Southern Legacy: Completed Version Page 38

  Davis’s eyes filled with an intensity Cullen had rarely seen in the commander as he continued. “You are not the only Southerner I have held this conversation with. Not every Southern-born gentleman will be led blindly into the fire. Commander Farragut, a Southerner himself, has made it well-known that he regards secession as treason.”

  “I have long admired Commander Farragut,” Cullen said in a solemn tone. “But what you are asking of me, I don’t know if I can do so.”

  “Smythe, if it is as I predict, it will be asked of every man in this nation.”

  A dark cloud of gloom descended upon Cullen; his conscience weighed against him. His heart was Southern. Of that fact, he had no doubt. His anger against his own family also tore at his soul, but he did not want to let his ire over his personal life lead him to a decision that would have devastating consequences.

  Growing up, he remembered the stories his grandfather told of his family battling for independence against the British. Pride burst forth in what had been accomplished to create the United States. The cost had been high for that freedom…how quickly it seemed to have been forgotten.

  If he let reason rule him, Cullen comprehended that the country was a democracy where the minority could not dictate to the majority. It was his heart…his love of the people…the land that made him hesitate. The realization swept through him that he would not be able to postpone his decision much longer…as well as he could no longer emphatically state he would never stand against the place of his birth.

  “Commander, I appreciate you reaching out to me,” Cullen said with more confidence than he felt. “I will give the matter deep consideration.”

  “It is all I ask.” Commander Davis rose. “It has been good to see you, Smythe.”

  Cullen watched the commander depart with the comprehension that if the situation was as laid out before him, he would have no choice but to choose a side. But it was a decision he could not make in haste.

  * * * *

  “I have tried so desperately to follow the rules that society and God has dictated. Now look at me.”

  “Could not most men and women complain of the same?”

  Cullen had been awakened early this morning by his father’s unannounced visit. He had only arrived back in Philadelphia late in the night. “Father, do not tell me you woke me this early to discuss the meaning of the world?”

  “If it is bothering you.” Jonathan stood in the middle of the room. He hadn’t even removed his hat. He gestured toward the door. “Would you care to have breakfast with me?”

  “I rather you tell me why you are here.” Cullen tucked his shirt into his pants and combed his disheveled hair back with his fingers.

  Jonathan nodded. “As you wish.”

  The slight grimace on his father’s face did not go unnoticed by Cullen. He walked over to the window. The sun had barely risen. He turned back around and faced his father. “What is wrong?”

  Jonathan pressed his lips together tightly and swallowed hard. “I thought it best to tell you myself instead of writing. Shortly after you left for Chicago, Heyward’s wife was killed in a terrible accident.”

  “Gillie? How?”

  “She walked blindly into an oncoming carriage. From what Heyward said, she had never fully recovered from the attack upon her.”

  His heart sank. Josephine would be devastated… A deep frown emerged. For a brief moment, he had forgotten it was not his to share with Josephine…she was not his to comfort. “It is sad, Father, but it has nothing to do with me. I have done all that I can do.”

  “That is not in question,” Jonathan said. “Your actions were to be commended. It is only… there is more.”

  “Father, don’t. If this has anything to do with my Southern family, I can assure you I have no interest.” Cullen waved his hand in front of his face to halt his father. “I have, though, made a decision I want to share with you. I have decided to reenlist in the Navy.”

  “The Navy?” Jonathan said, taken back. “I thought you had no intention to serve again.”

  “That was when I had other plans for my life, before the threat of war loomed on the horizon.”

  “Do not do so because of anger, son.”

  Cullen shook his head and shrugged. “I have been trained to serve, Father. I feel strongly that the Union should not be divided. Do not question my patriotism.”

  “Of course, I do not, but do not expect me to exhibit happiness with the thought of you being drawn into a war. Although, it will not dim the pride I feel for having you for a son.” He sighed heavily. “Still, you need to listen to me.”

