And that was his sign. He had his marching orders, and it was time to go to work.
Three
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 Vukovic, 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 classesin 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.
Ludmila finished shelving the laundry, and Caroline joined her alongside the clothing shelves.
“An education will buy you freedom,” she said, covering Ludmila’s chapped, work-roughened hand with her own. She looked away, embarrassed at the difference in their skin. Ludmila was two years younger than Caroline, and yet the laundress’s hands looked like an old woman’s.
“You can become anything you want,” Caroline continued. “A typist. A translator. I know the two extra hours each night will be hard, but it will be worth it.”
“Man on the floor!”
The loud voice echoing down the hallway was a rude interruption. Caroline sighed as a brisk knock on the door was followed by a senior White House usher tipping his head inside.
“Meeting downstairs in the assembly room.” A scowl ofdisapproval darkened the usher’s face. “There’s a new man in charge of security, and all staff are required to be there.”
Even Ludmila noticed the resentment in his tone. “What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s new,” the usher said, then closed the door behind him.
That said it all. Most of the staff at the White House had been there for decades, and outsiders were looked at with suspicion. The only reason Caroline had been welcomed was because she was an effective buffer between the staff and the difficult first lady.
“We’d better go,” Ludmila said as she reached for the hamper, but Caroline laid a hand on her arm.
“Please think about the school,” she said. “It will never be easier than now. You don’t yet have a husband or children demanding your time. I know it will be hard, but it’s the hard things in life that make us most proud. Use those classes to fight for your future. You won’t ever regret it.”
“I’m already so tired,” Ludmila said as she balanced the hamper on her hip. “School will only make it worse.”
But Caroline caught the flash of hope on the laundress’s face. No matter what it took, Caroline would help clear the path for Ludmila to nurture that spark of hope into a flame.
By the time Caroline arrived in the assembly room, the other forty-five people who worked in the residence had already gathered. They were cooks, ushers, cleaning crew, telephone and wireless operators, and mailroom clerks. Even the gardeners had come in for the meeting. Rows of chairs filled the room, all facing the podium and blackboard at the front.
Caroline scanned the crowd, looking for George, who sat near the back. “What’s this I hear about new security rules?” she asked as she took the empty seat beside him.
“Long overdue, if you ask me.” George’s modest title as thepresident’s secretary drastically understated his importance in the administration. From the moment she met George, he had seemed like Atlas as he carried the immense burden of the White House on his shoulders. He masterfully navigated the tricky Washington maze of politics and backroom dealing. It was George who had recommended Caroline for this position and helped her survive a baptism of fire working with Mrs. McKinley.
Caroline glanced at the dozen White House ushers lining the back wall. The termusherwas deceptive. The men wore suits and ties, but they were actually building security. They carried side arms beneath their suits and walked the halls at all hours of the day and night to protect the White House.
“You think we need more security?” she asked, for she’d never been able to move around the building without seeing plenty of ushers on their rounds.
“I think thepresidentneeds more security,” George clarified. “He can’t stand having people hovering nearby and always travels alone when outside the residence. That needs to stop.”
A new man entered the room. Tall, slim, and dark-haired, he seemedchiseledto Caroline’s eye. He wore an ordinary suit, but there was nothing ordinary about the way his eyes studied the audience. He paced across the front of the room, constantly on the move as he absorbed every detail about the people in the chairs before him. His hands were in his pockets, his face revealing nothing, but each time someone moved, whether it was to change seats or simply to whisper to their neighbor, his gaze flicked in their direction. He was calm and measured, as though nothing could unsettle him, and Caroline liked that in a man. She lifted her chin to send him a warm smile of welcome, but he ignored it as he walked to the podium. Behind him gathered six brawny ushers.
“Good afternoon,” he said in a measured voice. “My name is Nathaniel Trask, and I will henceforth oversee all aspects of security in the White House.”
What kind of man used a word likehenceforth? She hid a smile, rather liking his buttoned-down formality.
