(1988) The Golden Room Read online

  Chief of Police O’Neill nodded sadly. ‘I couldn’t agree with you more, Minna. Yet, there it is. I have to follow orders.’

  ‘I’m not faulting you, Chief.’

  ‘Worse than that, Minna, I’ll have to arrest you and Aida.’

  This time Minna was genuinely surprised. ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’

  ‘It’s a law in the books,’ said O’Neill. ‘It’s always been there, gathering dust, but Harrison has dusted it off. You and Minna are to become object lessons to the Levee.’

  ‘What happens after we’re arrested?’

  ‘We take you down to the jail and book you. We’ll put you in a cell until your lawyer meets the bail that’s set, which may be considerable. After that, you’re free until the trial date.’

  Minna sighed. ‘What a mess.’

  ‘There you are, Minna. It’s out of my hands.’

  ‘What is in your hands? Shutting me down?’

  ‘First shutting you down. Then ordering your arrest. The mayor insists that you be out of business when the prince of Prussia arrives.’

  ‘When is that?’

  ‘Not tomorrow morning, but the morning after. That gives you tonight and most of tomorrow to make arrangements to get your people on the road. When that’s done, we’ll post the notice outside and two of my men will escort you and Aida to the local prison.’

  ‘Not much time to act,’ said Minna.

  ‘The best I can offer,’ said the chief, rising. ‘My job is to see that there is no Everleigh Club and no Everleigh sisters visible when the prince of Prussia sets foot in this city of purity. Again, I’m sorry, Minna. Forgive me. But orders are orders. Now you better get ready to leave.’

  Minna did not inform her sister of their bleak future until early the next afternoon. She wanted Aida to have a restful night before they tackled what lay ahead.

  In the morning, while cleaning out her desk, she tried to think through all that had to be done.

  First, she must notify Edmund to assemble all the girls living on the outside for a three o’clock meeting that afternoon in the Moorish Room.

  Second, she must find a decent hotel where Cathleen and Bruce could stay before returning to Kentucky.

  Third, she must summon Dr Holmes and let him know of her fate, the fate of the Club, and the end of his job.

  Then she would have to find a hotel suite for Aida and herself until they could make more permanent plans.

  Also, she must hire a storage company to hold all the Club’s furniture and precious objects. That could be done last, while she and Aida were incarcerated and waiting for bail.

  In organizing her moves, Minna realized that she had omitted planning for one meeting that was really necessary before any of the others.

  She must have an intimate session with her niece and nephew, whom she had not seen since yesterday. She must find out what happened to Cathleen after Alan appeared in her room. She must learn if Cathleen and Bruce knew the truth about their aunts, and - if by some wild chance they didn’t know — she must tell them the truth once and for all.

  Leaving her study, Minna went out to find Edmund, who was not far away.

  ‘We’re being padlocked, aren’t we?’ Edmund asked.

  ‘You’re right, Edmund. Don’t worry about your own future. We’ll take care of that. Right now, we have a lot to do. I want you to go out and summon all the girls, wherever they are, to a meeting with Aida and myself by mid-afternoon in the Moorish Room. Before that, I want to talk with Cathleen and Bruce. I couldn’t find them when I looked.’

  ‘They were out late last night,’ Edmund said. ‘They went out again early this morning. They seemed to have a lot on their minds. They’re back now.’

  ‘Send them to the Gold Room,’ said Minna. ‘They’ve talked enough to each other. Now it is my turn to talk to them.’

  Minna waited in the Gold Room until Cathleen and Bruce were ushered in by Edmund.

  ‘There are some important matters I want to discuss with you,’ Minna said after they were seated. ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Walking, talking, seeing more sights of Chicago,’ said Bruce. ‘Mostly, talking about our futures.’

  ‘Then you know the wedding is off,’ said Minna.

  Cathleen nodded miserably. ‘Karen told Bruce, and he told me. Armbruster called it off once he heard about you and Aunt Aida.’

  ‘Then you know everything,’ said Minna.

  ‘Only that this is not merely your home,’ replied Bruce. ‘It’s a house of prostitution. We know that you and Aida are not socialites but brothel madams. I’ve never had much regard for madams. But knowing you, I’ve changed my mind.’

