Ella and William gazed out at the horizon from the boat, lost in their own thoughts as the rising sun cast a mirrored reflection of trees on the water. They were on their way to see cousin Frederick. Ike left them off at the mouth of the Marion River. From there they had a short walk over the rapids to meet the new steamboat, part of the Durant transportation system, waiting to take them to Blue Mountain Lake and Frederick’s Prospect House Hotel.
“What is all of this steam business costing?” Ella turned her attention away from the horizon to William.
William shrugged. “The company lawyers, Mr. Sutphen and Mr. Barbour deal in numbers. I just assist in the logistics. I’m adding another steamboat to our line to carry passengers onto Raquette Lake. No more guideboats.”
“And what will we gain from it?”
“We shall see more people coming to the area and investing in our land once we make it easier for them to travel. Now that father has lost his chance at the 20,000 acres around here, our last hope may be this steamboat line and the land holdings we can sell.”
“I wonder if we’ll ever see England again,” Ella sighed, “or are we destined to remain in this wild place?” She reached for a maple leaf hanging from a branch above her on the path.
“I used to wonder that as well,” William said.
“Our friends in England would like the hunting here though, wouldn’t they?” she said. “Do you think my lady friends would enjoy these views?”
William stopped her. “You do realize that even if you ever do make it back to England, our friends, your friends, will be married off and settled into their affairs. The days of masked balls and dances are behind us.”
Ella smacked the leaf playfully across his face. “My goodness, you sound like an old man. You’re only twenty-eight. Most men your age are only starting to think about marriage.”
William scuffed a twig with his foot and contemplated what Ella said, then reached down to pick it up.
“Not true. Bill Napier was married this year after all. It is about time for me as well I think.”
“You can’t be serious! Who would you marry?” Ella was incredulous, as far as she knew William was not courting anyone in New York, so who then was he talking about? Could it be Louise? She shook off the notion knowing what William already did —their parents would never allow it.
“I used to think about returning to England all the time,” he said, continuing to walk while twirling the twig between his thumb and pointer finger. “But I’ve come to realize that our life in America is all that we have to look forward to now.” He tossed the twig in the air ahead of them. “Maybe though it was all meant to be this way,” William looked around him. “Although it’s not the Isle of Wight, these woods aren’t such a bad place to spend idle time.”
“Dear brother, you may enjoy being a gadabout in the woods, but I do not. Which reminds me, when will you go back to living in New York City so I can stay with you?”
“So you can rendezvous with Poultney?”
“Poultney has other affairs I’m sure. Besides, he told me he plans to attend law school at Columbia once he finishes at Yale. He’ll be too preoccupied to spend time with me.”
It was William’s turn to laugh. “He’ll find the time I am sure.”
When they arrived at Prospect House Frederick was consulting with one of his workmen on the massive front porch.
“Three hundred rooms — an electric light and running water in each!” He walked his cousins through the hotel, once in awhile pointing out something to William and asking him what he thought. It stood six stories tall, and there were two levels of decks overlooking the water. William gaped at the enormity of the structure. The ceilings in the ballroom reminded him of those they’d seen in the aristocratic households of Europe.
“We will hold grand dances, it will be The Place to Be in the summer.”
William was quiet on the way back. Besides the tour of the hotel, he couldn’t help but notice the new mill Frederick had erected on site and the forests around the hotel being cut to provide the wood for construction. The roads were deeply rutted from the supplies being carried in by horse and wagon. And all of the people working on-site turned the area into a minor city: tents and shanties, men drinking, smoking, and cursing. He’d never seen anything like it before —except once — when they went to visit their father while he was building the transcontinental line out west.
“Why does he have to make it so big?” Ella was reading his thoughts.
“I don’t know. Durant trait I suppose. I’m sure father is goading him along. I know he was the one that asked Thomas Edison to build the steam generator that will provide the electricity. And that alone will take enormous amounts of wood to run.”
“I’d say our cousin has bit off more than he can chew,” Ella said.
“Don’t be a quencher, Ella,” William said.
“Pfft,” she replied, and turned her attention to the scenery.