial to offer. The reformers have shut us down and within a few months they’ll get to the other houses. You’re young. Find a job, a husband, anything, but don’t depend on this life for a career. It’s washed up, as we used to say in the theatre. It’s done for, good and done for. We must all find different ways to live.’

Minna surveyed the room one last time.

‘Go back to your hotels or wherever you’re staying. Since you’re all paid up for the week, remain where you are until Edmund can come by and settle accounts with you on our behalf.’ She choked. ‘I’m going to miss you, every one of you, and I’m going to miss this comfortable place. I love you one and all. Good luck and goodbye from Minna and Aida Everleigh.’

Late in the afternoon, Minna sat alone in her study behind her empty desk and began to make phone calls to hotels in the area, trying to find two rooms, one for Bruce and one for Cathleen and Karen Grant, whose own boarding house apartment was still sublet.

During this process, her office door opened and Dr Herman Holmes entered looking bewildered. He took up a chair and drew it closer to Minna.

After Minna hung up the telephone receiver, Holmes said, ‘You wanted to see me. What’s going on here? All I see in the Club are piles of furniture and crates being filled. Are you moving?’

‘We’re moving somewhere, I don’t know where yet,’ Minna said. ‘Dr Holmes, we’re being shut down in less than an hour by the chief of police.’

He was plainly astonished. ‘You’re what?’

‘Being shut down,’ Minna repeated. ‘Aida and I are out of work. The girls are out of work. And you, Dr Holmes, are also out of work - at least for the Everleigh Club.’

Holmes was shocked. ‘What happened?’

Minna told him the details of her meeting with Chief of Police O’Neill last night.

‘So that’s it, I’m afraid,’ she concluded. ‘You’ve done well for us, and I’m sorry to lose you. I wanted to tell you so in person.’

‘Thanks, Minna.’

She picked up the telephone. ‘Now I’d better get back to calling hotels. They’re all completely full. I’ve found a small single room for my nephew Bruce. But I can’t find a double room for my niece Cathleen and her friend Karen. I’ll just keep—’

Dr Holmes was on his feet, about to leave, when he halted and turned around.

‘Minna, if you need a place for Cathleen, I’d be glad to provide one in my house. I have several spare bedrooms. Cathleen can come with me for as long as she needs a place to lay her head, and Karen Grant can come with her as her chaperon. How’s that?’

Minna jumped up, delighted. ‘That’s wonderful, Dr Holmes, and I’m grateful for your offer. You need only have them there a few days, until Cathleen goes back to Kentucky. I don’t know how to thank you enough.’

‘I’m happy to have them,’ said Dr Holmes with a smile. ‘If they’re here, I’ll collect them right now and take them to dinner. Then I can move them in with me tonight.’

By six-fifteen the following morning, the official reception committee appointed by Mayor Carter Harrison had crowded on to the platform at Union Station to greet the arrival of Prince Henry of Prussia from New York.

At the forefront of the twelve distinguished citizens gathered to receive the prince was Mayor Carter Harrison, flanked on either side by Ex-Mayor C. P. Walbridge, President of the Business Men’s League, and Potter Palmer, head of The Palmer House, Chicago’s leading hotel. Immediately behind the mayor and waiting nervously stood Harold T. Armbruster. Off to one side were a dozen newspapermen and photographers, the most eager among them young Chet Foley of the Chicago Tribune. This was his biggest assignment yet.

It was fifteen minutes before the prince’s arrival, and Foley decided to take advantage of the time by getting the best story of the day. Breaking the confines of the press section, Foley stepped brashly out of line and approached Mayor Harrison.

‘Your Honour,’ Foley said, ‘I’m Chet Foley of the Tribune, assigned to cover the arrival of Prince Henry. I want to do a full-length feature story, and I was hoping you could spare a few minutes to fill me in on some details.’

Mayor Harrison made it a point never to be too obvious about seeking publicity, but he did relish having it, especially on such a momentous occasion as this. In an agreeable mood, the mayor said, ‘I don’t know if I can be of much help, Mr Foley, but I’ll be glad to cooperate.’

‘I’ve been able to learn very little about Prince Henry,’ said Foley, ‘except that he is the only brother of Kaiser Wilhelm, and that he is the nominal head of Germany’s powerful navy.’

‘Quite true,’ said the mayor. ‘In fact, I’m told Prince Henry was trained to sail from his earliest youth. His father built him a nautical gymnasium in the Potsdam Palace garden. Masts were planted in sand and rigged with all the ropes of a real ship. As a boy he could go aloft every day, and he learned the feel of being on a ship.’

‘Fascinating,’ said Foley. ‘I understand that Prince Henry sailed the Kronprinz Wilhelm to New York on a naval matter.’

