THE CALVERTS
Chapter Thirteen
July 5, 1917
John walked into
Elizabeth’s office the next morning. "There’s a matter I need to discuss
with you," he told her, as soon as she had set the pile of papers she was
perusing aside.
"Go
ahead." She gestured for him to have a seat.
John sat down,
glancing around the tastefully decorated office. Over the past fourteen months,
Elizabeth had proven to be as astute at business as her late husband was, and
far more shrewd about employee relations. Her work in smoothing things over
between employees and management had increased production greatly, with far
less time being lost to strikes and deliberate slowdowns in production. The
business, which had been in slow decline for several years, had increased its
profits over the past year, once the management got used to having a woman in
charge. Things were looking up.
"I received a
draft notice three days ago," John told her, showing her the telegram.
"This is a
problem." Elizabeth sat back in her chair, looking at the draft notice.
"I will have to find someone to take your place while you’re gone. You’re
a hard act to follow, John; I’ll say that. Of course, your job will be waiting
for you when you return."
"Is there any
way you can use your influence to keep me here instead of going to Europe, or
wherever I might be sent? I wouldn’t ask, but there is the problem of what to
do with Mary and Nadia while I’m gone. I thought of sending them to Rose in
California, but I don’t want to put that burden on her. She has enough to think
about as it is, and I have no one else I can rely on to take care of them.
They’re much too young to be left to fend for themselves, of course, no matter
how grown-up Mary thinks she is."
Elizabeth set the
telegram on the desk in front of her. "I wish that I could keep you here,
as a necessary part of the company, but I somehow doubt that I could. I’ve
already tried to keep several men from being drafted, without notable success.
The excuse is always that I can undoubtedly find someone to take their place.
Quite frankly, I think I would have more influence if I were a man, but I’m
not, and I just don’t command the same respect that James would have."
John shook his
head. "From what I’m told, you run things better than he ever did."
Elizabeth
half-smiled. "Be that as it may, bias against women in power is a fact,
and I can’t suddenly change it, no matter how advantageous it would be.
However," she paused, "I may be able to help you with Mary and Nadia.
They are my granddaughters, after all, and they would be more than welcome to
stay with me while you’re away."
"I thank you
for the offer, Elizabeth, but you’re away so much..."
"As are you,
though perhaps not as much as me, since I have no reason to stay home instead
of going on business trips and the like. Notwithstanding, I am still their
grandmother, and have an interest in their well being. You’re right, of course,
that they’re much too young to fend for themselves, and while I know that they
love Rose, and she would be an excellent caretaker while you’re gone, she has
another career now, and she wouldn’t have the time to look after them properly,
nor the money to hire someone to watch them. I’m amazed that she does what she
does with one child to care for, let alone three. If the girls come to stay
with me for the duration, I will cut back on my traveling, except for those
trips where I can bring them along, and hire a governess for them, who will
look after them while I am here. They will have to change schools, of course,
but this is summer, so it won’t be such a hard transition as changing in the
middle of the year." She thought for a moment. "When do you have to
report?"
John had already
memorized every word of the telegram. "August first."
"Of
course." Elizabeth looked at the telegram again, confirming his words.
"You don’t have to leave them with me, but they would be in a familiar
environment, and well cared for and provided for, while you’re gone. That’s
important, because they will worry about you. Children generally don’t like it
when a parent will be gone for a long time, as you may be, and it could be even
more difficult for them, since they have no mother."
John steepled his
fingers, thinking. What Elizabeth said made sense, though he had never
considered leaving the girls with her before. Many children did stay with their
grandparents under such circumstances, but he had never thought of Elizabeth as
one to keep them while he was away. Although they visited often, and adored
their grandmother, he had thought of her as a working woman who would have
little time for them. Elizabeth was very dedicated to the company, and he still
had trouble reconciling himself to the idea of a woman who both had a career
and children, though he knew several women, including Rose, who managed to
handle both. But most of those women had no choice but to work, while Elizabeth
could easily sit back and let others run the company. It seemed to him that
someone should be home for the children, though he had to admit that this view
was somewhat hypocritical, as he had raised his children alone or with the help
of a hired caretaker for most of their lives. Mary had only been four months
old when Jana had died, and he and Miriam had only been married for three
months before her death in the Titanic disaster. Jana’s mother had helped to
care for Mary, but for the most part John had raised her, and later Nadia,
himself, working to keep them fed at the same time.