  Minna shook her head. ‘Too bad that you had to learn the way you did, or at all. I never meant for you to know. I’m afraid I gave it away when I realized that Alan had mistakenly been sent to your bedroom, Cathleen. I’m afraid I lost my head. Armbruster recognized me and went crazy. In his position, he couldn’t allow his son to marry the niece of two madams. It was a foolish accident and I regret it.’

  Cathleen forced a wan smile. ‘I, for one, don’t regret it. Karen tried to apologize to Bruce and then to me. There was nothing to be apologetic about. I simply had my wedding night without the wedding. It was wonderful.’

  ‘Have you spoken to Alan since?’ Minna wanted to know.

  ‘Not in person, of course,’ said Cathleen. ‘He’s practically a prisoner in his own home. But he telephoned me twice. He tried to get his father to change his mind. No luck. Now Alan wants to elope. I know that’s impossible. It would ruin Alan’s future.’

  Minna stood up and paced restlessly about the chamber. ‘Everything became unstrung because I lied to your father from the start. Still, I had to. I couldn’t tell my brother that his sisters had opened a house of prostitution. Not in his condition. He’d have had another stroke, especially since he always felt responsible for us. So I invented the socialite fiction when we moved to Chicago. Your father believed me. When his daughter was to marry someone in Chicago, it was only natural that he would send both of you to me and to my care. I always tried to disguise the true nature of what was going on here. I almost succeeded.’ She opened her hands as if to implore their forgiveness. ‘In the end I failed.’

  ‘I’m not blaming you for anything, Aunt Minna,’ Cathleen insisted.

  ‘Thank you, Cathleen. Just don’t blame Aida and me for one thing - our profession. It is an old one, and as honourable as Armbruster’s. We’ve run a respectable establishment here. We’ve given fairly for everything we’ve received.’ Minna shrugged. ‘But now it’s over.’

  Bruce came to his feet, puzzled. ‘It’s over? What’s over?’

  ‘The Everleigh Club is being shut down tonight. Aida and I are going to jail, at least temporarily. Armbruster went to the mayor, who went to the chief of police. The chief came over with the closing order last night.’

  ‘They can’t do that to you!’ Bruce exclaimed.

  ‘They’re doing it, Bruce. Legally, there is no way I can prevent it. We’ll be out of business. But both of you never mind about Aida and me. We’ll manage. We’ve made enough to get along on. We’ll either retire and travel, or go somewhere else and open up again. More important, what’s going to happen to the two of you?’ She looked at Cathleen and added, ‘What about you, Cathleen?’

  ‘Bruce and I will be going back to Kentucky. I’ll make up some story for Dad about the wedding being cancelled. He’ll believe me.’

  ‘You’ll find someone else,’ Minna assured her. ‘There are plenty of men in Kentucky -‘

  ‘There’s no one I want except Alan,’ Cathleen said. ‘If I can’t have Alan, I’d rather be a spinster.’

  Minna made no further effort to placate her niece. She turned to her nephew. ‘What about you, Bruce?’

  ‘I’m a little luckier than Cathleen,’ he said. ‘From what I won at the Derby, I can go back to Kentucky and set up a breeding farm.’

  ‘No marit
al prospects?’ asked Minna.

  ‘No. I -‘

  ‘That’s not true,’ Cathleen broke in. She fixed her gaze on her brother. ‘Why don’t you tell Aunt Minna that you’re in love with Karen Grant -‘

  ‘With a prostitute?’ said Minna with a frown.

  ‘She’s not a prostitute,’ Bruce objected. ‘Karen Grant is Mayor Harrison’s secretary. She was sent to the Everleigh Club to get evidence of illegal activities. After she met me, she changed her mind about being a spy for the mayor.’

  ‘I see,’ said Minna slowly. ‘Are you considering marrying Karen?’

  Bruce thought about it. ‘I’d like to. Yes, very much. Still, I won’t be that rich. And I don’t know how Karen would take to life on a Kentucky farm.’

  ‘Find out,’ said Minna. ‘Ask her.’

  ‘Maybe I will.’

  Minna considered her niece and nephew. ‘When will you leave for Louisville?’

  ‘In a few days,’ said Bruce. ‘I have to arrange to ship Frontier out of Washington Park to Kentucky.’

