Authors: Ellen Gable
In Name Only (8 page)
Chapter 6
Caroline waited at
her window and watched for Liam, who was scheduled to leave his horse at their
stable and travel with Uncle, Elizabeth, Patsie and herself to the Centennial
Exhibition.
The previous
week, with the assistance of several women from the church, she had found a
group of nuns in a convent in Cheltenham who agreed to take care of Selly for
the rest of her confinement.
“Miss Caroline,
sure an’ will ye be a comin’ down?” Patsie said through the closed door.
“Yes, Patsie. I’m
watching for Liam to ride up. I shall be down momentarily.”
Always punctual,
Liam rode up and tied his horse to the back hitching post. On cue, he glanced
at Caroline’s window and waved. Her mouth curved into a smile, then she backed
away from the window.
As she walked by
her vanity, she studied herself in the mirror. Her complexion looked healthier
since she moved here. Patsie’s cooking was delicious and Caroline loved the fresh
air of her uncle’s estate. She found it difficult to believe that it had been
two months and that her beloved father had been dead for nearly seven months.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she studied her gown, a light blue-gray
patterned cotton dress. She fixed her hat in position with some pins, her
trembling hands causing one pin to poke her in the head. “Caroline Martin, if
you don’t calm down, Liam is going to think you’re a dolt.”
She stepped back
and studied herself from different angles. She had to admit that she was
becoming accustomed to wearing a corset and, despite its rigidity, agreed that
it made her figure look more feminine. “Yes, Mr. O’Donovan, I do believe that
you shall find me agreeable today,” she said, “if I can stop the dreaded
shaking of my hands.” She pulled on her gloves and, hurrying down the large
staircase, she could see across the front hallway that Uncle, her cousin,
Patsie and Liam were standing on the porch beyond the door.
She stopped at
the bottom of the steps and walked slowly toward the group. When Liam glanced
at her, his face brightened, then he tipped his hat. She returned a smile.
“There you are,
my dear. We are ready to leave. Ben will take us in the large open carriage
to the Exhibition.” Uncle Edward hesitated as he walked to the buggy.
“Liam, if you
don’t mind, you and I will sit on this side and, Caroline and Elizabeth, you
can occupy the other seat.”
Uncle Edward
helped Elizabeth into the carriage while Ben assisted Patsie into the front
driving seat beside him.
“May I assist
you, Miss Martin?” Liam offered his hand.
Caroline nodded.
He took her hand and gently guided her into the forward section beside Elizabeth, then pulled himself into the carriage in the facing seat with Uncle.
“A pleasant day,”
commented Uncle Edward.
Caroline nodded
politely.
“I remember going
to. . .” Uncle Edward’s words now became a monotone background noise. Liam
glanced at her and smiled.
Why did her
stomach feel queasy? Caroline wasn’t sure whether it was his handsome looks or
the kindness in his eyes, a sweetness that displayed a genuine care for others.
Within a half
hour, they had arrived at Fairmount Park. They stopped for fifteen minutes as
other carriages allowed passengers to step down. They finally reached the area
near the entrance gate and Ben stopped to allow everyone to get out.
Uncle Edward
helped Elizabeth and Patsie down as Liam assisted Caroline off the carriage.
“Thank you, Mr.
O’Donovan.”
He leaned closer
to her and whispered, “You’re supposed to call me Liam, Caroline." She
blushed and stepped back beside her cousin while Liam approached her uncle.
“Isn’t this
exciting, Carrie?”
Caroline nodded,
then glanced at Liam and Uncle, standing only a few feet from them. Uncle was
talking in financial jargon, and Liam seemed to be listening intently.
All around her,
the conversations centered on the Philadelphia Exhibition. “I’ve already been
to the main building many times and one can get lost for hours it is so large,”
one woman said.
“Every person in Philadelphia must be attending this Exhibition,” Elizabeth said. “Don’t you agree,
Carrie?”
“I suppose so.”
They walked onto
the grounds of Fairmount Park and stopped. The ticket booth had four orderly
lines of people and Uncle Edward motioned for them to stand in the far left line.
She was thankful that it was a breezy summer day, not too warm and not too
cool. In the distance, a band was playing a lively marching song. More
exhibition goers filed in behind them and Caroline clutched onto Liam’s arm
more tightly. He leaned down and whispered, “Is there something wrong?”
She nodded. “I
am not accustomed to crowds.”
“Not to worry.
This should not take too long.”
As they came away
from the ticket booth, Elizabeth squealed. “Papa, I’ve never seen so many
large buildings in one place!”
“Guides, get your
guides here!” yelled a boy in knickers and a cap.
“Excuse me,
Caroline. I’m going to purchase one of those books,” Liam said.
Liam returned
with a small booklet, “Authorized Visitors Guide to the Centennial Exhibition.”
“I imagine this will be useful and can help us decide where we want to go
today.”
They walked
straight ahead and stopped. Uncle Edward read the inscription. “Bartholdi
Fountain. It says here that this is the man who designed that big hand and
torch over there.” As the wind blew, minute bits of water sprayed the group.
Besides the
enormity of the buildings, the landscaping and flowers were breathtaking. The
air smelled of mouth-watering roasting peanuts, popcorn and foil-wrapped
bananas. A band continued to play festive music in the distance.
“Let’s visit
Memorial Hall,” offered Elizabeth. “I want to see that painting by Eakins
everyone’s talking about.”
“Which painting
is that?” Liam asked.
“The one where
the doctors are operating. I think it’s called ‘The Gross Clinic.’ It’s
rather bloody, I’ve been told.”
“Oh,” replied
Liam, with a slight smirk.
