by Linda Ford
“Hey, boss!” Burl hollered from across the way. “Is everything all right? You need any help?”
The grin on the big man’s face told Matt he’d probably never live this day down, standing there with Millicent in his arms in view of everyone, but he didn’t much care. She felt so soft, looked at him as if he were her hero or something. “No thanks. Miss Faircloud just stumbled a bit. She’s fine now.”
He could have bit his tongue as Millicent moved away from him, color rushing up her face, as she seemed to realize everyone was watching them. Great. Now she’d probably try to run away from him again.
Matt moved her camera to where she was standing and stood right beside her while she went about the business of taking her photographs. The woman had spunk and he’d never been so proud, knowing she was fighting through her fears, probably through dizziness, to do this. He’d never known a woman like her and—
“I think I’ve taken enough from here for today,” Millicent said. “And now I won’t be so afraid to take them from wherever I need to. Thank you, Matt.”
She might not be afraid now, but the very thought of her falling off this building had him rethinking whether she should even be up here. “Only if I’m with you or give you the go-ahead to be by yourself. Agreed?”
He saw that stubborn little chin lift as she glinted at him. But he kept his stance and stared right back into those beautiful blue eyes until she blinked and nodded.
“Agreed.”
“Good.” He picked up her tripod and camera and they headed in the direction of where John and Elizabeth were standing, speaking to a couple of his men.
He noticed that Elizabeth looked a little pale and wondered if she’d been afraid for Millicent, seeing her so close to the edge. “I can’t believe you were so near the edge, Millicent,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t think I’d be able to do that.”
Millicent shrugged. “It was time. And I knew Matt wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
Matt’s chest swelled to almost bursting at her confidence in him. He’d do everything in his power to keep her safe.
“Are you ready to go for today?” John asked.
“Yes, if you are. I can get more photographs next time.”
Next time. Matt found himself looking forward to the next time, to standing beside her as she worked, being there to hold her should she turn too fast once again. And he was more than happy that he didn’t have to wait until then to see her again. He only had to wait until the end of his workday—and pray she wouldn’t run upstairs right after dinner as she’d done all week.
“I’ll take Millicent’s tripod and camera and go down with you all. You take care of Elizabeth, John. She seems a little under the weather.”
He saw the smile John and his wife exchanged and glanced at Millicent. The expression on her face seemed to reflect the way he was feeling…at least he thought it might—if only he could find the words to describe it.
Chapter Eleven
Matt hurried downstairs to the dining room the next day. He’d be working on Saturdays in the upcoming weeks because it was nearing the time of year when the weather would prevent them from working. High winds, snow, rain—not to mention freezing temperatures—would soon disturb their workweeks.
He always worried about his crew when they couldn’t work. It affected his men’s bank accounts more than it did his—he’d managed to put a good bit in savings, which only grew the inheritance he’d been left by his grandfather. Besides, he didn’t have a family to support. He was glad for the work while the conditions remained mild. Even though he’d rather have the day off to look for buildings with Millicent.
But from the chatter at the breakfast table it seemed she wouldn’t be doing that today—at least not this morning. It appeared Millicent and Julia were going to another one of those suffrage meetings. They hadn’t mentioned one in a while and he’d hoped their interest had waned. Apparently he’d been wrong.
And since he was the first man at breakfast that morning, and the way they quieted as soon as he walked to the buffet to make his plate, he sensed they didn’t want him to know about it. While he wasn’t happy they were still interested in the movement, he didn’t like the idea of them not bringing up the subject in front of him and the other men.
He plopped a big spoon of scrambled eggs onto his plate and grabbed several pieces of bacon, some sausage links and a couple of waffles before taking his seat.
“Good morning, ladies. I have to work today. What do you all have planned?”
“We’re going to run downtown to get some supplies for some projects we’re doing,” Millicent said.
“Oh, I thought you mentioned a meeting you were going to.”
“Oh, we did,” Georgia said.
Matt almost chuckled at the sigh Millicent let out. Evidently, Georgia hadn’t been told the meetings were a touchy subject between the men and the woman at Heaton House.
He wouldn’t make much of it with Mrs. Heaton there. She didn’t want or deserve discord at her table. So he just asked, “What kind of meeting is it?”
“We were talking about the suffrage movement we’re going to next week,” Georgia said. “It’s my first one here in the city, although I’ve gone to several back home and I’m looking forward to—” Georgia stopped as Julia shook her head.
Joe and Stephen entered the room and everyone greeted them, probably in hopes of changing the subject. But once they made their plates and took their seats, Mrs. Heaton brought up the subject on her own.
“The ladies are going to a woman’s suffrage meeting next week, gentlemen. You are welcome to go along, I’m sure. Many men do support the movement, you know.”
Her announcement left the men speechless and Matt felt kind of bad, considering they probably all knew he’d overheard them talking before he came into the room and he’d been the one to ask.
“I don’t like friction at my table, as you all know. But this time, I am bringing the subject up because I don’t want any of you feeling you can’t speak freely. I do ask that the conversation is cordial, and there is no speaking down to one another, as if your view is the only one that is right.”