  ‘Then you’ll need somewhere to stay after we’re closed down,’ said Minna. ‘Let me put my mind to it. I have a few matters to settle first. We’ll talk again late this afternoon. Meanwhile, better pack up.’

  By three-fifteen that afternoon, all the Everleigh girls had assembled in the Moorish chamber and gathered about Minna and Aida.

  Minna counted the twenty-seven of her girls.

  When her eyes fixed on Karen Grant, Minna dismissed her. ‘You don’t belong here,’ Minna told Karen. ‘I know the truth. I can only say that I appreciate that you held back and are not responsible for what I’m about to announce. Go upstairs and keep Cathleen and Bruce company. I’ll get to you later.’

  After Karen had exited, Minna directed her attention to the rest of the assembly.

  ‘I’ll make this short and bittersweet,’ Minna began. ‘Speaking on behalf of Aida and myself I must inform you that the Everleigh Club is no more. It is being shut down this evening - permanently, I gather - on the order of Mayor Harrison and Chief of Police O’Neill. This lovely place is being shuttered, and we’re all out of work.’

  There were outcries of anguish from most of the girls, and several broke into tears.

  ‘I know, I know,’ Minna continued. ‘It’s terrible news. We’ve had good times, haven’t we? You’ve all been darlings.’

  Feeling miserable as her girls, Minna found a gold-tipped, perfumed cigarette, lit it and began to puff nervously.

  ‘If the mayor says we must close, that settles it,’ she resumed. ‘He sent the chief of police last night to inform me. The closing order will be posted at six. Then Aida and I must go to jail, I hope only briefly. What the mayor and the chief say goes, as far as I am concerned. I’m not going to be angry about it either. I never was a complainer and nothing that the politicians and police of this town can do to me will change my disposition. I’ll close up shop and walk out of the place with a smile on my face.’

  One girl called out, ‘What about us, Minna?’

  ‘There are plenty of other houses.’

  ‘Not like this one,’ the girl called back.

  ‘No, not like this one,’ Minna agreed. ‘I’m afraid there never will be one like the Everleigh Club. You all have a little money due you, enough to last a month or two. After you get it, I suggest that you clear out of the Levee entirely. It has nothing substantial to offer. The reformers have shut us down and within a few months they’ll get to the other houses. You’re young. Find a job, a husband, anything, but don’t depend on this life for a career. It’s washed up, as we used to say in the theatre. It’s done for, good and done for. We must all find different ways to live.’

  Minna surveyed the room one last time.

  ‘Go back to your hotels or wherever you’re staying. Since you’re all paid up for the week, remain where you are until Edmund can come by and settle accounts with you on our behalf.’ She choked. ‘I’m going to miss you, every one of you, and I’m going to miss this comfortable place. I love you one and all. Good luck and goodbye from Minna and Aida Everleigh.’

  Late in the afternoon, Minna sat alone in her study behind her empty desk and began to make phone calls to hotels in the area, trying to find two rooms, one for Bruce and one for Cathleen and Karen Grant, whose own boarding house apartment was still sublet.

  During this process, her office door opened and Dr Herman Holmes entered looking bewildered. He took up a chair and drew it closer to Minna.

  After Minna hung up the telephone receiver, Holmes said, ‘You wanted to see me. What’s going on here? All I see in the Club are piles of furniture and crates being filled. Are you moving?’

  ‘We’re moving somewhere, I don’t know where yet,’ Minna said. ‘Dr Holmes, we’re being shut down in less than an hour by the chief of police.’

  He was plainly astonished. ‘You’re what?’

  ‘Being shut down,’ Minna repeated. ‘Aida and I are out of work. The girls are out of work. And you, Dr Holmes, are also out of work - at least for the Everleigh Club.’

  Holmes was shocked. ‘What happened?’

  Minna told him the details of her meeting with Chief of Police O’Neill last night.

  ‘So that’s it, I’m afraid,’ she concluded. ‘You’ve done well for us, and I’m sorry to lose you. I wanted to tell you so in person.’

  ‘Thanks, Minna.’