  “What, Father? What could possibly be so important that you are pressing me so?”

  “It may be nothing, but I thought you needed to know,” Jonathan said. “Andrew wrote to me directly. Josephine is with child.”

  Chapter Six

  A light ocean breeze swept through the veranda, giving a brief reprieve to the sweltering day. Josephine breathed in deeply. She would talk Wade into a long walk after dinner. She so enjoyed the evening strolls that had become their habit as of late.

  How she loved Charleston! How happy she was that Wade had brought her back to the city…she had come home.

  Charleston had become alive and vibrant with the constant ramblings of the election. The people were abuzz. Secession seemed inevitable if Lincoln was elected and Wade believed he would be.

  “Lincoln’s election will spur secession. We will have no choice,” Wade informed her after one of the addresses supporting Breckinridge. The meetings down at Institute Hall had become more frequent.

  Jo believed her husband, though she didn’t understand why the city took such joy in the thought of breaking away from the rest of the United States. The rants against Lincoln echoed along the streets. Lincoln had been the butt of many jokes. No damn Yankee was going to tell the fine people of South Carolina what to do…

  Hatred toward the man chilled her bones. She supposed it had a lot to do with her condition. The one thought that consumed her was her child and nothing…nothing was more important.

  Wade had spun a cocoon around her, insulating her from the world. A smile formed on her lips as she felt the baby move. Oh, how she loved the feeling! She loved that Wade had cared for her in such a tender, loving manner. He had made her forget her life before…she thought only of her future…their future.

  A burst of laughter came from the French doors, along with a mixture of voices chatting gaily. Josephine turned to see her sister-in-law walk onto the veranda.

  Kathleen Montgomery was dressed in a lovely blue gown with a lace split. A matching white lace shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Quite lovely…and expensive. Jo knew because Wade was paying his brother’s bills.

  Andrew spent above his means, courtesy of the demands of his wife. Wade held no sympathy toward his brother until the birth of their child. Kathleen had delivered a sickly little girl, Fannie. And with her birth, Jo’s anger toward Andrew melted.

  She could not take her wrath against an innocent child. When Andrew asked Wade for financial help, Jo urged Wade to do so. Not for Kathleen, but for the baby. Kathleen had taken full advantage, to the point, she had moved back into the Montgomery Charleston house.

  Jo simmered inside as she watched the woman manipulate the situation. Why, the woman left the poor babe in the care of the mammy most days while she socialized! Jo didn’t even think the woman looked into the nursery and the care of Fannie fell upon Mother Montgomery and herself.

  Behind Kathleen, Charlotte swept through the doors and entwined her arm in her newfound friend. Much to Jo’s chagrin, Charlotte had seemed to take a fancy to Kathleen.

  “Jo, I do wish you could accompany us this evening.” Charlotte squeezed Kathleen’s arm playfully. “It promises to be quite enlightening.”

  “Another rally?” Jo eyed her friend suspiciously. Something about Charlotte worried her. She looked the same, but something…something had changed since Charlotte married. Was it
her eyes…where was the spark that used to light her eyes?

  “I do wish you could go with us.” Charlotte glanced down at Jo’s stomach. “You are feeling well?”

  Jo felt her face flush. No one in polite society talked openly of a confinement, only whispered tellings when one was alone, never in front of others. She had no objection to Charlotte or Mother Montgomery…it was Kathleen. “Yes. To be honest, I have never felt better.”

  “I may be biased but I do not believe Jo has ever looked more beautiful.”

  Jo smiled at her husband, who walked to her side and placed his hand protectively on her shoulder. She reached up and held his hand.

  “Dear brother, you seem to be leading a charmed life,” Kathleen said sweetly in her newly inflected drawl. “If only Andrew could be so fortunate.”

  “I am charmed, dear sister-in-law.” Wade flashed a disarming smile. “And fortunate enough to have shared in my good fortune, even with my errant brother.”

