Mirror Image, page 6
"Don't you dare, " Olivia whispered to her behind Bertie's back, as they left the table.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, " Victoria said primly.
"Next time I'll leave you there, mark my words, and let you explain it to Father."
"I doubt that, " Victoria said with a laugh as she tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder. There was almost nothing she was afraid of.
Even being in jail that afternoon had made no impression on her whatsoever.
She had found it interesting, but not daunting.
"You're incorrigible, " Olivia said, and then they kissed Bertie good night and went upstairs to their bedroom. Olivia looked at fashion magazines while Victoria read a pamphlet by Emmeline Pankhurst about hunger strikes in prison. She was, according to Victoria, the most important suffragist in England. Victoria dared to light a cigarette in their room, knowing that Bertie had already gone to bed, and she urged Olivia to try one, but she wouldn't. Instead, Olivia sat looking out the window, at the warm September night, and despite everything else she had tried to think of that night, her mind wandered back to Charles Dawson.
"Don't, " Victoria said to her, as she lay on her bed and watched her sister.
"Don't what? " Olivia asked, as she turned to look at Victoria reclining elegantly and smoking.
"Don't think about him, " Victoria said quietly, blowing a long, slow cloud of smoke toward the window.
"what do you mean? " Olivia looked startled. It was always eerie when either of them guessed what the other was thinking.
"You know exactly what I mean. Charles Dawson. You had that same look in your eyes when you talked to him. He's too boring for you.
There are going to be lots of wonderful men here. I can feel it." She looked very worldly as she said it, but Olivia still looked startled.
"How do you know what I'm thinking? " It happened to them so often.
"The same way you do. I hear you in my head sometimes, like my own voice, thinking. Sometimes I can just see it when I look at you."
"It scares me sometimes, " Olivia said honestly. "We're so close I don't know where you end, and I begin, or do we? Do we just blend into one sometimes? "
"Sometimes, " Victoria smiled at her, "but not always.
I like knowing what you think .. . and I like being able to surprise people, and change places, like we used to. Sometimes I miss it. We should do it again sometime, while we're here. Nobody would ever know the difference.
And it would be great fun, wouldn't it? "
"It seems different to me now that we're older. It seems deceitful, " Olivia said, looking thoughtful.
"Don't be so moralistic, Ollie. It's harmless. It doesn't hurt anyone.
I'm sure all twins do it." But they had only met twins once or twice in their lives, and never of comparable ages or sexes, nor quite as identical as they were. "Let's do it soon, " Victoria prodded her, always willing to cross the line and be daring, just as she had been in their childhood. But this time, when Olivia looked at her, she only smiled, and didn't answer, and Victoria knew she wouldn't do it. They were grown-up now. And Olivia thought switching was childish. "You'll turn into a dreary old crone if you're not careful, " Victoria warned, and Olivia laughed at her with genuine amusement.
"At least if I do, maybe by then you'll have learned to behave yourself." The two sisters exchanged a warm look, and Victoria chuckled.
"Don't count on that, big sister. I'm not sure I ever will behave myself."
"Neither am I, " Olivia whispered, and then left the room to get ready for bed, as Victoria looked longingly out the window.
Chapter 3.
Their father arrived, on schedule, late Friday afternoon, from Croton-on-Hudson. Donovan had driven up to pick him up in the Cadillac, and Olivia had the house in perfect order for him.
Everything was exactly as it should have been, everything had been dusted and shined and fluffed, and his bedroom was exactly the way he liked it.
Olivia had flowers everywhere, and it smelled exquisite. Even the garden had been cleaned up for him so he could use it, although it was just a small patch of green after what he was used to in Croton. But when he arrived, he was extremely pleased with what he saw, and he had high praise for Bertie and both his daughters. He always included Victoria to be kind to her, although he knew that it was Olivia who ran his household.
He was happy to see them both and looked lovingly at both of them.
And then he kissed Victoria, and thanked her for Olivia's hard work, which made them both giggle and he understood immediately what had happened.
"I'm going to have Bertie make you wear colored ribbons in your hair again, except that you'll probably do what you did then, and switch them."
"We haven't switched in ages, Father, " Victoria said plaintively, and Olivia looked pointedly at her.
"That's right, and who was trying to talk me into it just last night?
" Olivia said, as Victoria pretended not to remember.
"She won't do it anymore, Papa. She's no fun anymore, " Victoria complained and he laughed ruefully at her. "You two will make everyone miserable enough just by confusing them completely, without switching.
" He still shuddered when he thought of their presentation year two years before, they had both been so striking in their finery, that he hadn't been able to go anywhere with them without stopping traffic. In his opinion, it had truly been excessive. And he was hoping that this time people would be a little less excited each time they saw them. It remained to be seen. They were going out the next night to the theater.
