He feels a longing for it all—the way the water smells, branches scraping like violin bows in the wind, cows calling to be milked, fireflies sparking in the grass. Swimming and riding, climbing into the interlaced trees, singing with the slaves and the freemen in the warm evenings, taking the paths to the swamp with the dogs, ever hopeful for squirrels, panting and racing ahead.

No Mitchells lurking about, spoiling it all.

—

The Mitchells disappear into the squalor of the Baltimore Ring Factory. Edwin will not think of them again.

But after Edwin’s death, Baby Joe will take, as his second wife, Cora Mitchell, the daughter of one of the Mitchell cousins. The groom will be fifty-four and a doctor, the bride twenty-four and a socialite. The wedding will be a grand affair, with many newspapers taking note of the fact that the groom had two older brothers, the late Junius Booth Jr. and the late great actor Edwin Booth. No other brother will be mentioned.

ix

Richard III is finally opening in the hotel cellar. Johnny has passed on his chance to be Richmond. He’s lost all interest, won’t deign to attend, even though George Stout has told him that Edwin’s horse, bought for one dollar and seventy-five cents—a bony white mare unimpressed with her own stardom—may well be Edwin’s undoing. So far she’s foiled his every vision by refusing to move her feet. If this had been the horse Richard sold his kingdom for, he would’ve lost England anyway.

The afternoon progresses with Johnny roaming listlessly about his bedroom. His friends are all either watching Richard III or performing in it. He doesn’t exactly regret his decision. He’s just at a loss for what to do instead, when, from the first floor, he hears his father shout. He hears the thunder of footsteps on the stairs. Father arrives in the boys’ bedroom, holding the tatters of his Shylock costume. Edwin has cut the spangles from it to make himself a suit of armor.

Father’s first thought is to blame Johnny. He grabs Johnny by the arm, shakes him hard. He draws back his fist. Johnny is no telltale; it’s little Joe who serves up Edwin and he does this in a high, hysterical voice before Father’s fist can land. Now that Edwin’s been named, Johnny’s willing to confirm it. He’s in no mood to take a whipping on Edwin’s account. He tells his father exactly where the rest of his Shylock costume can be found.