Chapter Twenty-Six
Arthur
On a warm Saturday in July, Arthur and Jesse were heading to the World’s Fair for the private event.
Inside the carriage, Arthur shifted his position on the cushion, crossing his legs one way and then the other as his emotions ricocheted between trepidation and a bit of self-loathing, the latter only tempered because of Jesse’s wonderful presence.
Jesse placed a hand on Arthur’s knee and patted it.
Arthur covered Jesse’s hand with his own.
At least he and Jesse had been lucky thus far in terms of their unlikely friendship not being openly scrutinized by others who had seen them around Chicago.
Twice now they had run into people whom Arthur knew from Prairie Avenue—once at the fair and once on Prairie Avenue itself when one of the neighbors had spotted Jesse coming over one evening.
If either of those people suspected that he and Jesse were more than merely friends, neither had made a comment hinting as such.
Perhaps there was a possibility that no one who Arthur knew might ever consider that a romantic or sexual relationship existed between he and Jesse since he’d been married to Ella all those years ago.
Hopefully his and Jesse’s friendship could continue to be written off as one of Arthur’s numerous eccentricities.
It only took Arthur and Jesse forty more minutes to reach the fairgrounds at Jackson Park.
Patrick stopped the carriage outside of the entrance on Sixty-Seventh Street.
Later, once the event was over, Arthur and Jesse would take one of the streetcars back home, either to his place or to Jesse’s, so that Patrick could rest (or spend more time with Giuseppe).
Since it was two minutes before nine, the last of the fairgoers were exiting, pouring out of the nearby break in the fence.
Arthur was finally letting himself internalize how fun the evening was sure to be, and he found his heart speeding up a little as his excitement began to blossom.
Hooking his hands behind his back, Arthur rocked on his heels while he and Jesse watched and waited for their opportunity to enter.
It wouldn’t have been polite for them to try to push their way through now, as much as Arthur wanted to.
Best for them to stay back until the crowd thinned.
But, oh, was he starting to feel excited!
Several minutes later, they had their chance. Together, they walked up to the fellow working the entry booth. Arthur bowed his head cordially.
“Good evening. We’re here for the private event,” Arthur said.
“Splendid,” the man replied. He took out a notebook and opened it. “Names?”
“I’m Arthur Hughes, and this is my friend, Jesse O’Connor. His name won’t be on the list, though. I’ve brought him as my guest.”
The man frowned. “Apologies, Mr. Hughes, but I was told not to permit people to enter who weren’t on the list. Mr. McCormick was very specific. He wanted to keep the event to a select few families. Your friend can come back tomorrow. We’ll be open to the public until eleven.”
“But I know Mr. McCormick personally,” Arthur argued. “Our families are friends. I’m certain that if you simply ask him whether or not my friend can come, he’ll—”
“Sorry, sir, but I can’t leave my post.”
“Well, what if you let me through, and Mr. O’Connor can wait here while I find Mr. McCormick so that I can ask his permission for Mr. O’Connor’s entry?” Arthur suggested.
Jesse touched his arm. “Arthur, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Arthur huffed before looking back over at the man at the booth.
“Look, I know Mr. McCormick won’t mind. I’m sure that they’ll have plenty of spare seats for the concert at the Music Hall.
And, of course, we won’t even be close to the capacity limitations of the other buildings we’ll be visiting. ”
Jesse thumbed over his shoulder. “Actually, would you mind if we talk over there, Arthur?”
Arthur sighed. “Not at all,” he said and then forced a smile while Jesse walked out of earshot. “I’m sorry for the trouble,” he remarked to the fair worker. “We’ll be back shortly.”
Arthur caught up with Jesse near the street corner. Before Arthur could reassure him how simple it would be to speak with Mr. McCormick—a family friend whom Arthur had known for most of his life—Jesse began talking.
“I know you want to fix this, and I’m sure you could fix it, but, Arthur, this kind of thing, it’ll keep happening.
Over and over. Do you really think that I can come with you to every party?
Every exclusive event? People will talk.
Even your insistence that I come with you to this one . . . it isn’t worth the headache.”
“But it’ll be fun. Don’t you want to see the fair right now? All lit up for the evening?”
“You heard the man at the booth. We can come back tomorrow.”
