Free Mrs. Lincoln's Rival by Jennifer Chiaverini Page A

instead.”
    “I wish to take you both.” His brow furrowed. “You usually relish this sort of pageantry. Why don’t you want to go? Is it because Columbus didn’t celebrate for me back in May?”
    “No, it’s not that.” Kate had not even thought of the canceled fireworks and the muted bands and the melancholy single-cannon salute since the last night of the Republican Convention. “Every notable Ohioan will be in Cleveland, and I confess I haven’t forgiven those who betrayed you in Chicago.”
    “Dear Katie.” Her father held her at arm’s length and studied her sympathetically. He did not have to incline his head far to meet her gaze; for most of her life he had seemed to tower over her, a powerful figure taking up most of her small sky, but now he did so only in her heart and memory. “You must be brave, brave and practical. When I return to the Senate in March, I’ll need friends if I am to push through the good works I intend to accomplish. We must show them we are not cowed, and that we are not broken. They will remember how I bear this disappointment four years hence.”
    She knew he was right, and that it was folly to hold a grudge against the people upon whom her father’s political future might depend.
    “Come, now,” her father cajoled. Suddenly she realized that he did not want to go without her; he would if he must, but he would not impress voters and dignitaries half as well without her by his side. “There will be a ball, and you may buy a new dress. Silk, if you wish.”
    “Oh, well, that’s a different matter entirely,” she replied, managing a smile. Whereas other women of their class adorned themselves in silk and jewels on special occasions, Kate wore white linen and flowers. Others praised her simple, elegant style, saying that it suited her youth and did not distract from her own natural beauty. What they did not know was that linen and flowers were the best her father could afford, and she happily would have bedecked herself in diamonds if permitted. “You didn’t tell me I could have a new silk dress.”
    He smiled back, greatly relieved, although he promptly began to caution her not to spend too much on her gown. She tolerated his warnings fondly. Despite her father’s political stature, he was not a wealthy man. They had invested a great deal of money in their home and had filled it with the trappings of success, but much of their extended family depended upon Father’s support, and he often found himself short of funds. He abhorred debt nearly as much as drunkenness, but the life he had chosen demanded certain unavoidable expenditures.
    Kate dutifully—but not unwillingly—ordered a new gown from her favorite New York dressmaker, who knew her measurements and her tastes and could be relied upon to work swiftly. Two days before their departure, the gown arrived—a lovely pale-green silk trimmed in exquisite lace, with a flatteringly snug bodice embellished with mother-of-pearl buttons up the front and a modest train. Nettie was pleased with her pretty frock too, a fine blue wool dress adorned with white ribbons that had once belonged to Kate but had been let out in the waist and hemmed. Father, as always, would dress impeccably, in a well-fitted gray suit and a new waistcoat of burgundy brocade.
    It rained heavily on the evening they traveled with Governor Dennison’s party north to Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie. Mr. Parsons, an energetic lawyer in his early thirties, was among those who met them at the station, and while the Committee on Arrangements escorted his entourage to the Angier House on the corner of Bank and Saint Clair streets, Mr. Parsons took the Chases home to his charming residence on Prospect, where his wife, Sarah, welcomed them warmly at the door. The rain had stopped but the heat of the day remained, so they took supper in the shady garden. Afterward, while the Parsons’ two young children, a girl and a boy, played nearby and Nettie wandered