  Kathleen gave no sign she had heard Wade’s barb. Instead, she returned his smile. “I feel exceedingly fortunate myself. Charlotte and I are going out this evening. Our husbands are treating us to entertainment over at the Crockers’. Are you going to be in attendance…oh…I forgot you would have to go without poor Jo.” Kathleen glanced over at Jo and smirked. “Still in mourning?”

  Breathing in deeply to contain her irritation, Jo said nothing. Kathleen did not seem to understand the standard mourning in the South. Her father had passed less than a year ago. She had changed the lace around her collar to white, but she had no intention of changing out of black until a full year had passed. Papa deserved her respect.

  “I have plans with my wife tonight.” As Wade eased down in the chair beside Jo, he kept her hand in his. “Go and enjoy yourselves.”

  Wade waited only until the women disappeared back into the house before his hand went to Jo’s stomach. The baby moved again. “He knows it is his father.” Wade chuckled.

  “You are certain it is a boy,” Jo teased.

  “Without a doubt, my love,” he said. “As I also know his name.”

  “Oh, really. Are you going to let me know?”

  “I was thinking of Percival. Would you find it acceptable?”

  She brought his hand to her lips and she kissed it. “A perfect name for our child.”

  “It was my thought,” he said in a tender voice. “Are you ready for our stroll?”

  She nodded and allowed him to help her to her feet. Arm in arm, the two started toward the Battery. Jo leaned her head against his shoulder. She was content as long as she ignored the guilt.

  Jo’s conscience plagued her; her deep sense of righteousness gnawed at her. What right had she to accept this happiness? She had made love with Cullen…and now she accepted Wade’s contention that the child was his…pushing back the possibility that the baby was Cullen’s.

  Aunt Sybil had talked to her once about what a woman should expect from her husband— that it was to be endured and bore with dignity and fortitude. That there were embarrassing intimacies between a husband and a wife which must be tolerated. Perhaps it would have been so if she married Andrew, but not with Wade.

  Those few moonlight nights with Cullen had awakened within Josephine a deep vein of passion that tore through her soul. And to her shame, she had found passion to be an intimacy of her spirit. If her mind understood that Wade wasn’t Cullen who she had given her heart, Wade had opened a door to this intimacy. With her husband, she had accepted this part of herself, allowing if only for that moment to forget the world around her.

  Understanding suffused through her. Wade was of her world—a world of which only she would be truly happy being who she was—a deep born Southerner whose convictions and beliefs bore from the land and the people.

  Jo paused at the railing along the Battery. She had always loved the view of the harbor. Ships filled the harbor with flags flying from a multitude of countries. Sea gulls flew overhead in the cloudless sky as the sun set.

  “What are you thinking, my love?”

  “How content I am.” She looked up at him and smiled. “How there is nowhere else I want to be than here.”

  Wade wrapped his arm about her and pulled her close against his side. There they stayed until the sunset.

  * * * *

  The beginning of October brought cooler days, though the heat in the city rose. The climate against Lincoln had escalated further, with claims that the South would never be the same if the ape was elected. Despite the fact that the Republican platform allowed slavery to exist, only it would not support the expansion.

  Jo found it confusing because one of the most respected members of the community, Wade Hampton, had proposed the same compromise. His opinion had been met with hostility. Charleston seemed well beyond listening to any concession and was in a temper for a fight…toward the North.

  The mood in the state was festive and joyful. Jo had watched Wade attend a different social event almost on a nightly basis. If it wasn’t a rally, it was a dinner. Tonight, they were hosting a dinner party, not the small engagements that Wade and she had hosted in the past few months. It had not been her choice.

  Wade had arranged for one last dinner before the family withdrew back to Magnolia Bluff. Kathleen had been the one to interfere and created the need for a much larger gathering. Lord, that woman tried her patience!

