The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow (18 page)

Henry would be happy splashing his hand in the lagoon and rolling in the grass,
Charlotte thought.

“Perhaps the Electricity Building,” Emmaline said. “I hear they are displaying electric fans and even sewing machines. Little boys like inventions, don't they?”

“I think I read there are farm buildings and animals,” Charlotte ventured. “He . . . Teddy . . . might like that.” She choked on the name.

“That's a wonderful idea. Let's find the animals.”

They did find animals, and Henry was mesmerized. Charlotte knew he had seen the occasional stray mutt or tomcat in Mrs. Given's neighborhood, but the range of farm and
exotic animals on display had him pointing and squealing for two hours. Sarah held him up to stroke the cow and the baby lamb, and at the caged wild animal exhibit, Sarah held him and pointed and called each lion and tiger and cougar by name. Charlotte did not take her eyes off the girl. Whatever Emmaline's reasons for thinking Sarah deserved another chance, Charlotte remained skeptical. Finally, the little boy sank into his buggy, exhausted. They slowed their pace to allow him a nap. Now Sarah was walking in front, pushing the buggy, with Violet and Emmaline behind her.

When Charlotte ventured a glance at Archie's face, she found him smiling at her. “What are you looking so silly about?”

“You are at a world's fair,” he said, “yet you seem determined not to enjoy yourself! I intend to do something about that.”

She sighed, and a hesitant smile emerged. “It's all a bit overwhelming.” She was surprised Archie was speaking to her at all, after her rebuff of the evening before.

“Wait until we go on the Ferris wheel.” Archie rubbed his palms together in a quick swishing movement.

“I can't possibly go up,” she said flatly.

“You must! You'll never experience anything like it.”

She shook her head. “I don't care. I don't trust that thing.”

“You won't know if you don't try.”

She turned away from him then, determined to keep her feet on the ground for the rest of the day.

When it was time for lunch, Emmaline insisted they go into the New England Clam Bake Restaurant near the lakefront, where she could sit down and be served clam chowder, baked beans, and pumpkin pie.

“Teddy's still sleeping,” Emmaline said. “Perhaps you can
find a place in the shade to sit with him. Violet and I will send some food out as soon as we're seated.”

Violet and Emmaline entered the restaurant. Sarah put on her best nanny face and took charge of the buggy, walking with such resolve to a small outdoor table that Archie and Charlotte had little option but to follow her.

Charlotte was grateful to be sitting down, though the sun's glare made her squint. She allowed herself to sip on a cold iced tea while they waited for their food. Sarah was gently jiggling the buggy in the absence of conversation.

Suddenly Charlotte stood up. Had it been a passing blur, or had she seen him? She took a few quick steps along the walkway toward the lakefront, examining every direction. When she felt the touch on her shoulder, she spun around, breathless.

“Charlotte, what's wrong?” Archie asked, scanning her face.

She looked back over her shoulder. He was gone again—if he had ever been there in the glare. Perhaps she only thought she saw him. Surely it was just someone with a similar appearance passing in the throng.

“Something caught my eye.” Charlotte shook her head. “I thought . . . it's nothing. Let's sit down.”

“Yes, let's sit,” he said, “and discuss how extraordinary it will be to go up in the Ferris wheel.”

She laughed nervously. “You're not going to give up, are you?”

And he did not give up. At every opportunity, he expounded on the science and safety of the Ferris wheel. At the end of the day, when they had to walk back through the Midway to meet Karl with the carriage, the moment came. By then they
had walked all around the Court of Honor, ducking in and out of the glimmering white buildings. Despite the length of the line for the Ferris wheel, Emmaline insisted they should all go up and sent Archie to purchase the tickets. They stood together in the snaking line. Charlotte inched forward with the others, every moment taking her closer to terror. Clearly Miss Emmaline expected the group to enjoy the attraction together. Even Violet Newcomb seemed eager for the experience. Archie nudged Charlotte's elbow a couple of times, no doubt intending encouragement.

She could not do it. At the last minute, Charlotte stepped out of line with the buggy.

“The baby is sleeping,” Charlotte pleaded. It was true that he had dropped off again during the long wait. “We shouldn't wake him to take him. He's had such a stimulating day. If he becomes upset on the Ferris wheel, he'll disturb everyone in the car.”

She held her breath while Emmaline considered.

“She has a point,” Violet said. “The baby is worn out already.”

“I suppose you're right,” Emmaline said at last. “Taking him might not be the wisest thing.”

“The rest of you go,” Charlotte urged. “I'll stay down here with the buggy and wait for you. Wave to me from the top.”

“I thought I had you persuaded,” Archie whispered.

“I'm sorry, Archie, I just can't.” Charlotte took a further step back. “I can't make myself get on that platform.”

Sarah pushed forward, fearless. “Come on, Archie.”

