Even though she annoyed and frustrated him, he already missed her.

Caroline felt like a wide-eyed innocent as she helped Mrs. McKinley move into the private sleeping car, for it looked like someplace royalty would live. The sitting area had walls of polished cherrywood, embellished with sumptuous brass fittings and velvet upholstery on the furniture. A partition created a sleeping room complete with a king-sized bed and a private marble-tiled bath.

“This bed is almost as comfortable as the one at home,” Ida said while testing the mattress.

After hanging Ida’s gowns in the wardrobe, Caroline unpacked other personal articles. She propped an anniversary photograph of the McKinleys on the bedside table along with a bowl of Ida’s favorite mint candies and a box of the president’s cigars.

Caroline had forgotten to bring a box of matches for the president. He never smoked in public, but he enjoyed a nightly cigar after dinner. Rummaging through her purse, she found her own match case and set it beside the president’s cigars. It had been six weeks since she’d indulged in a cigarette, but she’d brought a few in case the craving became unbearable during the trip.

Ida caught a glimpse of them in her purse. “Don’t tell me you’re still smoking.”

“I won’t be this week,” Caroline said. “I just donated my entire supply of matches for the good of the nation.”

Mrs. McKinley gave an approving nod. “You must abstain for more than a week. This battle must be a lifelong commitment. Men don’t like a woman who smells like an ashtray.”

“I don’t smell like an ashtray.” After all, she brushed her hair, spritzed on rose water, and took a mint each time she indulged in a cigarette.

“I can always tell when you’ve been smoking.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Oh yes, I can. It’s not ladylike, Caroline.” Ida limped toward the sitting area and lowered herself onto a chair, gesturing for Caroline to join her. She reached into her bag of knitting and began to work on a baby bootie. “It isn’t natural for a woman your age to still be single. You need to stop smoking, and please, don’t speak so directly to men. You’ll scare them off.”

“You always speak to men in a direct manner.”

“But I’m already married, so there’s no need for me to worry about it! You don’t want to be an old maid,” Ida cautioned. “Are there no men in Washington who appeal to you?”

Nathaniel immediately sprang to mind. He had a famously reserved and puritanical comportment, but there was a passionate side quietly smoldering just beneath the surface. As much as he pretended indifference, she sensed it every time his eyes tracked her with carefully restrained intensity.

“I’m not interested in any man while I have commitments in the White House.”