“But those meetings—” Joe began.
“Forgive me for interrupting, Joe,” Mrs. Heaton said, “but I must tell you I do support women getting the right to vote, which is primarily the concern of the meetings these young women go to and the topic they most want addressed.”
“Yes, that’s it,” Millicent said. “We work for a living like you do. We feel we should have a say in how our government runs and our futures. Is that really so hard to understand?”
She was looking into Matt’s eyes and seemed to be imploring him to understand. But he’d heard so much about this movement—and knew some women wanted much more. “Perhaps not the right to vote. I think I can understand your desire for it. But we’ve all heard many women want more rights than the voting one.”
“Yes, some do,” Mrs. Heaton said. “But I would suggest you all go to a meeting with the ladies at least once so you’ll know what it is they want to work for.”
“When is this meeting and what time is it?” Matt asked.
“Next Friday evening at eight o’clock,” Millicent answered.
“A night meeting.” He looked at Joe and Stephen. “Perhaps we should join them.”
“I’ll go if you two do,” Stephen said.
“None of you need to go. We’re quite capable—”
“Of taking care of yourselves,” Matt finished for Millicent. “Of course you are. But Mrs. Heaton suggested we go and even though you’ll be in a group, it is at night.”
“I think I might go, too,” Mrs. Heaton said. “And I would appreciate you men accompanying us. I know there’s been some trouble at some of the evening meetings and I’ll feel better if we have a man or two with us.”
Matt could tell Millicent’s smile was forced and she wasn’t very happy at their landlady’s suggestion, but there was little she could say
about it now. And he wasn’t sure what he could do to ease her discomfort. He certainly didn’t want to upset Millie any further.
A quiet tension seemed to settle around the table. Someone needed to say something and he’d brought the subject up, so Matt supposed it should be him. “We’ll be glad to escort you ladies there. I suppose we haven’t been very fair by not going to one and seeing for ourselves what the movement is all about.”
“I think that’s a wonderful attitude, Matt,” Julia said. “We’ll be glad for you all to join us.”
Matt looked at Millicent. What was she thinking? Now she seemed not to know what to say. Her glance met his and Matt could tell she didn’t necessarily like the turn of the conversation. And he felt she blamed it on him. He took one last swig of coffee and stood. “For now, I need to get to work. See you all later.”
He moved back his chair and as he bent to scoot it back to the table, he whispered into Millicent’s ear, “If you follow me to the door, I’ll give you some money for those supplies.”
“I can get them,” she whispered back.
“No. I don’t want you buying them. I promised to pay for supplies and I mean to keep my word.”
He seemed to have taken her by surprise and he watched her expression turn from stormy to something else he couldn’t name as she let him pull out her chair and stood. At least her eyes didn’t seem to be shooting daggers at him as they had earlier.
As they walked into the foyer, Matt pulled some bills from his money clip and forced them into her hand. “If this doesn’t take care of what you buy, let me know and I’ll give the rest to you tonight.”
Finally, she smiled at him and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for accepting my help.” He put on his jacket and turned back to her. “I’m looking forward to this evening’s gathering.”
Her smile grew and he smiled back, suddenly realizing he hated to leave for work with her upset with him.
“Yes, so am I,” Millicent said. “It should be a lot of fun. Have a good day.”
“You, too.” He opened the door to air that felt brisk and quite cool, but he felt warm inside as he hurried to the trolley stop.
*
Julia and Georgia were on their way out of the dining room just as Millicent hurried back in to pour herself another cup of coffee to take upstairs.
“I’ll be ready in about half an hour. Meet you down here?” she asked them.
“That’ll be fine with me,” Julia said. “What about you, Georgia?”
“Works for me. See you both back down here.”
Millicent quickly poured her coffee and went back upstairs, careful not to slosh any. Matt had been kind to give her money so that she didn’t have to dip into her own, proving that he was a man of his word. How was it that man could change her moods quicker than she could keep up with them?
She was sure he had no real desire to go to a suffrage meeting and yet, he was going. Hopefully, he’d find out enough truths that he wouldn’t be so against them any longer. She wasn’t sure being at a meeting would actually change any of the men’s attitudes about them, but there was at least a glimmer of hope that they would.
Dear Mrs. Heaton. She wanted the men to understand as much as anyone and now she’d forced their hands in a most genteel way. And they no longer had to worry about the subject being brought up for her sake. But it would need to be a civil conversation and Millicent was all for that.
She took a sip of her coffee while she neatened up her hair and put her hat and a lightweight jacket on. The mornings were cooler now, but the afternoons warmed up nicely and they’d be inside most of the time, except for the trolley rides. There was no need for anything heavier.
Then she looked at her supplies to see what more they’d need and made a list. She tucked it into her purse, took the last sip of coffee and headed back downstairs.
She hurried down the hall and took her cup and saucer to the kitchen before meeting up with Julia and Georgia in the parlor.