On the night of his arrival, Olivia had planned one of his favorite dinners, with venison and asparagus and wild rice, and some clams that had been brought to them that morning from Long Island. There were vegetables from their garden in Croton that Donovan had brought down with them at her request, and a chocolate cake that her father swore would kill him, but of course he ate it. And after dinner, the three of them had coffee, while he talked about some of the treats he had planned for them, including the theater the following night, and several times in the ensuing weeks. There were people he wanted them to meet, two new restaurants he hoped to try with them, and he told Olivia that night that he wanted to give a party. It had been years since he'd entertained in New York, and he thought it might be interesting for them, particularly now with everyone home from New England and Long Island from the summer. This was the opening of the season. And it sounded intriguing to both of them as they listened.
"In fact, " he said, smiling at both of them, and looking better than he had in years, "we've already been invited to a ball at the Astors', and the Whitneys are giving a huge party two weeks from now. I'm afraid you ladies will have to do some shopping." It all sounded exciting to both of them, but Olivia was even more excited about their party. Her father had said that he wanted to invite about fifty people. Just big enough to be lively, and small enough to get to talk to almost everyone at the dinner. He promised to give Olivia the guest list the next day.
He had already written down all the names, and she and Bertie would have to get busy. He knew only too well that Victoria would be no help to them.
And the next morning, Olivia was already at her desk, poring over the names, and writing out invitations. The party was to be in two weeks, the same week as the ball at the Astors'. They were going to be very busy. Olivia was also pleased to realize that she recognized many of the names from two years before, although she couldn't always add faces.
But she remembered meeting them, and thought it would be fun seeing them again, particularly here at the house. She loved entertaining for her father. She had already put together several menus in her head, and early that morning she'd been examining their linens.
She was going to have to have more of them brought down from Croton.
The crystal and the china were adequate here, and she knew exactly what she wanted in the way of flowers, and she hoped she could still get them by late September.
Olivia stayed at her desk most of that afternoon, working on her plans, and Victoria went out for a drive with their father. They drove uptown in the Cadillac, and eventually took a slow walk down Fifth Avenue, where Edward ran into several people he knew and was proud to introduce his daughter. They were both in high spirits when they got home, and so was Olivia. She had organized the entire party.
And that night, when they went to see The Seven Keys to Baldpate with Wallace Eddinger at the Astor Theater, their father seemed to know everyone in the theater. And as usual, when they were introduced, they created quite a stir. The girls were wearing matching black velvet evening suits with little ermine wraps and collars, and each of them wore a single long black beaded feather in her hair. Together, they were like a double vision straight out of a fashion magazine from Paris, and by the next morning, they were once again in the papers.
But this time, Edward was calmer about it than he had been two years before, and the girls were less excited by it. They were two years older, and they were somewhat used to causing a sensation in public.
"That was wonderful, " Victoria said, talking about the theater the night before. She had liked the play and had been so engrossed by it she scarcely noticed the attention being lavished on them by the people around them.
"It's a lot better than getting arrested, " Olivia whispered to her with a grin, as she went to get their father another cup of coffee.
They went to church together later that morning, at St. Thomas, and everyone greeted them, and then the three of them got in the car behind Donovan, and came back to the house on Fifth Avenue to spend a quiet Sunday together. And the next morning, Olivia had work to do, running the house and ordering things for their party, and her father left to meet his attorneys, which was, after all, why they had come here. Both John Watson and Charles Dawson came back to the house with him later that afternoon, and Olivia had a little moment of terror when she first saw them come in. She was afraid Charles might slip and say something to her about the day he had taken her to the Fifth Precinct.
But in fact, he said nothing at all to her. He nodded politely to her as they arrived, and said good-bye to her when they left, and showed no particular recognition, which was a great relief to her, although Victoria said she wouldn't have cared, when Olivia told her.
"Father would go right through the roof, " Olivia warned her, bringing her back to earth rapidly, "and you know it. You'd be on the next train back to Croton."
"Maybe you're right." Victoria grinned at her. She was enjoying New York too much to take that chance again.
She wanted to go to meetings of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, but she had promised to stay well away from all their demonstrations.
They went to the theater again that night, and to dinner with friends of her father's later that week, and Victoria had been amused to listen to them talking about some utterly scandalous man named Tobi Whitticomb, who had apparently made a vast fortune in somewhat speculative banking, and an even larger one by marrying an Astor.
He was supposedly a very good-looking young man and had quite a reputation with the ladies. Every one in town was said to be talking about him after some recent, scandalous liaison which no one would explain in any detail to either Victoria or her sister. And then their father shocked everyone by saying that he had recently done business with him, and found him both civilized and pleasant. In fact, they had concluded some very profitable dealings, and he had found him to be nothing but honest and very decent.
After that, everyone argued with him, and there was a great outcry and exchange of stories about Whitticomb, and the assembled company had to admit that in spite of his reputation, he was invited to all the best homes and parties. But that, they said, was because he was married to Evangeline Astor. And everyone in the group agreed that she was a sweet girl, and an absolute angel to put up with Toby. But she'd apparently been putting up with him for a while, since they'd been married for five years, and had three children.
