The Vaudeville Star

“Momma—” Ruby began.

Lucille put out a hand to stop her. “No, Ruby. I need you to take a seat. There is no doubt in my mind that you did exactly as Pernetta says. You are a willful girl. The whole county knows that you are half-mad for Ford. So you deliberately set out to seduce him and in turn end the engagement and ruin your own reputation in the process.”

Ruby shook her head. “No, Momma.”

“I said hush!” Lucille turned away from her. “Earl?”

Earl was staring into the fire. He was gone often and left much of the running of the plantation to his wife and their overseer. The household was entirely Lucille’s domain, as was their daughters’ upbringing.

“It will be as you say, my dear,” Earl said wearily.

Lucille smiled and turned to Ruby. “Since you have seen fit to embarrass yourself and your family in this matter, your father and I have made a decision. I have been thinking about it for some time and made the arrangements before this. However, your behavior this evening has made everything clear. You cannot go on any longer as you have been. You will b

e sent to Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut.”

“Connecticut?” Ruby whispered. “That’s so far.”

“That’s exactly the point, my girl. Since you can’t seem to control yourself in Mississippi, maybe Miss Porter’s will do it for you. You’ll receive an education, and you’re even to perform chores there, as I have asked them to instill some sort of responsibility in you.”

“Daddy?” Ruby asked, looking at him.

“Ruby, honey—”

“No! Earl, don’t involve yourself in this. We discussed this already. Tonight was the final straw, Ruby Mae. I have thought long and hard about sending you away, but tonight proved how unruly you have become. I mean, when I think of what you did tonight—it’s absolutely scandalous!”

Pernetta shot her sister an angry look and stalked out of the room. Lucille went to stand beside Ruby and grabbed her by the arm.

“What on earth was going through that empty head of yours? Swimming naked with a man? Throwing yourself at him like some lowborn tramp? No daughter of mine will ever behave like that!” She released her, and Ruby sank into the sofa.

“And I tell you this, Ruby Mae Sutton. You are going to Connecticut to be educated and learn some manners. If you can’t behave and conduct yourself accordingly, then you can stay there for all I care,” she said and left the room in a huff.

Ruby watched her mother abandon her and turned to her father. She loved him. He was a kind man with a sweet soul, but he was completely dominated by his wife.

“Daddy?”

“Oh, honey.” He took the seat vacated by his wife and enveloped her in his arms as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I looked into the school. It’s very good. You’ll learn a lot, and three years will come and go so quickly—”

“Three years?” Ruby said, looking into his eyes.

“Come now. What else would you be doing? You’d be stuck here with your Momma and sister and pining away for Ford. That’s not right. You’re young and pretty, and you’ll find a man to love you. That won’t be the problem at all. It will be picking the right one. Now dry your tears. You’ll write to me, and I’ll write to you. I’ll even visit you, Ruby Mae.”

“Promise?” she said softly.

“Promise.”

2

Ruby settled into life at Miss Porter’s in Connecticut. Nothing was as bad as she had expected, and she made friends with girls her age and even found much in common with many of them. She had the distinct impression that her mother had told the school outrageous lies because the teachers treated her as if she were a three-eyed monster. She had chores, which she didn’t mind, and as the weeks turned into months, she settled into a routine.

While at Miss Porter’s School, Ruby took music lessons and began to cultivate a lovely singing voice. She had always sung at home but had often been quieted by her mother or sister. But here in Connecticut, she was encouraged and complimented. The girls often praised her singing voice and made much ado about her looks.

As the first year passed, she began to blossom. Her blond hair curled becomingly, and her figure filled out. She didn’t realize that when she went into town to look at the latest dress fashions or to choose a new hat, she received male admiration wherever she went. Her friends giggled, but Ruby tended to ignore it.

At night, alone in her bedroom, she devoured the latest Harper’s Weekly and enjoyed reading about the world around her, delighting in the foreign news, the essays, the illustrations, and the humor.

In one issue, there was a picture from The Highwayman being performed at the Broadway Theatre in New York, and the thought of being onstage excited Ruby. Music had always surrounded her, whether it was the plantation workers singing as they toiled in the fields or the country dances with the fiddle playing in the summertime.

She knew she had a fine singing voice and was considered pretty, and so she wondered if both could be used to her advantage. The more Ruby pondered the thought, the more she decided it was what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to go back to Mississippi with her overbearing mother and nasty-tempered sister. Even her sweet father was not reason enough to make her return.