They hurried to the trolley stop in high spirits, all three looking forward to the party that evening. As they found seats together, Georgia smiled. “I am so excited to be part of this, although I have no photos to add to the album yet, but I’ll help in any way I can.”
“Oh, I’m sure we can get a photo or two of you,” Millicent said. “In fact, I think I took one or two when we all went on the sleigh ride when you came to visit last winter.”
“Oh! That would be wonderful, Millicent.”
“We’ll try to find them soon as we get back.”
They got off the trolley and headed toward Macy’s. Millicent was sure they’d find the supplies they needed in the stationery department.
“Maybe we’ll see Emily today,” she said. “Although I think a lot of her work is done out of sight I can’t wait to find out what they’re doing with the windows this year.”
“Neither can I,” Julia said. “One of the highlights of the Christmas season is coming down and seeing them, especially at night. We should plan to come as a group this year.”
“That’d be fun,” Georgia said.
They reached Macy’s and took their time getting to the stationery department. There was always new merchandise to see each time they came.
“We should go to Siegel-Cooper if we can’t find what we need, here,” Julia suggested.
“Or perhaps because we haven’t been there in a while. Seems kind of disloyal to Macy’s, as it’s been here longer, but I’m sure Georgia would like to see what Stephen’s store is like, too,” Millicent said.
“Oh, I would. If there’s time. I know it’s a bit early but I need to start thinking of what to get my family for Christmas.”
“Are you going home for Christmas?”
Georgia shook her head. “Not this year.”
“I’m not, either. I went home last year, but my family is going to my married sisters this year—one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas—and I’m excited about staying here for both,” Millicent said.
“What about you, Julia?”
“My family lives in Brooklyn and I’ll be going there for part of those days, but I’ll be at Heaton House the rest of the time.”
“Has Emily said what she’s going to do?”
“Oh, I don’t think she has time to go anywhere for Christmas—they’ll start redoing the windows as soon as it’s over, I’m sure,” Julia said. “But Mrs. Heaton decorates so beautifully and we all get to help. And there are outings and get-togethers during that time. I’m sure we’ll all have a wonderful Christmas here.”
“I wonder about the men. Will any of them be here?” Georgia asked.
“I believe they will be,” Julia said.
Millicent hoped they would so they’d be there to watch Mrs. Heaton open her gift. Deep down she knew it was more than that. It’d be her first Christmas at Heaton House and she hoped she’d be able to share it with Matt…
*
As the women dressed for Elizabeth’s party, they hurried from room to room to ask each other’s opinion on what they were wearing and what to put in their hair. Once they were ready, Millicent collected her small camera and one bag of supplies, while Julia was in charge of the box of photographs. Emily carried another bag of supplies and Georgia carried several empty scrapbooks. Millicent hoped they’d be heavy with photographs when they returned.
They were all excited as they headed down to the parlor to meet the men, who took charge of their bags and boxes.
Mrs. Heaton had left earlier; she was keeping the children at Michael and Violet’s since baby Marcus would go to sleep early, and Rebecca and Ben were bringing Jenny over there. Gretchen and Maida had the night off and they seemed to be almost as excited as the boarders.
They were going to have dinner with their family and then come back and enjoy relaxing in the sitting room Mrs. Heaton recently had made for them on the third floor. They loved working for her and it suddenly dawned on Millicent that she should als
o include photographs of the two maids in the albums.
She explained what they were going to be doing at Elizabeth and John’s that evening and that she wanted them represented, too. “Would you mind if I take some photos of you two now and then when I can from time to time?”
Both women seemed taken aback for a moment and then they smiled and nodded.
“Oh, how nice of you to include us, Miss Millicent!” Gretchen said. “Of course you may take some photographs of us.”
Millicent took her camera out of its bag and turned to the two sisters. “Let me get several of you all dressed up. And later, I’ll try to get some candid ones.”
Both women blushed and giggled a bit as Millicent instructed them to turn this way and that, and suggested they smile instead of looking so serious. But they did as she asked and she was happy with the shots she got.
As soon as she finished, Matt seemed to be right beside her and he took her camera and put it back into its bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Those are going to be a great addition to the album, ladies.”
The two maids blushed even more and thanked him before hurrying into their coats and on their way.
Then Matt helped Millicent on with her jacket while the other boarders put on theirs and they all headed out the door. The air was crisp and the sky star laden and bright as they set off for Elizabeth and John’s.
Joe now had charge of the box of photos and Stephen had been given the bags of album supplies to carry.
Matt took hold of Millicent’s arm and leaned near her ear. “I think I got out light, just carrying your small camera bag, Millie.”
Millie again. Only, for some reason, she didn’t seem to mind him calling her that so much anymore.
“It’s the least they could do,” she whispered. “You paid for the supplies.”
“Oh, that. Did you have enough money? If not—”
“I did. In fact I had several dollars left. I’ll give it to you—”
“You will not. I’m sure something will come up even if it’s paper and ribbon to wrap them in. But I have a feeling you’ll need more supplies before you’re done. If so, let me know and I’ll give you more money.”
