The wooden ring clanked and landed on one of the green bottles and the crowd that had formed around them erupted in cheers. Jacob Canterbury was caught off guard by the sound so sudden and loud. He noticed just how many others had gathered around them or really to Miss Kai like moths to a flame. Audrey stood at his elbow tilting her face just enough to capture the red lights from above on her wide smile.
A Spanish diplomat was at her other side, closer than Jacob was altogether comfortable with, while just behind the young lady stood none other than Mrs. Carrie Astor draped on her husband Marshall Wilson's arm. Loud hooting demanding attention made Jacob spin to the audience and he caught sight of Tessie Fair whispering to her sister Birdie before settling on Willie Vanderbilt grinning encouragingly at him. Jacob had learned to read the society pages, inspired by Audrey's peculiar habits, and it wasn't lost on the young man that he would now be among the names printed.
"We've got a winner!" The man behind the booth shouted out into the crowd, eliciting more clapping.
"You could have played baseball with that arm." Audrey leaned in to laugh in his ear, barely brushing her hand along his upper arm. Jacob quickly spun back around, hoping the touch was lost in his own movements. The man behind the booth handed him a prize of a gold cigarette holder before turning his smile to Audrey.
"Will the young lady have the same luck?" The operator boomed, reaching out to hand her the wooden rings. Jacob took a step back immediately, allowing for Audrey to step into the more advantageous spot. He naturally spread out his arms, clearing the space around her, keeping her safe in a way he was sure he had seen Mr. O'Connell do before.
"The youngest people here." The whispers were clear.
"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Longfellow had prior commitments in the city and it seems Grace allowed the young Miss Kai to represent her guardians." Mrs. Fair's critical and rigid voice was unmistakable to Jacob. For years, his mother had Mrs. Fair to tea weekly when they were summering in Newport. Her voice still made his shoulders tighten and he had to control the urge to duck his head in an attempt to keep from being scolded.
"And Mr. Jacob Canterbury is her escort?"
"Canterbury is always her escort." Willie Vanderbilt snorted knowingly to his wife.
Audrey was weighing the wooden rings in a very showboating way, as the Spanish diplomat chattered on encouragingly next to her. Jacob thought he should remember the man's name.
"They've been courting for a year, they must be nearing an engagement." Another whisper.
"She's hardly proper enough…" The criticism was lost as Audrey's first toss clanged and dropped between bottles and a disappointed huff escaped their audience.
"Use your wrist more," Jacob grumbled to her softly.
She immediately tossed the second ring, missing so completely that it landed with a thud onto the built midway ground. A louder groan of disappointment now, as some of the crowd started moving away. The midway was maybe 275 feet long if Jacob had to guess and the milling crowd of guests not more than 200 if the papers were to be believed but he felt trapped in a tunnel of fire.
"We all know Casey McCain dragged her feet on her engagement to Thomas, kept him from making another match for almost a decade." A disembodied busybody explained.
"I thought it was Thomas that was dallying about the continent." Another voice laughed.
"That Canterbury boy is bewitched with that exotic, penniless orphan." The gossip jabbed at him again, from every direction and he wished his sister had been wrong.
Jacob caught sight of the Spanish Diplomat moving his hand to Audrey's waist, hovering just enough to move him forward. But before he could physically intercede the young lady leaned forward and tossed her last ring. Her success was almost immediate and she gave herself a jovial little clap before spinning to the crowd and carelessly leaned into Jacob's ready arms.
"How many do you need to win?" Audrey solicited the crowd around her, barely lifting her voice but undoubtedly being heard.
"Maybe leave the ring tossing to Mr. Canterbury, Miss Kai." Willie Vanderbilt's booming laugh replied. She shrugged, charmingly waving for the Spanish Diplomat to try his hand as she leads Jacob away.
"Let's try something I might win," Audrey urged, glancing excitedly down the midway.
"Well, without horses you can ride wildly, I'm not sure what that might be." Jacob teased easily. The midway Grace Vanderbilt had constructed was lined with games, each crowded with a handful of well-dressed society elite. Audrey pulled on Jacob like an excited child as he took long strides to keep her from appearing unladylike, ignoring his own desire to dig in his own heels for the fun of it.
A shriek of delight from a lady attracted Audrey's attention enough that she slipped out of Jacob's grasp and she ducked carefully into a crowd around a balloon game. Jacob took note of the three couples as Audrey danced around them, eagerly and charmingly claiming the next turn. With no stray diplomat in sight, Jacob held his spot at the edges of the group.
"It's a good thing we're not at a country fair, that girl would without a doubt try her hand at the rope ladder and she would surely make quite a spectacle of herself." A gruff voice chuckled at Jacob's left. The chuckle is what made the young man aware the voice was speaking directly to him instead of one of the gossips speaking about him.