"I do think it
would be in the girls’ best interest to keep them in a familiar
environment," Elizabeth told him, interrupting his thoughts. "You
would know where they were, and what kind of life they were living, as well. It
would be best for all concerned, I think, if you left them with me. I am their
only living relative this side of the Atlantic, and I don’t think this is a
good time to ship them off to England."
"No, it isn’t,"
John agreed. Thinking over what Elizabeth had said, he realized that she was
right. Mary and Nadia would be better off in a familiar setting while he was
away, and in the event that he did not return, he knew that Elizabeth would see
that they were provided for.
"All
right," he finally agreed. "I will have them packed and bring them to
you by the time I have to leave." He got to his feet to return to work.
"John."
Elizabeth’s voice stopped him. "I know that you worry about the girls, but
they’ll be fine. Children are very resilient, and they’ll adapt to your being
gone. Hopefully, you’ll be back before too much time has passed, and in the
meantime, I’ll see to it that they want for nothing."
John nodded his
head, grateful that the girls would be taken care of. "Thank you,
Elizabeth."
August 1, 1917
The car that
Elizabeth had sent for the girls and their belongings pulled up in front of the
mansion. Mary, Nadia, and John climbed out, as the driver began unloading the
children’s belongings and bringing them to the house.
John walked with
his daughters to the house. They knew that they would be staying with their
grandmother for a while, though no one could be sure for how long. Elizabeth
had already arranged several fun activities to take their minds off of their
father’s absence, and had taken a couple of weeks off from her work to help
them settle in.
As soon as the
girls were moved in, it was time for John to leave them. He had put this off as
long as possible, but he had to get to the train station soon, and there wasn’t
time for a long visit. The car that had brought them to Elizabeth’s home would
also take him to the station, so he had a few minutes to say good-bye to his
daughters.
Mary and Nadia had
been excited at the prospect of staying with their grandmother for a while, but
when they realized that their father was really going to be gone for a stretch,
the tears started.
"Daddy!"
Mary wailed, clinging to him. "Don’t go away."
"Yeah,"
Nadia added, competing with Mary to hold onto him. "We don’t want you to
leave."
John knelt down
their level. "It won’t be so bad. You’re going to have a lot of fun with
Grandma. She has lots of nice things planned--"
"No!"
Nadia wailed. "I wanna go with you!"
"Me,
too!" Mary chimed in, wrapping her arms around his neck.
John gently
disentangled them. "You can’t come with me. War is no place for a pair of
seven-year-old girls. It’s a nasty, dangerous thing."
"You don’t
have to go," Mary advised him. "If it’s nasty and dangerous, then you
shouldn’t go there either."
"I have to go,
Mary. I don’t have a choice."
"Why?"
Nadia asked.
"Because the
government says I have to."
"Why?"
"Because
that’s what they decided."
"Why did they
decide that?"
"Because...because
this is a democracy, and they want it to stay that way."
"What’s a
democracy?"
"It’s a system
where people are free to do what they want."
"Then why do
you have to leave?" Mary wanted to know, puzzled at this
contradiction.
"To make it
stay a democracy," John tried to explain.
"Why?"
"Because
that’s the way it is."
"Well then,
democracy is dumb," Mary declared.
"It’s the best
way to live."
"Then why are
you leaving?" Mary’s eyes filled with tears. "I don’t want you to go
away. When are you coming back?"
"I don’t know,
Mary. Soon, I hope." John hoped most of all that he would come back.
"It’s not
fair!" Nadia wailed, joining Mary in crying. "I don’t want to stay
here."
"Nadia, you
know your Grandma’s going to take good care of you, and you’re going to have a
lot of fun."
"I don’t care.
I wanna go home! I don’t want to go to a new school."
"Nadia, you’ll
have fun while you’re here, and you’ll like your new school. I promise."
"No, I
won’t." Nadia crossed her arms stubbornly.
John noticed the
time, and stood up, giving each daughter a hug. "I have to leave now, but
I promise I’ll write, and I’ll be back as soon as I can."
Mary sniffed,
trying to be grown-up and not cry. "Bye, Daddy. I hope you have fun."
John half-laughed
at the idea. "I’ll try, Mary."
Nadia still clung
to him. "Don’t go, Daddy. I won’t tell anybody."
"It doesn’t
quite work that way, Nadia. I have to serve my country. It’s my duty."
Nadia just stood
there crying until he was out the door. Mary tried to comfort her, but Nadia
shoved her away and ran up to her room.
John got into the
car, looking back as the mansion receded from view. The girls would be all
right, once they got used to things. He could only hope that he would be all
right, too.