  Tired and uncomfortable, Jo sighed. It promised to be a long night. Rosa had finished styling her hair, but there wasn’t much more she would do with her appearance, not with her ever-growing belly. Staying in her mourning black, she had taken to wearing high-waisted gowns suited to her advancing condition, but little could be done to hide her pregnancy.

  “You must promise me you will be on your best behavior, Jo,” Wade said. Staring at himself in the mirror, he straightened his waistcoat.

  “If I must, but I can’t abide the woman, Wade. She is most infuriating…acting like she is mistress here!”

  “Calm yourself. Do I need to remind you that she is only in the house because you relented? I would have left her where she was.” A small laugh escaped him. He moved to her side. “My love, why hold anything against Kathleen?”

  “Why do you ask that?”

  “Because she is miserable here in Charleston. If the truth be known, do you not believe that Andrew regrets soundly his decision to marry her? I, on the other hand.” He took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Thank God for Kathleen every day. For without her, I would not have you.”

  Her face softened upon the utterance. “You think you can sweet-talk me into—”

  He lowered his face to hers and kissed her once, twice…three times until she forgot that Kathleen even existed.

  “I don’t know what I will do now that your time is drawing near,” he whispered against her lips. His hand touched her swollen belly. “I will have to learn patience.”

  “I have over a month more. You aren’t leaving our bed?”

  He laughed, loudly. “I love you, Josephine Montgomery. Most would insist.”

  “Should I?” she asked genuinely. “I don’t know about such things.”

  His smile widened. “I will not leave our bed.” He kissed her once more. “Come, we have guests.”

  The answer pleased Jo. She wrapped her arm about her husband’s and began their descent to welcome everyone. She smiled up at him as they walked down the stairs.

  She wanted to tell him everything she was feeling, that she couldn’t sleep without him holding her. She had never admitted to him that she had a desperate need to feel protected against her dreams that haunted her.

  Perhaps she didn’t know how she felt. Miss Hazel returned to Charleston last week. She had so desperately hoped for good news, but all that Miss Hazel told her was that due to Gillie’s injuries, Gillie couldn’t write. Miss Hazel said there was nothing more she could do for her. Gillie understood she needed to come home to help care for Jo and the baby.

  It shou
ld have made her feel better…it didn’t. She couldn’t shake the feeling there was more no one was telling her. Hurt lingered for Gillie…for Cullen. She tried to push him out of her heart, but he was a constant ache…a void within her.

  She clung to Wade with a need that had sprung within her to escape that void. She questioned whether the need originated from Wade’s proclamation of his love for her or the life that was growing within her. All she understood at this moment was she felt safe within Wade’s arms.

  * * * *

  The house was pulsating. Voices, loud and boisterous, echoed throughout the gathering with the same fever-pitch tension the city held. The hubbub of voices conveyed confidence in the Southerner strategy.

  Jo sat quietly beside Mother Montgomery and the other matrons of the community in a line of chairs against the wall in the drawing room. Dinner had been a success, but her head pounded. If she heard one more “Yee-aay-eee” coming from the study, she would scream.

  Tired and exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to retire for the night. It would not happen. She saw the affair lasting well into the early morning hours. A loud laugh drew her attention.

  As she glanced back over her shoulder, she saw Kathleen in the doorway with Wade, who had emerged from the study. She drew in a breath to contain her ire. Already Kathleen irritated her, dressed in a low-cut sapphire gown that accentuated her bosom in the most indecent fashion. Why, she was a married woman! Oh, good Lord! The woman placed her hand on his arm and laughed up at him in a manner that made her heart hammer so hard she thought it would burst.

  “For shame!” Turning, Jo smiled. Grace Ann had sat beside her. Behind her fan, Grace Ann smirked. “The nerve of the hussy!”

  “She is quite shameless,” Jo conceded as she opened her fan as well to conceal their conversation.

  “Why ever did you let her back into your house?” Grace Ann said more as a statement than a question. “Mr. Whitney said she needs to return back to the North. She is trouble, Jo.”