Arthur scrubbed his forehead with his fingertips. “I suppose you’re right. It’ll be a shame to miss the special concert, though.”
Heaving a sigh, Arthur turned to cross Stony Island Avenue, but Jesse’s hand shot out and caught his wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“Going home. Don’t we have to catch the streetcar a few blocks up?”
“Yes, I have to. You have to go back to the fair.”
“Jesse, I can’t. Oh, what a terrible partner I would be.”
“You wouldn’t be terrible. Aren’t you listening to me? I’m telling you to go enjoy the event. Just because I can’t come with you doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to attend.”
“Yes, it does mean that,” Arthur argued. “Jesse, the night I sent you home, look what happened between us.”
Jesse took a step forward and took hold of Arthur’s tie to straighten it. Or, most likely, to pretend to straighten it so that they could be close.
“Ridiculous man,” he said softly as he tugged on Arthur’s tie.
“It’s not the same. Not even a little. You won’t be sending me away.
I’m sending myself away. And I want you to have fun.
I know how much you love the fair. I know you’d enjoy showing those people how much knowledge you have about the printing presses in the Machinery Building.
Most of all, though, I know how important it is to you that you make your parents happy. ”
Furrowing his brow, Arthur studied Jesse’s face, scrutinizing the man’s expression for insincerity. Jesse only stared back with unbridled fondness, not a trace of hurt in his beautiful eyes. After a moment, Jesse’s lips curled into a half-smile.
“Please, Arthur. I want you to be happy.”
“Alright,” Arthur said through an exhale, his own lips curling into a warm but somewhat reluctant smile in return. “I want to come back here with you one evening in the future, though. I think we ought to experience the fair together at night.”
“We will. I promise.”
Finally, Jesse removed his hand, letting it fall to his side.
Arthur’s chest pinched from the sudden loss of contact.
Grimacing, Arthur shut his eyes and tried to push away the worry that Jesse might feel rejected by this.
Because Jesse was right. The two of them were from separate worlds.
No matter how in love they were, Arthur was still a Hughes.
He couldn’t simply bring his friend from the print shop with him to every single event where he’d be expected to make an appearance.
And, God, there would be a lot of them in the future. Most more tedious than this one.
Jesse nodded toward the entry booth.
“Go on, Arthur. If you’d like, you can still come to my place later. I’ll try to stay up.”
Arthur smiled. What a wonderful man Jesse was.
“I’ll be there,” Arthur promised.
Inhaling a breath to steady his nerves, Arthur turned and headed back toward the fair. He forced himself not to look over his shoulder on the way to the booth, lest he regret his choice and hurry back to Jesse, regardless of what Jesse had told him.
After the fellow manning the booth let Arthur inside, Arthur headed to the Administration Building, working his way toward the electric fountain, which was where everyone had been scheduled to meet.
Entering the Court of Honor, Arthur’s eyes went wide with wonderment the moment the Great Basin came into view.
Its water sparkled magnificently, shimmering in the beautiful bright lights of the moon and the stars and the thousands of lightbulbs that were illuminating every building surrounding it. Goodness, it was beautiful.
All of the buildings looked incredible, too, their white facades now possessing an ethereal glow.
Approaching the band stand, Arthur spun in a circle, thunderstruck by the fair’s splendor.
Why hadn’t he come here with Jesse this late in the night before?
At this hour, the fair was nothing short of breathtaking.
When Arthur whirled back around, he slammed into someone and nearly fell backward onto his rear end.
Thankfully, his potentially embarrassing fall was prevented as that same someone caught him.
Arthur mumbled an apology as he righted himself.
Once Arthur was steady on his feet, he realized with whom he had collided.
Percy Verne.
“Good evening, Arthur,” Percy said merrily. “I was wondering if you’d come.”
Arthur forced a smile. “Good evening, Percy. I nearly stayed home, but . . .” He trailed off and shrugged.
“But we never can miss these things, can we?” Percy said.
Arthur’s stomach soured, the sensation causing his smile to falter.
Percy began walking toward the fountain.
And Arthur found himself thinking back on the story that Jesse had shared with him about Percy.
He and Percy were alike in some ways, weren’t they?
Both of them needed to take care to follow certain rules.
Both of them were expected to walk a specific path in life, whether they liked it or not.
After a moment, Arthur hurried to catch up to Jesse’s former beau.