Marshall Wilson stood stoically next to Jacob, in a stance that reminded the young man very much of his own father. Mr. Wilson was going an elegant and regal gray and if it weren't for the slight twitch in the man's cheek, Jacob might have believed he disapproved of Audrey.
"I've never been to a country fair, sir." Jacob explained politely, unable to drop the sir, as the man reminded him so much of his father.
"I imagine that wouldn't have been part of your upbringing. You couldn't be much older than my boy, and he's never been to a country fair either." Wilson nodded. "He's about to start at Harvard."
"I've just finished at Princeton," Jacob explained, unsure how to even have a conversation with a titan like Marshall Wilson.
"Yes, I had heard. You've done quite well in your studies, going straight into your father's affairs?' Mr. Wilson turned to study Jacob.
"Yes sir, going to England to assess some of our interests." He explained.
"A fine plan, a fine plan indeed. And how does the young lady fit into your plan?" Mr. Wilson nodded at a delighted Audrey, as a balloon popped.
Jacob bit down on his tongue, to keep from the childish reply of claiming it none of the elder gentleman's business. He knew, his sister had once explained, how gossip worked. It had to be fed and while women eavesdropped and maneuvered conversations, men asked direct questions in plain sight because most men didn't much think gossip mattered. But Jacob had realized at a young age, gossip was wielded as a weapon in war amongst ladies and they used the men as their faithful soldiers.
"I've learned it is proper to ask the young lady directly of her own plan," Jacob replied carefully.
"Good man." Mr. Wilson smiled truly now. "Do be careful of the sharks, Mr. Canterbury."
Another balloon popped.
"Sir?" Jacob replied nervously.
"The rope ladder game is a deceiving thing, looks simple enough to stay balance but I've never seen anyone climb it without flipping over." Mr. Wilson explained.
The last balloon popped and the small crowd politely clapped as Audrey collected her prize, an enamel vanity box. Jacob got the sense that the older gentleman was trying to give him sound advice.
"When was the last time you saw anyone try?" Jacob ventured.
"1870." Wilson tipped his hat, as he stepped away. Jacob turned his attention back towards the young lady in question, as she charmingly chatted with a stately looking couple, a U.S. Senator Jacob believed. He waited patiently as she finished and stepped towards him holding up her prize.
"What a delightful game!" She laughed. "Do you think this might fit into your coat?"
A servant appeared then, practically out of thin air, in a dark suit holding a tray. Audrey glanced at the servant, not the tray, as was her odd habit. She smiled with a genuine thankful expression on her face, as set her new prize on the tray.
"Thank you." She mouthed before taking Jacob's arm. Miss Audrey's gaze danced around, taking notice of everything in a way Jacob had become accustomed with over the course of their acquaintance.
"Who was the gentleman you were speaking to, before?" She murmured, carefully as they strolled past a striped tent with a larger crowd cheering. It was easy enough to see the Russian Grand Duke knocking down milk bottles as fast as the midway worker could stack them back up.
"Marshall Wilson." Jacob replied, surprised Audrey hadn't recognized the man as he was married to the young lady's most recent benefactor, Carrie Astor Wilson.
"He doesn't usually come to tea." Audrey nodded.
"It's a House of Worth design, I believe Casey wore it the season after she came back from Europe." A searching voice surged loudly from behind them.
Audrey tilted her chin up and Jacob knew she was listening to the gossip. She was usually indiscernible unless the gossip was about her. The gown she wore was exquisite and matched any lady's garment on the midway. An ivory gown that hugged her figure, with black lace designed to drape like jewelry along the bodice and down the front of the skirt. The roses imprinted on the skirts caught the glow of the red lights in a charming and unavoidable way.
"It's a lovely color on the girl, it's a good thing Casey has her mother's sense and didn't allow her to wear any jewels in her hair." Someone replied.
Jacob urged her forward, impatiently wanting to get away from the gossip before it turned ultimately to their pairing.
"Canterbury!" Willie Vanderbilt boomed as he stepped up and threw his arm around Jacob's shoulders.
"Willie," Jacob laughed.
"How's Escher? Has he bought himself a motor car of his own yet, or still racing around in his old man's?"
"He's looking at a couple now, yes." Jacob playful shook the man off. William Vanderbilt II was a carefree unruly sort of man with an affinity for fast cars. Audrey was curiously studying the exchange, taking in the measure of the man quickly before settling her eyes on something else entirely.
"I'd tell him to come down to the new place I've started building on Lake Success, to race it once he's got it." Willie laughed.
Audrey stepped around Jacob then, undeniably present as she widens her smile to a grin that dimpled her cheeks.
