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ALTHOUGH EVANGELINE was skeptical that Hettie Vangilder would allow Perdita’s tether to stretch that far, the mother had consented to her daughter’s Hull House outing with Evangeline. No doubt, Hettie sought to use her daughter to endear herself to someone in Mrs. Palmer’s inner circle. Whatever the motive might be, Evangeline was pleased to find Perdita waiting for her outside the Palmer House, where a cab whisked them off to Hull House for the afternoon.
The mansion had originally been the home of one of Chicago’s wealthy antebellum citizens, but its westside neighborhood had since been abandoned by the rich and claimed by impoverished sweatshop workers. In 1889, two university-educated spinsters, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, decided to conduct a charitable experiment at Hull House. They were motivated by the example of Toynbee Hall in London, which advocated settling university men in poor neighborhoods to help uplift the inhabitants through contact with and training by the privileged classes. With this ideal in mind, Addams and Starr moved into the Hull mansion and converted it to a settlement house. They then invited their immigrant neighbors to visit.
From the very start, the experiment proved successful and inspired many similar settlement houses throughout the United States. By 1895, Hull House was drawing the attention of progressives across the country as well as in Europe. It had also attracted the notice of college-educated females whose energy and independence found a constructive outlet in social reform.
As their cab drew up to the jumble of buildings on the corner of Polk and Halsted streets, Perdita turned questioningly to her companion. “Miss LeClair? I thought you said we were going to a mansion.”
“Please, do call me Engie.” Evangeline alighted with her young friend and sent the driver on his way. “Hull House started out as a residence, but several other buildings now surround it. Miss Addams and Miss Starr are always adding to the complex. Come. I’ll show you the original structure.”
She led Perdita through a courtyard to a recessed porch. Because buildings adjoined the house on either side, it would have been difficult to pick out the original outline of the two-story, Italianate mansion. Evangeline made for the slender pillars that flanked the entrance and opened the front door. She then traversed a long reception room furnished with several rocking chairs that terminated at a desk against the back wall. Perdita followed close on her heels.
“Hello, Martha,” Evangeline greeted the attendant. “I wanted to show Hull House to my friend and was hoping to introduce her to the founders. Are either of them here?”
The receptionist shook her head. “Miss Jane is in a meeting with the mayor, and Miss Ellen is attending a suffrage club session in Oak Park.”
“Too bad.” Evangeline frowned. “Any objection if I give Miss Vangilder the grand tour?”
Martha grinned. “Proceed at will, Miss LeClair.” To Perdita, she added, “I hope you enjoy seeing our settlement house.”
Taken aback by the direct address, Perdita mumbled, “Yes, I’m sure I will. Thank you.” She ducked behind Evangeline as the latter turned to the left and began mounting the stairs to the second floor.
Evangeline paused before a room that might once have been a large bedroom but was now fitted out as a classroom with about twenty desks, a chalkboard, and a teacher’s podium. “This is where I teach evening classes in literature,” she announced. “People sign up, hoping to improve their reading skills and English pronunciation. Because my students come from so many different nationalities, it can be quite a challenge to understand all their accents.”
Her companion’s eyes swept across the room. In a pensive tone, she observed, “You have no trouble taking charge, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Evangeline laughed. “Admittedly, there’s a bit of the major general in my temperament.”
“Please don’t misunderstand.” Perdita rushed to clarify herself. “I’m just so impressed by your self-assurance. You and the other ladies. Miss Addams and Miss Starr. They meet with mayors and organize committees.” The young woman gazed down at the floor. “All I’m fit for is to sip tea in a parlor, and Mother says I don’t even do that gracefully enough.”
Evangeline strolled down the hall with her young friend following. “It just takes practice, that’s all. Miss Jane is quite shy by nature. When she was your age, she must have behaved much as you do. Experience of the wider world has given her the assurance she exhibits now.”
“Do you really think so?” Perdita asked earnestly. “That if I had the chance, I could develop confidence too?”
With an emphatic nod, Evangeline said, “Most certainly.” Moving on to a door on her left, she said, “Here we have the day nursery.” Evangeline waved a greeting to two women who were managing a dozen toddlers creeping across the carpets or playing with building blocks. “Many of the neighborhood women work in factories to bring in more income for their families. Unfortunately, there’s no one at home to look after the little ones, so they bring them here. We also have a nursery for babies and a kindergarten for youngsters who are almost of school age. The ladies you see in this room are volunteers.”
