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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

Jesus, I know there is a reason for this, but I don’t understand it. Can it be so that I won’t let my guard falter this time? Every day I will do my best to serve my country and honor Molly’s memory. I am praying for guidance. If you send me a sign, I will follow.

He listened, hoping for a sign that would let him escape the assignment, but he heard nothing.

And that was his sign. He had his marching orders, and it was time to go to work.

Three

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Privacy was nonexistent for staff who lived at the White House. Caroline had never shared a bedroom before accepting this position, but now she slept in a dormitory alongside nine other women. Two cooks, two telephone operators, three maids, a seamstress, and a laundress all slept in this long, narrow room on the top floor of the building, with beds lined up like sardines in a tin.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon, so most of the women were downstairs, but Caroline had a rare moment of privacy with Ludmila Vuković, a young woman from Croatia who worked in the laundry. Ludmila was smart, ambitious, and only twenty-six. She wanted more from life than washing and ironing other people’s sheets, and Caroline wanted to help.

“The school is going to open in two months,” Caroline said, sitting on the end of her bed as Ludmila returned freshly laundered undergarments. There wasn’t even enough room for proper wardrobes or closets in the dormitory, only a long bank of open shelves for each woman to store basic belongings. Ludmila said nothing as she went about putting the clothes away, so Caroline kept talking. “We expect the school to fill up right away, but I can save a spot for you. There will be classes in typing and bookkeeping and translation work. You can have your choice.”

“I don’t have the time,” Ludmila said, reaching for another stack of laundry.

“The classes will be at night, and there’s no reason you can’t take a streetcar to the school three nights a week. It will be a challenge, but over time those three nights a week will change your entire world.”

How different Caroline’s own education had been. Fancy boarding schools in Boston, and then a year in Paris and a year in Rome for finishing school. She came back to Virginia when she was eighteen, but that hadn’t worked out so well. She and Luke had gotten into such trouble together, which prompted her father to send her to Switzerland, far enough away that her rebellious behavior couldn’t permanently tarnish her reputation in America. She resented the banishment at the time, but her father had been right. The two years in Switzerland tamed most of her wild streak, allowing her to step back into respectability in Virginia.