The Pursuit of Lucy Banning (12 page)

“What girls?” her mother asked.

“Open your eyes, Flora,” Violet said. “How can you miss them?”

A thousand little girls—literally—swarmed into position before the reviewing stands. Dressed in red, white, and blue, they lined up to form the American flag.

“How clever!” Flora exclaimed.

“Some of the girls are from St. Andrew’s,” Lucy commented. “Mr. Emmett was so pleased they could participate.” She peered into the mass of girls, hoping to spot one she knew. Thinking of the girls from the orphanage, however, only made her worry even more intensely about Charlotte. Ever since Saturday’s discovery in the kitchen, Lucy felt responsible for Charlotte. At home she was vigilant about the whereabouts of both family and servants and made frequent excuses to spend time in her room, providing good reason for Charlotte to be there and assist her. But she could not be there every moment of the day.

“I’m going to go say hello to the girls.” Lucy suddenly stood up, ready to push her way through the seated crowd.

“Oh, Lucy, it’s such a lot of trouble,” her mother said.

Lucy ignored her. She would enjoy greeting some of the girls from the orphanage if she could find them in the crowd, but her true thought was that perhaps Mr. Emmett was nearby to oversee his charges.

Once she was down to street level, Lucy scanned every face within sight. She had never seen so many people in one place in her entire life and could only imagine the throngs that filled Wabash as the parade moved north and then west on Lake to State Street, where it turned south again before circling the Federal Building.

Finally Lucy found a child she knew, draped in red and standing in position at the end of a stripe on the flag.

“Jane!” she called.

The girl turned, then broke into a rare grin. “Miss Lucy!”

Lucy gave Jane a congratulatory hug, then asked, “Is Mr. Emmett nearby to watch your big moment?”

Jane shook her head. “He didn’t come. Mrs. Baker brought us down. Mr. Emmett said there were too many children to manage and they would all stay at St. Andrew’s. He said he would never forgive himself if one of the little ones got lost or hurt in the crowd.”

Lucy nodded. “That’s probably wise. I’m so glad you’re here, though.”

“They were supposed to get here a long time ago.” Jane twisted a corner of red fabric between two fingers. “I’m getting tired of standing around.”

A voice rose from the crowd. “Here they come! It’s starting!”

Lucy joined the applause as the first rank of mounted police appeared in view.

 13 

D
aniel snapped his pocket watch shut. “It’s 1:20. The ceremony should start in precisely ten minutes with a march composed especially for the occasion.”

Lucy sat beside Daniel in the front row of the second rank of seating inside the massive Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building on the grounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition. They had arrived more than an hour early to claim seats with a center view of the enormous platform.

“I wonder where Leo and Oliver are,” Lucy said. “You agreed to meet here, right?”

“That was the plan,” Daniel replied, “but you know Leo. If he’s involved, anything could happen.”

Lucy chuckled in agreement. “Maybe they just haven’t spotted us yet.”

“If they don’t show up soon, someone else will want their seats, tickets or no tickets.”

Lucy scanned the vast sea of seats around them. Ribbons of color in women’s dresses splashed against the dark backdrop of men’s formal wear. Heads bobbed under a wave of one extravagant hat after another. Her parents and Aunt Violet were somewhere in the crowd, seated closer to the main stage. Lucy took Daniel’s word for it that eighty thousand people could be seated, and untold thousands more would be standing for a chance to glimpse this epic event. Five thousand chairs filled the red-carpeted platform alone to accommodate dignitaries from around the globe. The mammoth hall stood more than two hundred feet high and spanned forty-four acres. Sunlight streamed through a greenhouse-like ceiling and diffused through steel arch trusses filled with glass, setting the colossal structure alive with energy.

Lucy glanced at the program in her hand. “From the looks of this, we’re going to be here a few hours.”

Daniel nodded. “Believe it or not, it was supposed to be five hours. The planning committee cut it down to four, but we’ll see if they stick to it.”

“They can’t possibly keep a crowd this size quiet and still that long!”

“My guess is they’re not even going to try,” Daniel said. “We’ll have to leave it to the historians to record the importance of this day.”

“Over here, Leo,” Will said. “I just spotted them.”

Will pointed, and Leo followed the invisible line from his friend’s finger to his sister’s hat. Together they nudged their way through the burgeoning crowd to the empty seats awaiting. Leo entered the row first, squeezed past Daniel and Lucy, and left the seat next to Lucy for Will.

“I hope you don’t mind my bringing Will,” Leo said. “At the last minute, Oliver said he had a better offer. I think it has something to do with Pamela Troutman.”

Lucy smiled. “Mother would approve.”

“Anyway, Will’s office closed for the day so I thought he may as well have a seat with us rather than stand in the back by himself.”

“I’m delighted to share the occasion with you, Will,” Lucy said.

“The pleasure is mine,” Will said, “with gratitude.” He glanced at Daniel, but something told him not to bother offering his hand. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Jules.”

