The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb - Melanie Benjamin [79]
There was a silence. A long, ponderous silence that told me all I needed to hear.
“So.” I cleared my throat and nodded decisively. “We compensate with other things. I will expect the biggest wedding New York has ever seen. And I choose Charles Stratton, for your information. Nutt is a posturing little boy, but that is all.”
Mr. Barnum had laughed when I mentioned my ambitions for the wedding, but he turned very serious when he heard my choice. “Vinnie, I feel I must ask if you are at least fond of him. For Charlie is my friend. I’ll not have you hurting him by being cruel or indifferent.”
“Have you asked him the same thing about me?”
“No. But Charlie isn’t like us; he’s all heart, and he needs genuine affection. As smitten as he is with you, I give you my word—I’ll not condone this thing if I think, for one moment, that you’ll be cruel to him.” Mr. Barnum spoke so quietly, so plainly, that I was startled; I hadn’t realized how devoted he was to Charles. It touched me; it touched my heart, which was in danger of icing over, so much was I determined to neglect it for other, more practical matters.
“I needed to hear that,” I admitted, returning the compliment of honesty. “I needed to be reminded of that. You have my word, I’ll be kindness itself. I cannot promise to love him. But I can promise to care for him. I do have that capacity, although I’m not entirely sure you believe me.”
“Vinnie, Vinnie, my dear girl. I believe anything you tell me; I believe in you. More than I can adequately express.”
We smiled at each other, and then he leaned forward and for a moment—oh, such a brief, precious moment—he placed his hand upon my face, gentle as a sigh. It was the first time he had touched me like this; indeed, it was the first time any man had touched me so reverently, tenderly. I shut my eyes, hoping to memorize his touch; I knew it would have to last me a long time. A lifetime.
Then I looked up at him with a bright, capable smile upon my face; continuing to discuss the matter, we both swore we would never repeat our conversation to anyone. We both knew the value of romance as a marketing tool; we also knew we did not want to hurt Charles.
Should you care to read further about the details of my engagement to Charles Stratton, or General Tom Thumb, Mr. Barnum’s autobiography provides a very interesting, entertaining account. It was the story that the world—and Charles himself—came to believe. It was the story that both Mr. Barnum and I told him, individually and together, through our actions and our words; you would be hard-pressed to find better actors than Phineas Taylor Barnum and Lavinia Warren, working together.
It was a story of a bashful maiden reluctant, at first, to all overtures on the part of the dashing, beloved hero, a story of a benevolent friend who slyly arranged to help the hero overcome all obstacles and win the fair maiden’s hand.
It was a romantic story, a true fairy tale; Charles always did enjoy those. He never lost his little boy’s eagerness for happily-ever-after endings. Neither did Presidents, Queens, newspaper magnates, shopgirls, Vanderbilts, and Astors.
Neither did a world sickened and weary of war, we were all soon to discover.
INTERMISSION
An advertisement in The New York Times, January 18, 1863—
BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM—
Now or Never! The wedding is positively fixed for TUESDAY, Feb. 10th, on which the world-renowned Chas. S. Stratton, known as TOM THUMB, will be married to little MISS LAVINIA WARREN THE QUEEN OF BEAUTY, who has been visited and admired by over TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE, every one of whom pronounced her THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MODEL OF A WOMAN … see her NOW OR NEVER as her engagement ends with her NUPTIAL CEREMONY …
[ ELEVEN ]
In Which Our Heroine Finds True Love at Last
MY DEAR FRIEND DID NOT HESITATE A MOMENT BEFORE capitalizing on our engagement; as soon as Charles placed the ring upon my finger, the unbelieving grin upon his face thawing my increasingly icy heart a fraction, he was appearing with me at the Museum.