Chapter 9

Saturday morning was bright and sunny. A perfect day for traveling. It had been a week since the big storm, and although no snow had fallen since, life was only now beginning to return to normal. Guests had begun to arrive just before noon. To make room for a possible deluge of partygoers, Anne asked us to double-up. So Martha moved her things into my room, and Elizabeth moved in with Roberta. We spent the afternoon mingling with the new arrivals.

In late afternoon, we returned to our rooms to prepare for the evening's festivities. Each of us had a special dress for this evening. My own was made of contrasting, multi-textured fabrics, consisting mainly of Burgundy silk faille, with floral patterned cut velvet, and trimmed in pink silk-satin. It had a short, fitted bodice, which laced up the front, very full posterior bustle, skirt draping, and an emphasis on side panniers. I knew that the gown would turn a few heads this evening, and looked forward to making my entrance. Martha & I spent more than two hours getting ready. We knew that Betsy and Doris would be needed elsewhere so we somehow managed without their help. When Roberta and Elizabeth came to my room, we were ready as well, so we all walked down to the Parlor.

When we entered the room, heads did in fact turn. The other girls looked wonderful in their gowns, and I felt wonderful in mine. Jeremy apparently thought so too. He hurried over to greet and compliment us. Right behind him were the other young men whom we had come to know, plus four more young men that had just arrived. They were introduced to us as more of Jeremy's friends from college, and all were handsome young men. I hoped that we wouldn't get trampled in the rush, when the dancing started later.

When dinner was announced, Jeremy offered me his arm. After I had accepted, we moved into line behind Anne and her fiancé, Gerald, who had arrived only an hour before. At the front of the line were Anne's father and Gerald's mother.

All of the meals that we had enjoyed at the Westervelt's were delicious, but for this occasion, the cooks had really outdone themselves. I really regretted having to wear a corset tonight. To make matters worse, Martha had laced me down extra tight so that I could fit into my new dress. I was able to sample a little of everything though. After dinner, we returned to the parlor to await the start of the party in the ballroom. In addition to giving everyone a chance to digest his or her meal, it gave us an opportunity to converse before the dancing started. The men enjoyed a drink and cigar while the women gossiped. I had an opportunity to meet Anne's fiancé, Gerald. He was a handsome and charming young man who, having gradated from Harvard last year, was following in his father's footsteps by entering the family's banking business. I learned that they would be married in June, and following their honeymoon, would reside in Boston. Gerald told us of his ordeal in trying to get here this week. He had spent the last four days traveling the 50 miles from his family's home in Boston, to this home in New Bedford. Because his mother was with him, he could not come by horseback. The roads were only slowly being cleared. Most of the progress of the journey had been made today. It had taken 8 hours to travel the last 30 miles. Part of the trip had been by rail, but they had had to find carriages to take them around two areas of track that had not been cleared yet. His father had not been able to make the trip, but whole-heartedly approved of the union.

We assembled to walk into the ballroom when the time arrived. Where, in the past, the men had left us after escorting us in, today they stood dutifully by our sides. Jeremy stayed with me, while Tad was with Martha, Donald was with Elizabeth, and Charles was with Roberta. Harry had escorted one of Anne's cousins, but had left her to join the other young men that had only arrived today. It seemed that our young men were 'staking out' their territory for the night. And in fact, very few requests for dances came from the other young men. They chose instead to ask the ladies who did not have suitors standing nearby. At 10 o'clock, Mr. Westervelt stood in front of the musicians and called for everyone's attention. The musicians stopped playing, and Mr. Westervelt began speaking in his role as host. He thanked everyone for coming, told them of the reason for this party, and introduced Gerald's mother. Then he had Anne and Gerald come forward as he made the formal announcement of their pending union.

Gerald made a short little speech of thanks to the Westervelt family, and to the guests for coming. The staff had moved throughout the room handing out glasses of champagne for the toast. When Gerald was finished, Mr. Westervelt offered the toast to the happy couple. Afterwards he gave his closing remarks and called for the musicians to resume. The rest of the evening was delightful, as Jeremy and I danced almost every dance. From having danced together so often over the past week, I had come to know his steps, and we moved together as one. When the party was over, he asked if he could escort me to my bedroom door. I hesitated for just a minute, then acquiesced to his request. At my door, he was the perfect gentleman. He bid me goodnight, and kissed my hand before turning and leaving. I entered the bedroom and found Martha struggling to undress.

"Amelia, thank god you're here. I haven't been able to make any progress with this dress. I'm dying to get my corset loosened. Will you help me please."

"Of course Martha. Why didn't you ring for Betsy?"

"I did. Over twenty minutes ago. I guess that she must be busy elsewhere. I decided to try removing my dress, but I haven't made any progress. When we return to our own time, I'm going to have a lot more consideration for the amount of time that women spend getting ready to go out."

"It surely is a lot easier for a man." I succeeded in unlacing her dress and lifted it over her shoulders and head. While she hung it up, I removed my bodice. Then she helped me to remove my dress. Within an hour, we had finished undressing and had prepared ourselves for bed. As we were about to get into bed, Betsy came. We thanked her and explained that we had been able to manage by working together. She apologized and told us that she had been running all over the mansion helping people. After she was gone, we climbed into bed.

"Amelia, now that Anne is formally engaged, do you think that the spirit will send us back?"

"I don't think so. It will probably want to see her married before we can go. Are you so unhappy here that you can't wait to return?"

"It's not that. I just miss my family. And I'm worried. I find myself acting like a woman without having to think about it anymore. I don't know if I will still be able to act like a male when we get back. I enjoy talking about dresses and fashions now. I never did that before. And I couldn't care less about sports or outdoor activities. I would rather sit and listen to music, or talk with my girlfriends. What am I going to do when we get back? I won't be able to get dressed up and feel pretty. I won't have young men falling over themselves to ask me to dance. I have to admit that I have started to love the attention."

"And you won't have to wear corsets, or bustles. And you won't have to spend hours getting ready for dinner. And you won't have to worry about menstrual cycles."