Daniel nodded ever so slightly.

“I understand you met the vice president yesterday,” Will said.

“That’s correct.” Daniel was watching the band prepare to play and did not turn to look at Will.

“Do you have any political ambitions for yourself, Mr. Jules?” Will was nothing if not persistent.

“Not at present,” came the curt reply.

“Perhaps in the future?”

Leo leaned in to the conversation. “Daniel’s a popular man. He could run for any office he likes. A real man for the people.”

“Is that so?” Will asked. From his two brief encounters with Daniel Jules, he would not have judged him to be much interested in people.

Daniel picked up Lucy’s gloved hand from her lap, tucked it into his elbow, then patted it. “I believe the ceremony is about to begin.”

The band struck the first chord of the “Columbus March,” and Will settled back in his chair. He knew Daniel’s reputation from Leo’s stories. Leo always spoke of Daniel with the affection of a brother.
So why is he giving me the cold shoulder?

Lucy sat for more than an hour with her arm laced with Daniel’s, constantly resisting the impulse to withdraw it. Why had he treated Will so rudely? One moment she would tell herself to save her questions for a private setting later and enjoy the ceremonies, but the next she seethed with impatience, both with Daniel and the proceedings. After the opening musical march came a lengthy prayer by a California bishop and an introductory address by the director general of the exposition. By the time Mayor Washburne formally welcomed guests from around the world to the proud city of Chicago, Lucy was getting restless. She wasn’t the only one. People seemed to leave their seats and move freely around the enormous hall and even launch conversations audible from several rows away. Nevertheless, Daniel was enthralled with the proceedings, occasionally tightening his grip on Lucy’s fingers during a particularly rousing oration.

Foremost on Lucy’s mind, though, was Charlotte. After Thursday’s unsuccessful attempt to see Phillip Emmett along the parade route, Lucy had determined to leave the house early that morning and go to the orphanage to find him. She had spoken to him on Monday morning. Surely he was making inquiries. Did he really have nothing encouraging to report? Did he not understand the urgency of the situation? Lucy wanted to find out in person. Flora Banning, however, had other plans for the morning. She insisted the family begin the day by sitting down to a formal breakfast together. Flora reasoned the day would be a long one, and it would be hours before anyone could eat properly again. At her instructions, Mrs. Fletcher had prepared a particularly hearty breakfast of compote of dried fruits, poached eggs, bacon, and bread pudding. Lucy had little choice but to sit and eat just enough to ease her mother’s mind. By then it was too late to go out before Daniel was due to arrive to escort her to the ceremonies.

A Miss Harriet Monroe stood on the platform to recite a dedicatory ode. Lucy eyed the door.

“Daniel,” she whispered, “I need some air. I think I’ll step outside.”

“I don’t want to miss anything,” he whispered back.

“I’m not asking you to go. I’ll just get some air and come back in a little while. There are still plenty of speeches to hear.”

She extracted her arm from Daniel’s grasp and stood up. Will was immediately on his feet. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“I just need some air,” Lucy said.

“Shall I accompany you?” Will glanced at Daniel.

“No, that’s not necessary, thank you. I’ll be back soon.”

As Lucy made her away across the huge hall toward the outside light, a guest musician began his performance. The walkways were bursting with onlookers, some moving, some standing still. Getting out of the building was no small feat. Finally, though, she breathed outside air just as another ceremonial reading began.

Leo leaned over and spoke to Will. “Where is Lucy going?”

Will shrugged. “She just said she wanted some air. She wanted to go by herself.”

“She’ll be all right,” Leo said. “When you get to know Lucy, you’ll see she takes care of herself pretty well.”

Unsettled, Will watched as Lucy threaded her way through the crowd. The bright crimson gown she’d chosen for the occasion made her progress easy to follow. When she reached the door, his unease got the best of him, and Will left his seat as well.

Outside, Will saw Lucy leaning against an electric light post. When the fair opened in May, thousands of electric lights would illuminate the grounds. For now, this was the only post that mattered, because Lucy Banning was leaning against it looking distracted. Her family had been involved in planning and financing the fair for at least the last two years. Why would she now excuse herself from the ceremonies that culminated their labors?

He decided to find out. Just as he began to move toward her—sure that she hadn’t spotted him yet—Lucy stepped away from the light post and walked with determined steps.

Where is she going?

He followed her.

She quickened her pace. He quickened his, all the while contemplating whether he should intentionally close the gap between them—which he could do easily with his long stride. Not once did Lucy look back. After a couple of minutes, it was clear she was heading for the rank of carriage cabs whose drivers were trying to take advantage of the history-making day.

“Lucy!” Will called.

If she heard him above the crowd she gave no indication. Will watched as Lucy touched the elbows of people in her way, politely urging them to step aside. Many of the women’s gowns did not permit easy movement. Lucy’s own stride grew less and less ladylike.