‘In a manner of speaking, yes. He came to New York to supervise the dedication of a yacht, the Meteor HI, which his brother the kaiser had ordered built.’

‘Was Prince Henry at the dedication?’

‘Certainly. After a brief stay in New York, where he attended the Metropolitan Opera House, he went to Washington, D.C., to pay his respects to President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House and assured the President that Germany had no designs on South America. He and the President attended the launching, and the President’s daughter Alice officially dedicated the ship.’

‘And momentarily he will be in Chicago.’

‘We’re very honoured to have him here,’ said the mayor. ‘Of his twelve-day visit to the United States, he is spending only a few of those days outside New York. He is giving us one full day in Chicago, staying overnight, and then returning east to board the Deutschland for his homeland.’ The mayor paused, and cocked his head. ‘I hear the train coming in now. I’d better get to my place.’

‘Thank you, Mayor,’ said Foley, retreating into the press circle.

Gradually the train from New York became visible, billowing steam as it loomed towards the platform and slowly grinding to a halt beside it.

Quickly two porters unrolled a red carpet, running it up to the exit of the private Pullman behind the engine. Mayor Harrison stepped on the far end of the carpet and waited.

A conductor unlatched the Pullman door from the inside, and stepped down to a stool in front of it. A half-dozen of the prince’s entourage began to emerge, one by one, all in uniform and braids.

The last figure to emerge was the tallest and most imposing, with flat hair parted in the middle, a full moustache, a thick but somewhat pointed beard, bedecked in a cape over a bemedalled and beribboned uniform. This was clearly Prince Henry of Prussia.

Mayor Harrison strode forward to welcome him warmly. After shaking hands, they walked along the red carpet and came to a halt before the members of the press.

Digging into a pocket for his brief speech, Mayor Harrison stated in a loud voice:

‘We are proud to welcome His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Prussia to Chicago as our city’s esteemed guest. His appearance plainly dissipates all the foolish and malicious assertions of political antagonism between Germany and the United States and of German plans to make inroads in the American sphere of influence, and instead thereof, strengthens and establishes feelings of mutual recognition and equality. We welcome Prince Henry as a prince of peace.’

The prince stated his appreciation and thanks. That done, the mayor drew Prince Henry aside to introduce him to the official reception committee.

Graciously, the prince shook hands with everyone. At the conclusion of the ceremony, before the mayor could introduce the prince to the eager Harold T. Armbruster, the prince fumbled inside his uniform for a sheet of paper.

Unfolding it, Prince Henry said, ‘About this schedule you prepared for me, for my stay in Chicago.’

The mayor nodded. ‘Yes, I have been awaiting your approval of it.’

The prince cleared his throat. ‘If I may suggest a few changes -‘

‘Of course, of course, Sir,’ the mayor said hastily, moving

the prince out of earshot of the press. ‘Anything can be rearranged to suit your wishes.’

‘For one thing, I would like to cancel all the daytime activities. I am exhausted, and I would like to rest for the banquet tonight.’

‘Splendid!’ exclaimed the mayor. ‘I will make excuses to your other hosts. Now, if I may, I’d like to introduce the gentleman who will host the banquet. Your Highness, let me introduce Mr Harold T. Armbruster.’

Shaking the meat-packer’s hand, the prince said, ‘How kind of you to invite me to your home. Much as I appreciate it, I have another entertainment in mind, and another place I’d like to have the banquet held.’

Armbruster was crestfallen, and the mayor surprised.

‘What do you have in mind, Your Highness?’ the mayor asked.

‘There is only one place I want to see in Chicago,’ Prince Henry stated. ‘I’ve heard throughout Europe, throughout the world, about this sight.’

‘What is it?’ the mayor wanted to know.

‘It’s the Everleigh Club,’ announced Prince Henry. ‘That is the one place I must see and enjoy tonight!’

Since the moment of Prince Henry’s stunning announcement on the Union Station platform, Mayor Harrison and Harold Armbruster had not had a chance to discuss the matter.

After escorting the prince to his suite at The Palmer House, the pair had gone on to City Hall, accompanied by several other members of the reception committee. Even in the elevator they had not had privacy.

Now, inside the mayor’s office, Harrison and Armbruster were alone at last.

The mayor had instructed his receptionist that he did not wish to be disturbed while he was meeting with Armbruster. He had promptly flopped into an easy chair as Armbruster settled on the sofa.

The two men stared at each other silently.

Armbruster broke the silence. ‘What do we do, Mayor?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘The only place he wants to spend the evening is in the Everleigh Club. How can we fete him there when there is no Everleigh Club to take him to?’

The mayor was silent again.