Perdita tilted her head quizzically. “So, these ladies aren’t the mothers of any of these children?”
“Gracious, no,” Evangeline laughed. “Most of the female volunteers at Hull House are spinsters like the founders and myself.” She glanced at her companion’s face, noticing that it had grown troubled. “Does that fact disturb you?”
The young woman sighed. “I’ve been told that it is a woman’s natural role in life to be a mother.”
Evangeline raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Does a man shirk his natural role if he fails to become a father?”
Without pausing to consider, Perdita said, “No, I don’t believe so.”
“And why, do you suppose that is? It seems to me that if one is going to define a female in exclusively biological terms, one ought to do the same to a male.”
Perdita scowled in concentration. “That is peculiar, now that you mention it. Many men go through life as bachelors.”
“And many women go through life as spinsters by choice,” her companion retorted. “Seeing all the good that the ladies have done here to support the community, do you think Miss Addams or Miss Starr would have made a greater contribution to the world by giving birth to children of their own?”
Perdita’s gaze slid away. “I’ve been told that all women should want to become mothers because we have something called maternal instinct.”
“Rubbish!” Evangeline countered. “The same men who circulated that nonsensical theory would be the first to deny the notion of paternal instinct. Do you yourself want to become a mother?”
Completely taken aback by the direct question, Perdita faltered. Her eyes darted away as she murmured, “Not right now, but I’ve always thought that it was unnatural that I shouldn’t. I feel guilty that I don’t want what every other woman in the world wants.”
“No matter what you’ve been told, not every woman in the world wants to breed babies.” Evangeline swept her arm around the room. “As you can see, there are many here who choose to forego a husband and children. It is quite possible to lead a life of purpose and fulfillment without them. Given the unenlightened state of our laws, in which a woman becomes a man’s property upon marriage, I hardly see how it is possible for a married woman to act for the common good at all. Her ideals are doomed to sink beneath the weight of domestic servitude.”
“Mrs. Palmer is married and has children,” Perdita observed softly. “Yet she seems very involved in civic affairs.”
“Quite true,” Evangeline concurred. “But you must remember that Mrs. Palmer is also wealthy. She has servants to look after her children and perform the daily chores of her household. Many of the social reformers at this settlement come from the middle class. Without domestic support, it would be impossible for them to lead the charge for national reform. So, they’ve opted to forgo family responsibilities altogether.”
“But what about you?” the young woman insisted. “You’re wealthy. If you wanted a husband and family, you could afford servants to look after things while you continue your work here at Hull House.”
“I know my personal limitations.” Evangeline chuckled ruefully. “If I were to be a wife, a mother, and a social reformer, I would only succeed in doing three things badly instead of doing one thing well. Besides, you may not realize the legal rights that a single woman surrenders when she marries. Under the eyes of the law, a married woman is treated as her husband’s appendage. She is incapable of executing contracts, managing property, or controlling her own earnings. Spinsterhood seems a far more desirable state to me. I can at least limit the degree to which the law treats me as an incompetent imbecile.”
Perdita’s eyes grew round at Evangeline’s heretical views. “Oh, my! I’ve never heard anyone say such things before.”
Evangeline linked her arm through the young woman’s as they moved onward. “That’s because you haven’t been exposed to any progressive ideas. Hull House is chock full of them!”
“Being a spinster sounds like heaven compared to being married,” Perdita concluded.
“Relatively speaking, it is,” Evangeline agreed. “However, even the freedoms of spinsterhood are subject to the vagaries of the law regarding females in general. Consider the fact that I cannot vote yet I am still obligated to pay property taxes even though ‘no taxation without representation’ was the battle cry of the American Revolution. Likewise, I would be judged fit to stand trial for murder if ever I committed one and would pay with my life if found guilty, the same as any man. It seems to me that someone who is too stupid to manage her own money or vote in an election should also be judged too stupid to plan and execute a murder. Alas, the courts don’t agree with me.”
After this comment, Evangeline lapsed into silence, wisely judging that Perdita needed time to assimilate the radical notions that had just been introduced to her. They traveled onward without speaking until they arrived at the next stop on their tour. This was the arts and crafts rooms where boys and girls learned trades like bookbinding, weaving, and pottery making.
“The founders believe that young people of both sexes should learn useful trades that will raise them above the level of sweatshop toil,” Evangeline explained. “A girl who earns her own living can achieve independence.”
These words seemed to spur a new mood of gloom in Perdita. “Mother says my only hope of survival is to marry well.”