“I think Liam and
I would probably much prefer to visit Machinery Hall, don’t you agree? After
all, we all want to see that talking machine and the Corliss Steam Engine, do
we not?”
“To be quite
honest, Mr. Martin, I would be happy to go wherever Caroline wishes to go.”
All eyes on
Caroline, she replied, “I should like to visit the Main Building first,” she
pointed to the right, “if that is agreeable.”
“My dear, that’s
a fine choice,” said Uncle Edward. “There will be interesting exhibits from
many different manufacturers.”
Liam held out his
arm for Caroline.
In front of the
building’s west entrance, the group stopped by a cannon. “I imagine this was
used in the Civil War,” Uncle Edward commented, looking for a plaque to read.
“Liam,” Uncle continued, “Have you informed Caroline that your father was a
Civil War hero?”
“No, I haven’t,
not yet, sir.”
“How exciting,
Liam. Your father was a hero?”
“That’s what it
says on his medal. He fought in the Civil War, 48th Infantry, and was awarded
a Medal of Honor for carrying three of his wounded comrades across a
battlefield in Virginia.”
“He must have
been very brave to do that.”
“I suppose.” He
shrugged his shoulders.
“Was he wounded?”
“He was shot in
the thigh, just a flesh wound.”
“And,” Uncle
Edward said, “it was after he was wounded that he carried two of the three
soldiers.”
Liam lowered his
head, then straightened and walked briskly to the doors of the main building.
Caroline had to quicken her pace to keep up with him.
Inside the
building, Caroline stared in awe at the ceilings which seemed to reach up to
the sky. The tall windows on either side of the building shone generous light
into the exhibition area. Uncle Edward offered, “Well, I intend to peruse the
exhibits on this side,” he said, pointing to the far left side. “Liam, perhaps
you and Caroline can cover the exhibits in the middle?”
“Yes, sir, if you
think that would be fine.”
“I’d best be
goin’ with Miss Caroline, if ye take me meanin’.”
“No, Patsie, that
won’t be necessary. You and Elizabeth may accompany me.”
Elizabeth’s
eyebrows were raised and Patsie had a frown on her face. “If ye think so.”
Caroline held
onto Liam’s arm as they strolled alongside the long row of exhibits. They
walked without speaking for several moments. Farther down, there appeared to be
an exhibition from Paris, a display entirely of. . . Caroline immediately
slowed her pace, almost stopping. She was certain her face was flushed.
“Are you unwell?”
Liam asked.
She lowered her
head. “I. . .I’m fine,” she said, pulling him towards the right side of the
exhibition area. He stepped back and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Directly behind him was the offending display.
“This is all so
exciting,” she said, somewhat unconvincingly.
“Yes, it is,” he
replied.
“And, well. . .”
“I know. You’re
wondering whether you ought to be so happy with your father gone.”
Caroline’s eyes
widened. “Yes, with my father gone, it is difficult to be happy.”
“He would want
you to be enjoying yourself, would he not?”
“Yes, of course,
he would.”
Liam cleared his
throat. “My father died four years ago. He had a few too many drinks and fell
asleep in the stable and it caught fire.”
“How awful.”
“It was more
difficult for David. I wasn’t very close to my father.”
“That’s
dreadful.”
Liam shrugged his
shoulders.
“What about your
mother, Caroline? When did she pass away?”
“I was only about
two months old.”
“So you don’t
remember her. That’s a shame.”
“Yes, it is. But
my father has told me many stories about her. He says I look just like her except
for the color of my hair.”
“Your mother must
have been beautiful.”
Caroline blushed
and, distracted, she began to walk again, still holding onto Liam’s arm. He
turned to continue in their original direction and before she could stop him,
his eyes fell upon the display she had been hoping to avoid. He glanced
casually at the forms, seemingly undisturbed by the large exhibition of corsets
by Lenoir and Farcy & Oppenheim. When he looked at Caroline, she could
feel her face turning crimson. She lowered her head and avoided eye contact.
Liam, thankfully, mentioned nothing.
Coming upon an
instrument display, Liam said, “Pardon me, Caroline,” as he let go of
Caroline’s arm. “Do you mind?” he said to the man behind the table.
The vendor, a
well-dressed older man with a full beard replied, “Certainly not.” Liam picked
up a violin and held it out to study it. “Looks like a fine instrument.”
“Do you play,
Liam?”
“Since I was a
child.”
“I should like to
hear you play.”
“It would be my
pleasure to do so.”
“Could you play
now?”
He shook his
head. “Perhaps another time. . . with my own violin.” He paused. “Do you play
an instrument, Caroline?”
“No, I don’t. I
should have liked to learn but I never did.” She paused. “Liam, did you do
well in school?”
“Yes, I suppose I
did. And you?”
“My teacher
voted me the most proficient reader in the class the last year that I attended
school.”
“Was that
secondary school?”
Caroline shook
her head. “I didn’t attend secondary school because my father was ill and I
wanted to care for him.”
“Didn’t your
father have enough servants to care for him?”
“I. . .well, I. .
.”
Should I tell him that we had no servants?
“I know, you
wanted to care for him yourself?”
“Yes.” Caroline
recognized that was close to the truth.
He nodded, then
cleared his throat. “Who is your favorite author?”
“I like Jane
Austen.”
“I’ve heard of
her. She’s British, is she not?”
“Yes. Do you
read much, Liam?”
“Hardly anymore.
When I was a teenager, I read most of Charles Dickens’ books, although I don’t have
time for reading these days with our business. David and I work as much as
four men.”
They walked for a
short distance, then arrived at a “Hires Root Beer” display. The sign at the
top of the display touted, “The Greatest Health-Giving Beverage in the World.”
