Ida’s temper snapped. “What kind of ingratitude is this? I have done everything for you! I treated you like a daughter. I opened doors for you and gave you a world of opportunities.”

The words stung because they were true. Since the day she walked into the White House, Caroline had been showered with experiences beyond her wildest imagination.

“I’m truly sorry—”

“No, you’re not. You’re a selfish and ungrateful brat, and I want you out of here.” Ida pushed on the wheels of her chair to cross the room, where she tugged the rope-pull to summon a servant.

Pina and Ludmila froze, watching in wide-eyed dismay as Ida’s temper spiraled higher. An usher tapped on the door, and Ida commanded him to enter.

“Get the head of security,” she barked. “I want this woman out of my house.” She turned her hurt, furious gaze to Caroline. Her voice began to crack as she yelled in anguish and outrage. “You’re an ungrateful brat! I did everything for you! Do you hear me? Everything! And now in my hour of need—”

“Ida, perhaps you shouldn’t be so hasty,” Pina offered timidly. “Caroline has her own life—”

“Yes, a good life with me. Or at least she had a good one. That’s all over now.”

Sullivan arrived, looking bewildered by this awful turn of events. How humiliating to have him witness this spectacle, but Ida was adamant.

“I want this woman out of my house,” she ordered. “Take her straight downstairs and out the back door. I’ll have a servant collect her belongings, but I can’t stand to look at her a moment longer.”

Caroline picked up her reticule. There would be no convincing Ida to back down, not after such a public declaration. The other women looked frozen, like they’d shatter if they moved a muscle. She hated to abandon them while Ida was in such a fury, but if she tried to mitigate the damage, she’d only stoke Ida’s temper hotter.

She nodded to Pina and Ludmila. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, then risked a glance at Ida. “I’m truly sorry, ma’am.”

Sullivan looked mortified as he escorted her down the hallway, waiting until they were several yards away before speaking. “What was that all about?”

How could she explain it? In the space of one minute, a relationship that she’d come to treasure had completely imploded. Perhaps it was only Ida’s grief lashing out, but it still hurt.

In a moment Caroline would walk out of the White House for the last time, but she couldn’t leave without saying good-bye to Nathaniel. He was wounded and adrift and didn’t fully understand what he meant to her. She wouldn’t simply disappear from him because Ida’s temper had snapped.