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Back A Gilded Lady
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Thirty-Three
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Historical Note
  46. Questions for Discussion
  47. In 2021, look for Luke Delacroix’s story in
  48. About the Author
  49. Back Ads
  50. Back Cover

Alfred gestured to the other side of the car, where a countertop bolted to the wall held four typewriters. “This is where the journalists can type up their reports. I’ll have a telegraph line open for the president at all times.” He tugged at his collar and mopped his brow again.

“Relax,” Nathaniel said. “You’ll find President McKinley an easygoing man.” He silently hoped Alfred would never need to cope with Ida McKinley, for the first lady could frighten a man like this into leaping off a moving train.

At least Caroline had consented to come on the journey. Their encounter on the roof still burned in his memory. They were becoming dangerously close, and this attraction couldn’t continue during the tour. Each day they would be in new towns and unfamiliar venues with thousands of people turning out to see the president. Nathaniel would honor his word to support her should the situation with her brother turn dark, but the rest of the time, he needed to keep her at arm’s length.

He gestured to a strange box that looked something like a telephone. “What’s this?”

“It’s the intercommunication box,” Alfred said. “If an announcement needs to be made to the other cars, that will do the trick.”

That caught Nathaniel’s attention. “Can I hear what’s going on in other cars?” If so, it could be a security lifeline, but Alfred shook his head.

“It only communicates one way, but it’s a better system than bells,” he said.

Internal bells were how the staff communicated inside the White House. This new system might be worth looking into, but that would have to wait. The train was about to depart, and somehow Nathaniel suspected that the next few months would be among the most memorable of his life.

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Excitement hummed in the air as Caroline found her seat for the first evening’s dinner aboard the train. Each table was covered with fine linen and set with china, crystal, and a menu card. Tea candles adorned each table, and the shaded electric sconces on the wall had been dimmed for evening dining. Silver clinked against china as twenty-eight people gathered in the presidential dining car. Most worked for the president, but two journalists and three congressmen had been invited for the first part of the journey. The congressmen’s wives had been invited too, making for a lively gathering. Rembrandt set up his camera and took a few photographs to commemorate their first night’s journey.