“Really?” Evangeline’s tone was skeptical. “Your mother gives advice that she herself doesn’t follow. She strikes me as a confirmed widow.”
“Yes, she is,” Perdita agreed. “But Mother has a strong constitution and a stronger temperament. She says I am lacking in both.”
“Freddie tells me you handle a horse quite well,” Evangeline observed, seemingly apropos of nothing.
Perdita glanced at her in puzzlement.
“It takes strength and determination to master a beast several times one’s own size.” She paused to place both her hands on the young woman’s shoulders and gave her a little shake for emphasis. “You can’t be nearly as weak in body or spirit as your mother seems to believe.”
A slow smile spread across Perdita’s features as if the concept of her own fortitude were being revealed to her for the first time. “I suppose that’s true. I admitted as much to Freddie the first day we went riding together.”
“You see.” Evangeline was already moving toward their next destination. “Try to remember that the next time your mother holds forth on the subject of your frailty.”
The ladies threaded their way from one building to the next, up numerous flights of stairs and down others. They toured the spacious coffee house where lectures and classes were held, a library lined with glass cases of books, and a cavernous auditorium for staging plays and speeches.
“We’ve had many distinguished speakers at Hull House,” Evangeline said. “The world’s best and brightest find their way to our doors. These men and women share their ideas with the denizens of this institution who then go on to inspire others beyond its walls.” Evangeline wheeled to regard Perdita intently. “Have you never thought about attending a university to acquire any higher learning for yourself?”
“Me?” Perdita seemed abashed by the question. “I’ve been to boarding schools and finishing schools.”
“And what did you learn there?”
“Mainly, I learned good posture. I was forced to wear a metal rod against my spine for several months to keep me from slouching.” Perdita paused to recollect her training. “Aside from that, there were some music lessons. A smattering of foreign language. Etiquette.”
“So, no philosophy or great literature of any kind?”
“Certainly not.” Perdita seemed shocked by the question. “Mother once told me that my wits are as weak as my constitution. She said that all I needed was instruction in how to act like a lady. At finishing school, we were taught that deep thinking is a man’s game. Ladies should cultivate the arts and graces of the drawing room.” She sighed. “The ultimate goal was that we should present a pleasing enough demeanor to ensure a brilliant marriage.”
“By brilliant, I assume you’re not referring to a potential husband’s intellectual capacity?” Evangeline asked dryly.
Failing to register her companion’s ironic tone, Perdita answered, “Oh, no. A fortune or a title in a spouse was the most desirable attribute.” She paused. “I think you wouldn’t have liked to attend the schools I did.”
Evangeline burst out laughing. “I daresay, I shouldn’t have.”
As if realizing something for the first time, Perdita remarked, “It’s because you’re so different. So independent. You think for yourself. None of my schoolmates ever did. We were all trained to think the same things—” She broke off. “I assumed everybody believed just as we did. Until now.”
“Indeed. Shall we move on?” Evangeline forged ahead in their tour, wisely allowing Perdita to digest her latest epiphany in silence for a few moments.
They spent some time listening to a committee debating the most effective way to change child labor laws. They toured the vacant guest chambers for visiting dignitaries and volunteers, the public baths, the gymnasium, and the outdoor children’s playground.
They stopped for a moment to gaze at the green space. “This is the first of its kind in the city,” Evangeline announced proudly.
“But why?” Perdita seemed puzzled by the concept of an open area devoted to the diversion of children.
“Because Jane Addams was appalled that the children of the neighborhood had no means of amusement other than catching rats through gaps in the sidewalks.”
“Oh, dear.” Perdita placed a hand over her mouth, apparently horrified by the image that Evangeline’s words conjured.
“Shall we go back inside?” the latter suggested sweetly, having made her point.
Fatigued from hours on their feet, both women gratefully slipped into chairs at a trestle table in the residents’ dining hall.
“Well, now that you’ve seen the entire institution, what do you think?” Evangeline asked.
Perdita’s mouth began to work, trying to form words, but nothing came out.
Her tour guide laughed. “So impressed that it’s left you speechless, has it?”
Perdita nodded solemnly. “I’ve never seen anything like this place. It’s as if I stepped into an entirely different world. A better world than the one I know. Oh, how I wish I could stay in such a place forever!”
“Hull House is always looking for willing volunteers,” Evangeline hinted gently.
“Oh, if it could only be so!” Perdita exclaimed fervently.