And it was only on the way home that night that Olivia remembered the Whitticombs were invited to her father's party.
"Is he really as bad as they say? " Olivia asked with curiosity as they rode home in the comfortable Cadillac at the end of the evening.
Victoria wasn't paying any attention to them, she had had a nice time talking to some woman about politics, and she had seemed to have a great deal to say on the subject.
But Edward Henderson smiled at the elder of the twins and shrugged in answer to her question. "One has to be careful of men like Tobias Whitticomb, my dear, he's very handsome and very young, and probably very appealing to most women. But in all fairness to him, I gather that most of his conquests are among married women, and they ought to be wise enough to know better. And if not, then more pity to them. I don't think he goes around ravishing young girls, or I wouldn't have had you invite him to our dinner."
"Who's this? " Victoria asked vaguely, as she turned her attention to their conversation. They were almost home by then, and she wasn't particularly intrigued, as she hadn't heard the earlier conversation.
"Apparently, Father has invited some terrible libertine to our party, and our hostess tonight was warning us about him."
"Does he murder women and young children? " Victoria asked, almost without interest.
"Apparently just the opposite, " Olivia explained to her. "He's supposed to be very charming, and women drop at his feet, like little dogs, waiting for him to love them."
"How disgusting, " Victoria said with unreserved disapproval, as Olivia and their father laughed at her reaction. "Why are we inviting him? "
"He has a charming wife as well."
"And does she wait for men to drop at her feet too? They could create quite a problem at the party, with everyone dropping on the floor around them all evening." They were at the house by then, and the three of them went in, tired, and well pleased with their evening. And the subject of Tobias Whitticomb was quickly forgotten.
But in spite of having invited the dubious Whitticombs, who had actually accepted by then, they were all looking forward to their party.
Almost everyone they had asked had accepted, and there were going to be forty-six guests at four round tables in their dining room, and dancing in their drawing room afterwards, and even a rather elaborate tent over the garden so people could stroll there. Olivia had gone to a great deal of trouble on behalf of her father.
It seemed only moments before the big day arrived, and for two days, Olivia did nothing but check flowers and linens and china. She tasted food, and watched them set up the tent over the garden. There were ice sculptures set up in the dining room, and the orchestra arrived and she put them in the drawing room. The preparations seemed to go on forever.
Mrs. Peabody did what she could, but even she seemed slightly overwhelmed, and of course Victoria could never be found in time to make herself useful. In the past weeks, she had begun to gather a circle of friends, most of them fairly intellectual, one or two of them writers, and several of them artists, all living in odd places. She had begun visiting them at their studios, and she found that they shared many of the same political views. She was making far more friends than Olivia, who always seemed to be busy taking care of either the house or their father.
Victoria had always told her that she needed to get out more than she did, and Olivia promised she would, as soon as she finished organizing the party. After that, she would be free to do whatever she wanted.
In fact, they were going to the Astors' ball the next day, and she could hardly wait to enjoy someone else's evening. But tonight was her big moment as a hostess. This was the first New York party she'd ever given.
And she was actually trembling with excitement when she and Victoria came downstairs in the dark green satin gowns she'd had made by their seamstress in Croton.
They had bustles in the back and small trains and the low-cut bodices were encrusted with jet beads. Their hair was piled high on their heads, and they were wearing high-heeled black velvet slippers. And they each wore the long strand of pearls they had gotten from their father when they turned eighteen, and identical diamond earrings. They were like a vision of symmetry, a perfect duet, and even the way they moved seemed in complete unison, as Olivia checked everything one last time, and Victoria followed her around the room looking happy and excited.
The band had just begun to play, and the house looked extraordinary, almost completely lit with candles. All of the chandeliers had been lit, there were fragrant flowers everywhere, and the twins themselves looked incredible as they stood in the candlelit drawing room, next to their very handsome father. He took a step back for a moment, looking at them, and it was impossible not to be struck by how beautiful they were, how graceful, and how poised. One of them would have been dazzling, but two left one staring at them in mesmerized disbelief, which was exactly what happened when the guests began to arrive and saw the twins standing beside their father. Prepared as people may have been, suddenly seeing them there took one's breath away, and the guests stared at them constantly, unable to remember which was which, and in some ways, seeing them more as a unit. Neither seemed whole without the other just behind her.
They identified themselves quickly to their friends, and Edward introduced them to everyone, but most of the guests had no idea which twin was Olivia and which Victoria, and Charles Dawson didn't even try when he arrived. He simply greeted them both with a warm smile, and glanced with interest from one to the other. And it was only when he actually began speaking to them in the drawing room that he began to sense again which one was the wilder one, and in a lowered voice, he even dared to tease her about it.
"This is a long way from the Fifth Precinct, isn't it? " he asked with a spark in his own eye, and Victoria looked at him with unabashed defiance, as she grinned at him, not even embarrassed lest anyone might hear her. "I told Olivia, you should have let them arrest me. I expected it. I was actually very disappointed when they didn't."
