There's No Place Like Rhodes (Book 2)

A Life of Privilege and Indolence

They damn near missed the train because Arthur took his sweet time talking to the two stablehands in Annesburg. He couldn't be pulled away until he finished feeding them his strict instructions on how to care for the horses.

As soon as they boarded the train, all he did was grumble under his breath. Karen knew Arthur had no desire to go to Chicago, but she'd be damned if he ruined it for her and Charlotte. Karen sat with Charlotte, forcing Arthur to sit across the aisle with an unhappy grunt.

Sometimes, she didn't know how Charlotte put up with him. And yet, it was Charlotte who seemed to be the cure for his misery. Karen had been witness to how a mere peck on the cheek rose him from his sullen silences.

However, he wasn't getting away with being coddled on this trip. Karen had yet to hear Charlotte raise her voice, and any cutting remarks she ever used were reserved to criticize herself. So, it would be up to Karen to keep Arthur in line and she had no patience in catering to men.

Arthur sat by himself across the aisle, dozed off with his arms crossed. He claimed he needed more naps lately and that it was a sign of his ailment. But Karen wondered if he'd forgotten he'd always been like that. It was not unusual to find him asleep in some random spot around camp. The man was like a dog the way he could sleep on the ground.

She also had yet to see Arthur so sick that they'd soon expect his death. In fact, with the arrival of spring, he had regained his normal rigor. He kept in motion most of the time, as if he had a list in his head of things he wanted set straight before he was gone. If that was so, this trip would slow him down for sure.

"I've never met an Ebba," Charlotte commented, consulting the book in her hand and drawing Karen's attention. "Or an Edwina, for that matter. Do you care for either of those?"

"As baby names?" Charlotte had reached 'E' then in that book. Karen nearly regretted gifting it to her, but she'd been trying to find an activity to keep Charlotte busy. Ever since Arthur had begun limiting Charlotte's work as far as chores, she'd been restless in the house. Not that Karen didn't agree with Charlotte taking it easy at this point in her pregnancy, but she wasn't an invalid.

"What about Edith?" Charlotte continued, "Or Effie?"

"Fine, I guess." Karen shrugged. "But shouldn't you be running these by Arthur instead of me?"

Charlotte sighed. "I have tried." She flipped a page in her book of names. "He won't participate."

Karen frowned. "What do you mean 'he won't participate'? It's his damn kid too, ain't it?"

Charlotte stared at her page, fiddling with the corner absentmindedly. "I don't know for certain the reason behind it, as he hasn't said."

Karen had learned to read Charlotte pretty well by now. "But you got a hunch?"

"Mmm." She cast anxious eyes his direction even though he was fast asleep. "I suspect he's doesn't want to grow attached to the idea of being a father."

"Little late for that," Karen said dryly.

"Yes." Charlotte returned her attention to the page again. "Ah, this one's meaning is interesting. Eleanor, 'the shining light'."

"No." Karen shook her head adamantly. "Not that one. Anything other than Eleanor."

Charlotte tilted her head, curious. "What's wrong with it?"

Begrudgingly, she admitted, "It's my middle name."

"Karen Eleanor Jones," Charlotte tried it on her tongue. "Pretty."

Karen rolled her eyes. "Not when its only use was when Momma yelled at me to shut the hell up."

"Oh, my." Charlotte's eyebrows rose in surprise. "How awful. But that doesn't mean it has to maintain those negative connotations. Surely we can revive its original, positive designation?"