“Perhaps you could talk things over with your fiancé,” Evangeline suggested. “He might understand if your life were to take a different course.”
“It’s hard to know whether he would understand or not since I’ve never met him.”
Evangeline was thunderstruck. “You’ve never...” She trailed off, having difficulty comprehending the notion. “When you said that your mother arranged the marriage, I assumed you had at least met your intended face to face!”
“Well, we’ve corresponded for several months. He tells me how happy it would make him to marry me.”
“But you’ve never met him,” Evangeline repeated insistently.
“No.” Perdita faltered. “Mother says meeting him before the wedding is unimportant. I will grow to love him in time.”
“I’ve always heard that familiarity breeds contempt,” her companion shot back. “My dear, what can you be thinking to contract such an alliance sight unseen? It’s positively medieval!”
Perdita winced. “I don’t want to marry him, but Mother says I must.”
“She cannot force you. As limited as women’s rights are in this country, there are laws against that kind of coercion.”
“She says she has been forced to make this arrangement because I leave her no choice,” Perdita whispered.
“Because you leave HER no choice?” Evangeline repeated cautiously, thinking she had misheard the phrase.
Perdita gazed off into the distance, recalling a past conversation. “Mother says that I have no advantages to recommend me. I’m not clever, nor particularly pretty. I’m not accomplished, and my education has been haphazard. The duke is the best match she could arrange for me. She also pointed out that I’m approaching the age of twenty-one, and she shouldn’t be held responsible for my future financial maintenance. That is a husband’s role.”
A tear slid down the young woman’s cheek, and she did nothing to check its progress. “I once worked up the nerve to tell her I would make my own way in the world, but she only laughed. She said that someone of my limited experience has no idea what a terrifying place the world really is. She said someone as gullible and naïve as I am would never stand a chance.” Perdita glanced helplessly at Evangeline. “The worst part of it is that I think she’s right. I have no idea how to take care of myself.”
“But there must be someone who can help you establish your independence. Surely someone in your family might offer assistance.”
Perdita gave a bitter laugh. “I have no other relatives but Mother and Cassius, and they both agree that I’m helpless.”
Evangeline’s eyes narrowed. “Your mother and brother seem to be of one mind on most matters.”
“On all matters. They are entirely in one another’s confidence. They even have a strange ritual that they perform sometimes. I’m never invited to participate, of course.”
“A ritual?” Evangeline sat forward, her curiosity piqued.
“I never noticed it much when we were at home, but we’re living at close quarters now that we’re traveling. It’s their custom to keep a decanter of Madeira and two glasses in the drawing room wherever we stay. Sometimes, when they think I’m asleep, I can hear them toasting some success or victory that they’ve had. I never know what they’re engaged in together that would be considered a victory, but this ritual of theirs happens at least once a week. Lately, it’s been more frequent than that.”
“How very curious,” Evangeline murmured, not sure what to make of the odd custom. “And you have no idea what business they’re conducting?”
“None. I have taken it into my head to listen at the bedroom door, though. My room adjoins the parlor in the Palmer House suite.”
Evangeline realized that Perdita might be ideally situated to discover if her family was indeed involved in criminal activities. “While I don’t ordinarily condone eavesdropping,” she said, “it might ease your mind to know what binds them together so closely.” As an afterthought, she cautioned, “Take care not to get caught.”
Perdita shrugged. “I’m as invisible as a ghost to them most of the time unless I’ve done something they disapprove of.”
Evangeline was silent a moment as she debated her next comment. “If you had any other alternative, you would prefer not to marry the duke.”
Shaking her head violently, Perdita said, “Never in a million years.”
“That is a dilemma.”
The young woman smiled. “Not as great a dilemma as it was before I met you.” She leaned forward over the table. “I don’t feel so completely alone now. You and Freddie have been so kind to me.” She hesitated. “You’ve given me the courage to hope that I might make a life of my own choosing.”
“Such a step requires careful planning,” Evangeline cautioned.
‘Yes, of course,” Perdita agreed. “I need some time to think about how to go about it.”
“That would be the wisest course,” Evangeline agreed. “I’m always available for a chat if you need a friend to talk to.”
“A friend.” Perdita pondered the phrase solemnly. “I’ve never had one.”
“Now you have two,” Evangeline reminded her. “Freddie and me.” She felt a sense of foreboding as she pondered Perdita’s chances against the combined forces of Hettie and Cassius Vangilder. Two would hardly be enough.