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief as Emmaline, Violet, Archie, and Sarah took their places in one of the cars. Emmaline and Violet found seats among the twisted wire chairs
while Archie and Sarah drifted to one end of the car and stood together in the crowd. With riders boarding from six separate platforms into cars that held sixty people each, more than two thousand people could brave the wheel at one time. Charlotte simply could not be one of them. She rocked the buggy with gentle rhythm as she observed the process. The car she watched shifted with each turn of the wheel until finally all the cars carried their load. As the wheel began nine minutes of revolution without stopping, Charlotte inspected the machinery supporting the movement. Even if she understood the engineering and physics of the wheel, it would not make any difference. She could never get on such a machine and be lifted so far off the ground, dangling in a box with nothing solid beneath her. Archie could pester all he wanted. She could not do it.

The profile crossed her vision again—the third time today. But this time he turned his face, and she saw the sneer was still there. His eyes caught hers.

Lathan Landers was in Chicago.

 19 

B
risk air filled her lungs in a welcome sensation, the sun not yet up but its luminous pink promise rising on Prairie Avenue. With the staff breakfast well in hand, Charlotte stole a few minutes to slip outside to the courtyard and wait for the day to overwhelm the shadows. She had perhaps an hour before Henry would awake and clamor for his oatmeal.

The excursion of the day before had left her sleepless and rattled. She passed much of the night sitting on the floor of the little room where her son slept, watching his chest move up and down. In the somber darkness, in the deepest watch of the night, she made up her mind. Now she had to make peace with her decision, and for that she had come outside, wrapping around her shoulders a cloak Lucy Banning Edwards had given her as a brace against the cold bite of predawn October air. She sat on a ledge—the one Henry had fallen from—and closed her eyes, whether in fear or prayer she was not sure.

Warmth beside her made her open her eyes. “Archie, what are you doing out here this early?”

“I might ask you the same thing.” He settled in beside her.

“I just wanted some air,” she said softly, “before the day gets underway.”

He leaned against her and nudged her shoulder in his familiar gesture. “I don't believe you.”

She looked at him squarely. “I don't care.”

He hoisted himself off the ledge to stand in front of her perch. With an arm on either side of her against the brick, he blocked her in. “Charlotte, you're not telling me something important, and I want to know what it is.”

“You know very little about me that is of any importance,” she said.

“That's true. But I know
you
. I've been watching you long enough to know that in the last few weeks, something has frightened you. I want you to tell me what it is so I can help you.”

She tried to look past his brown eyes to the view over his shoulder, but he ducked and bobbed his head until she had no choice but to let him look into her eyes.

Archie took her chin in one hand and leaned toward her. “You don't have to be alone,” he whispered before kissing her.

Her hands moved to his chest to push him away. “Archie, no.”

“No one is around to see,” he assured her. “We can have this moment.” He leaned toward her again.

“No, we can't.” She pushed against him. “It's so much more complicated than you imagine.”

He stepped back at last but wrapped his fingers around her hands. “Then explain it to me, Charlotte. Just tell me.”

She shook her head. “I can't.”

“Yes, you can. It's ripping you up—whatever it is. I saw how jumpy you were yesterday at the fair. When we were up
on the Ferris wheel, I saw you. Sarah and I looked for you to wave. Something frightened you, and you suddenly picked up a sleeping baby who was perfectly happy where he was. Even Sarah made a comment.”

“Archie, please.”

He moved not an inch.

“Trust me,” she mumbled, “it's better if you don't know.”

“Trust
me
,” he replied quickly. “Trust me, Charlotte. Tell me why you cannot return my affection.”

She lost herself in his steadfast eyes searching and pleading. His grasp felt different this time. He was not about to let go of hand nor eyes. At last she found a whisper. “Because I have a husband.”

His eyes clouded. “But—”

“I know,” she said, still whispering. “It's unthinkable, and Mr. Penard would never have taken me on if he knew the truth.”

He squeezed her hand. “But Miss Lucy knows, doesn't she? Is that what I see between the two of you?”

Charlotte shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. “She doesn't know about my husband. Not exactly.”

“Something else?”

Silence bore down on them.

“I have a baby,” she finally said.

Archie drew a deep breath. “Teddy.”

Charlotte nodded again. “His name is Henry, not Teddy. His birthday is September 20, not October 9.”

“That certainly explains a lot of things,” Archie said. “I knew that child had a hold on you. I just never guessed anything like this.”

“Miss Lucy discovered him when I first got here. He was
a newborn then. I was ready to go before there was any fuss, but she said she wanted to help.”

“I remember. You had just gotten here, and all of a sudden she needed a ladies' maid to sleep in her suite. You had a newborn in the Banning house under Mr. Penard's nose and he never suspected!”

“Henry was very small and never cried. He was no trouble.”

Archie chuckled softly.

Charlotte straightened her back. She failed to see what was so amusing.

“It seems to me you've already lived through the worst,” Archie said. “That was wildly brave, Charlotte.”

“I didn't have a choice. I had to earn some money before I could put him out to board.”

“And Lucy?”

“She used her connections at the orphanage and helped me find a woman to board him with.”

“When Lucy Banning puts her mind to something, she's thorough,” Archie said. “Mr. Leo and I looked through all those records ourselves. We found nothing that remotely resembled your son.”