  She picked up the telephone. ‘Now I’d better get back to calling hotels. They’re all completely full. I’ve found a small single room for my nephew Bruce. But I can’t find a double room for my niece Cathleen and her friend Karen. I’ll just keep—’

  Dr Holmes was on his feet, about to leave, when he halted and turned around.

  ‘Minna, if you need a place for Cathleen, I’d be glad to provide one in my house. I have several spare bedrooms. Cathleen can come with me for as long as she needs a place to lay her head, and Karen Grant can come with her as her chaperon. How’s that?’

  Minna jumped up, delighted. ‘That’s wonderful, Dr Holmes, and I’m grateful for your offer. You need only have them there a few days, until Cathleen goes back to Kentucky. I don’t know how to thank you enough.’

  ‘I’m happy to have them,’ said Dr Holmes with a smile. ‘If they’re here, I’ll collect them right now and take them to dinner. Then I can move them in with me tonight.’

  By six-fifteen the following morning, the official reception committee appointed by Mayor Carter Harrison had crowded on to the platform at Union Station to greet the arrival of Prince Henry of Prussia from New York.

  At the forefront of the twelve distinguished citizens gathered to receive the prince was Mayor Carter Harrison, flanked on either side by Ex-Mayor C. P. Walbridge, President of the Business Men’s League, and Potter Palmer, head of The Palmer House, Chicago’s leading hotel. Immediately behind the mayor and waiting nervously stood Harold T. Armbruster. Off to one side were a dozen newspapermen and photographers, the most eager among them young Chet Foley of the Chicago Tribune. This was his biggest assignment yet.

  It was fifteen minutes before the prince’s arrival, and Foley decided to take advantage of the time by getting the best story of the day. Breaking the confines of the press section, Foley stepped brashly out of line and approached Mayor Harrison.

  ‘Your Honour,’ Foley said, ‘I’m Chet Foley of the Tribune, assigned to cover the arrival of Prince Henry. I want to do a full-length feature story, and I was hoping you could spare a few minutes to fill me in on some details.’

  Mayor Harrison made it a point never to be too obvious about seeking publicity, but he did relish having it, especially on such a momentous occasion as this. In an agreeable mood, the mayor said, ‘I don’t know if I can be of much help, Mr Foley, but I’ll be glad to cooperate.’

  ‘I’ve been able to learn very little about Prince Henry,’ said Foley, ‘except that he is the only brother of Kaiser Wilhelm, and that he is the nominal head of Germany’s powerful nav
y.’

  ‘Quite true,’ said the mayor. ‘In fact, I’m told Prince Henry was trained to sail from his earliest youth. His father built him a nautical gymnasium in the Potsdam Palace garden. Masts were planted in sand and rigged with all the ropes of a real ship. As a boy he could go aloft every day, and he learned the feel of being on a ship.’

  ‘Fascinating,’ said Foley. ‘I understand that Prince Henry sailed the Kronprinz Wilhelm to New York on a naval matter.’

  ‘In a manner of speaking, yes. He came to New York to supervise the dedication of a yacht, the Meteor HI, which his brother the kaiser had ordered built.’

  ‘Was Prince Henry at the dedication?’

  ‘Certainly. After a brief stay in New York, where he attended the Metropolitan Opera House, he went to Washington, D.C., to pay his respects to President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House and assured the President that Germany had no designs on South America. He and the President attended the launching, and the President’s daughter Alice officially dedicated the ship.’

  ‘And momentarily he will be in Chicago.’

  ‘We’re very honoured to have him here,’ said the mayor. ‘Of his twelve-day visit to the United States, he is spending only a few of those days outside New York. He is giving us one full day in Chicago, staying overnight, and then returning east to board the Deutschland for his homeland.’ The mayor paused, and cocked his head. ‘I hear the train coming in now. I’d better get to my place.’

  ‘Thank you, Mayor,’ said Foley, retreating into the press circle.

  Gradually the train from New York became visible, billowing steam as it loomed towards the platform and slowly grinding to a halt beside it.

  Quickly two porters unrolled a red carpet, running it up to the exit of the private Pullman behind the engine. Mayor Harrison stepped on the far end of the carpet and waited.

  A conductor unlatched the Pullman door from the inside, and stepped down to a stool in front of it. A half-dozen of the prince’s entourage began to emerge, one by one, all in uniform and braids.