Mrs. Lincoln's Rival Read Online Free PDF

ordinary man. In fact, his behavior marked him as
worse
than an ordinary man, for he had been willing to sacrifice two innocent women to his carnal desire—and he had left one less innocent than before.
    Kate knew her father would be displeased to find her the subject of gossip once again, even if it were inspired by a good deed done on his own behalf rather than the reckless actions of a foolish girl who thought she was in love.
    • • •
    More than a week later, just as Kate had stopped dreading the delivery of the morning paper and had begun to hope that Mr. French would write nothing of the events at the prison, or that he had already done so but had not mentioned her role in them, her father came home from the capitol agitated and scowling. She felt herself shrinking inwardly as she waited for the storm to burst, wondering whether he would reprimand her at dinner in front of Nettie and their aunt or if he would take her aside and scold her alone. She hardly knew which she would prefer.
    He chose breakfast the next morning, slapping upon the center of the table a newspaper folded open to the headline, “A Pardon Scene—Miss Chase.” As he lectured her on the dangers of putting herself forward in public, she nodded, half-listening, as she read the article, fearing the worst. “On Saturday afternoon,” Mr. French had written after a brief account of the unnamed prisoner’s ordeal, “Governor Chase’s daughter, a fair and noble girl of seventeen or eighteen summers—and who in her person proves that the generally accepted truth that ‘great men never have great sons,’ does not reach daughters—takes the Pardon and makes her way to the Prison.” A dramatic and somewhat embellished description of the prisoner’s response to his pardon followed, and the piece concluded on a note of apology: “The fair and modest heroine, I know will shrink from this public recital; but one cannot forbear telling so beautiful an event.”
    “That wasn’t as dreadful as I had feared,” Kate said as she passed the newspaper on to her aunt. At one warning glance from her father, she quickly amended, “Although I
do
shrink from publicity, and I wish the reporter had shown forbearance.”
    “A lady should strive to keep her name out of the papers,” her father admonished. “She should be mentioned only upon the occasions of her marriage and of her death.”
    “Twice more only for me, then,” Kate replied cheerfully, immediately regretting it when her father’s scowl deepened. “Father, you must know that I didn’t seek out this attention.”
    “The press is a tool to be used judiciously to achieve a worthy goal,” her father said, rapping on the table for emphasis. “Do not let
it
use
you
.”
    “I had no idea Mr. French was a newspaperman until it was too late,” Kate protested. “I thought he was a clerk.”
    “He should have identified himself,” Aunt Alice said. “He should have made his intentions clear from the beginning.”
    Kate threw her a grateful look.
    Her father heaved a sigh of resignation. “You must be more cautious in the future,” he scolded, but more gently than before. “Anything you do or say could be remarked upon by others. You must be irreproachable, not only in your conduct but also in your private thoughts, though only you and God will know them.”
    “I understand,” Kate replied, and she promised to do all she could not to displease him again.
    The meal ended, and Father disappeared into his study to read pending legislation and write letters. Kate knew better than to attempt to cajole him into a game of chess, but she was pleased when, as he called the family together for their customary evening prayers, he smiled fondly to show her that all was forgiven. “Would you put the Bible away, my dear Katie?” he asked afterward, and she knew it was his way of telling her that she had not lost his trust.
    Alone in his study, she hesitated before returning the holy book to its shelf,