“I never knew what arrangement she made,” Charlotte admitted. “She assured me the expense was taken care of, but whenever I could, I left a little extra for Mrs. Given myself.”

“Mary Given,” Archie muttered, “the woman with the twins.”

Charlotte's eyes widened. “Yes, she was taking care of twins until they turned two years old a few months ago.”

Archie nodded. “We found that in the record. But there was nothing to trace Teddy—Henry—to Mrs. Given. Miss Lucy must have been taking care of the boarding cost herself.”

“Honestly, I had no idea. I don't know how I'll ever repay her.”

“I can't imagine she would accept repayment. But how did the baby end up here?”

“Mrs. Given had a family emergency and had to go to Omaha. She just showed up with him two days before the family came home from the lake and said she had to catch a train. Right there.” Charlotte pointed to the spot in the courtyard where the sheets had flapped in the wind that day. “Then Sarah found me sitting there with him a minute later. I didn't know what to do!”

“And everyone jumped to conclusions about the baby left for Lucy.”

Charlotte lifted her shoulders in a slow shrug. “It seemed like I was being given some time to figure out what to do. If I said he was mine—”

“Penard would have put you out immediately.”

She nodded as she squinted into the rising sun. “Even if Miss Lucy were here, I'm not sure she could have influenced him under such extreme circumstances.”

“She might take you on at her own home when she sets up housekeeping.”

“I hope so, but that's months away. And what am I to do with Henry until then? I can't bear the thought of putting him in the orphanage. They do wonderful work, but he's so little, and it's so big.”

Archie exhaled heavily and leaned back against the wall. “They still want to send him to that cousin in Greenville, you know.”

“No! He's not going to Greenville.”

“Because it is so far? Or because it holds some danger?”

She nodded. “Too close to home. Henry is going as far away from there as possible.”

“You're taking him away?” Archie asked. “Where will you go?”

Charlotte shook her head. “I'm not taking him away. I'm
sending
him away. I made up my mind last night. I'm going to help Miss Emmaline take him to New Hampshire.”

“What!” Archie's dark eyes flashed. “You can't give your son away.”

“It's the best thing for him.”

“You're his mother. You're the best thing for him.”

She shook her head again, emphatically. “I can't keep him safe. Yesterday proved that.”

“You saw something at the fair.”

She nodded. “His father.”

“Your husband.”

Tears began afresh. “He is
nothing
of what a husband should be.”

“But you are legally bound to him.”

“Not of my own will, but legally, yes.” Charlotte nodded. “It seemed as if every time I turned around, there he was. And I received this a few weeks ago.” She reached into her pocket for the note she always carried for several weeks now and handed it to Archie.

Archie unfolded the paper and held it up in the brightening sky. He read it quickly, then crunched it in his fist.

“He was here, Archie,” Charlotte said, “on Prairie Avenue. He gave that note to Lina and asked after me using my married name. I saw him yesterday, and he saw me.”

“Hundreds of thousands of people were at the fair yesterday,” Archie said calmly. “Maybe it wasn't him.”

“It was him, Archie. He saw me taking care of a baby, and he knows I'm on this street.”

“Why has he not come looking for you again, then?”

Charlotte shook her head. “Even he wouldn't just come to the front door and ask for me, and I hardly leave the house.”

“That much is true.”

“He's a patient man if it means getting what he wants. I can't take the chance that what he wants is Henry.”

“Have you absolutely nowhere you could take Henry?”

“No. I never thought he would find me here, and he has.”

“It's a fluke. The fair has brought so many people to Chicago.”

She shook her head. “I will
not
hand Henry over to him. And I can't keep Henry safe anymore. Even if I thought he were safe somewhere else, I can't provide for him on my own. He has to go with Miss Emmaline.”

“Charlotte, no, don't do this,” Archie pleaded softly. “You've told me now. You're not alone any longer. Let me help.”

“I'm a married woman with another man's child.” Charlotte whispered words she hated to speak. “Why should you want to help me?”

“Because I care for you, Charlotte Farrow. And this man does not sound like someone I should encourage you to go back to. If he were, you wouldn't be here.”

“He's not.” Charlotte blew out breath. “Miss Emmaline thinks it's divine providence that she came to Chicago and met Henry . . . Teddy.”

“And what do you think?”

“It's hard to know what's right.”

Archie shook his head. “You don't have to believe something just because Miss Emmaline said it.”

Charlotte looked at Archie full on. “Don't you believe in God?”

“Yes, I believe in God. I just don't want you to be too quick to believe that he wants you to send your son away. It is possible Emmaline is interpreting difficult circumstances in a way that seems right from her perspective. That doesn't mean it's the will of God.”

“But what if it is?” Charlotte choked on a sob.

“What if it's not?”

“I've made up my mind.” Charlotte resisted more tears. “It will break my heart to send him away, but at least I'll know he'll have a good life with someone who thinks the sun and moon rise and set on his smile. Even Moses's mother had to let her son go to a life she could not be part of. That's in the Bible.”

The kitchen door thumped behind them, and they both startled.