"William, have you met Miss Audrey Kai?" Jacob held up her hand for William to take.
"I have not had the pleasure, though I've heard quite the stories about her." Willie took her hand as he reached around to pulled forward his own very pregnant wife. "My precious wife, Mrs. Birdie Vanderbilt."
"Pleasure to meet you both." Audrey ducked her head politely.
"Carrie simply cannot stop singing your praises, Miss Audrey. Splendid to finally meet, I've been a bit preoccupied with this child and of course, little Muriel." Birdie patted at her round midsection lovingly.
"Oh the delight of it is all mine," Audrey clapped her hands over Birdie's.
"I've heard there is another wonderous surprise at the end of this midway, help me along?' Birdie tucked Audrey's hand into her elbow and started walking along several paces in front of their escorts. Jacob frowned at the behavior.
"Did I hear you drove one of the new lanes here tonight?' Willie asked excitedly.
"You must have," Jacob snorted. "It's not mine, Thomas Longfellow lent it to me for the evening."
"He's approved of your match?" Willie asked. Jacob scratched at the back of his neck, uncomfortable.
"We haven't a match. But well he couldn't very well let her drive it here." Jacob replied. Willie laughed.
"Birdie drives some of mine, and mother has learned as well. I suspect your Miss Audrey might be a right clever motorist, if everything I've heard about her is true."
"What have you heard?" Jacob ventured.
"What haven't I heard this evening, no one can seem to stop chattering about your match." William wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
"We aren't a match." Jacob whistled through his gritted teeth.
"Are you sure?" Willie pressed.
"I'm sailing to London day after next, for a six month tour." Jacob snapped, not yet rudely enough to alert anyone to his brimming anger over the gossip. William hummed a moment before nodding.
"Yes, well. The gossips seem to believe there's something brewing, though Birdie says Casey believes it's much more the impropriety of a certain young lady than you're obvious enchantment." Willie nodded to his wife, stepping out of the fiery tunnel of the midway ahead.
Jacob blinked, collecting his thoughts, remembering with surprise that Casey was in fact of the same social set as Birdie Vanderbilt. It was easy enough to forget how young the Longfellows were, with their mostly grown ward. Jacob's own parents aligned more with Willie's parents in age.
"You've been asked to keep an eye on us?" Jacob puzzled out.
"Not me, I'm hardly a chaperone for myself." Willie laughed.
"But Birdie?" Jacob insisted.
"Remember Tessie, my sister in law is a rigid old bat," Willie muttered. Jacob pulled his collar away from his neck, fighting the feeling of being trapped. "Birdie knows a softer touch in the matter."
"A softer touch?" Jacob repeated.
"Not to mention my mother is trotting about and well she'll see to it the young lady doesn't get into any questionable situations." Willie sighed almost apologetically.
"But Mrs. Longfellow isn't that close with Mrs. Belmont?" Jacob replied bewildered by the prospect of one of the most formidable ladies of society swooping in to chaperone.
"Mrs. Longfellow is friendly with the Duchess of Marlborough, my sister." Willie reminded Jacob.
The social web of Newport was dizzying. Families established since the revolution, titans of industry, sisters married to English nobility, a knot of relations, and acquaintances that involved years of study. Although rich and established, the Canterbury family had hailed from North Carolina. It was only because Jacob's father had moved so much business into New York over a decade ago that they had even begun summering in Newport. His mother had hated the city, so the family had never purchased a home among the characters of the society pages. Conceding for the sake of connections, Jacob's mother had allowed for them to summer on this shore to make sure the family was known well enough among the gilded of the age.
"I should write my sister, if you're to be in London, make introductions. You'd like Sunderland House." Willie said thoughtfully. "We're to Paris, soon as the babe is born. Pity you can't wait a couple of months and sail along with me on Virginia."
"Yes, pity." Jacob stepped out of the midway tunnel, catching sight of the wooden theater built upon the lawn, as bursts of gold and silver fireworks flashed along the night sky.
"I'll say this, my cousin's wife spares no expense." Willie whistled at the show.
"Fireworks," Audrey's marveled whisper caught Jacob's attention. The gold accents of her dress glittered under the lights, and she was reaching out to him. He took a long stride and stretched out for her, wanting to experience her wonder for himself. He caught her hand, and she closed her fingers around his instantly, squeezing her acknowledgment without looking away from the fireworks. A reproaching hiss to his left, made him notice how Willie and Birdie positioned themselves just so no one could see how Audrey held his hand.
"What foolishness, I escorted you here." Jacob murmured in annoyance.
"Ignore them." Audrey laughed at him. "It's my reputation they are protecting, it has nothing to do with you."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Historically this party actually happened in 1903. But you know, creative license.