orders. The officer was about twenty-seven years of age. He was a tall, handsome man with a bronzed face, clear grey eyes and a long, silky-blond moustache. His uniform was a little worn, but it fitted him to perfection and he evidently was a well-bred gentleman.
We entered into conversation, and, since there already was a bond of sympathy between us, we soon were chatting and laughing as if we had been old friends. He told me that he was a captain in the United States Army, that his name was Franklin and that he came from Pennsylvania. This fact made me feel even more friendly towards him, and I informed him that I also was a Pennsylvanian. Then we laughed and shook hands. I could see that it puzzled him to find that a Northern woman, and one who openly expressed her sympathy with the Union soldiers, should be the mistress of a Southern plantation. But he was too well bred to ask questions, and I did not volunteer any explanations.
After talking for some time, he rose from his seat, saying that he must go and see to the quartering of his men. I told him that dinner would be ready at seven o’clock. Then he bowed and left the room.
Sending for Dinah, I asked if she had seen that everything had been readied for the officer.
She replied that she had seen to everything, and that his valise had been taken up to the room.
I then told her that, now that the United States troops had come, she and all the other slaves soon would be set free.
Oh, Missis, is dat a fact? she exclaimed, showing her white teeth in a broad smile.
Yes, I replied.
Den I’ll look after de ossifer myself. He is a fine lookin’ young gentleman, she said, bustling away.
I went to my room and dressed for dinner, putting on one of my prettiest frocks. Then I went down to the drawing room to wait for Captain Franklin. Presently he came in, and, after making a bow, thanked me for the comfortable chamber which I had alloted him. I think he was rather surprised to find me in full evening toilette, with bare arms and shoulders. He had changed his rather war-worn uniform for an undress jacket and braided pantaloons, and he looked smart, soldierly and very handsome.
Presently dinner was announced and we went into the dining room. The meal was a good one, and I had ordered Dinah to get out some champagne as well as claret and sherry. Since Captain Franklin had been campaigning in a very rough way for six months, he thoroughly appreciated the dainty, well-cooked dishes and the good wine, and he said with a smile that he was a most fortunate man in having been detailed to occupy Woodlands instead of having to live in a damp, muddy tent and fare on tough ration beef and hard biscuits.
I laughed, saying that I was glad to hear he liked his quarters. Then we talked about all sorts of things, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, finding that I had plenty to say and that I was quite able to hold my own in an argument when I was not snubbed.
Captain Franklin was polite and agreeable, treating my opinions with consideration and never contradicting me. When we went into the drawing-room, he bade me good night, saying that he had to visit his men and mount a guard. He then went away, and I felt quite lonely. His coming to the house had excited me, and I found that I could not settle down quietly to anything that evening, so I went upstairs to my room and got Rosa to brush my hair for half an hour, then I went to bed.
Some days passed, and I soon found that the presence of the soldiers had caused nearly all the work on the plantation to come to a standstill. The field hands did pretty much as they pleased-though they were still slaves, the proclamation of their freedom not having been made until some time afterwards.
I had written to Randolph and acquainted him fully with the state of affairs, and had received a letter in which he said that he would not come back to Woodlands just then. It would be no use for him to return, he observed, and it would only annoy him to see his old home overrun by a lot of damned Yankees. He did not think that he would be able to stand it quietly, and there probably would be trouble, which most likely would end in shooting. He also said that he was thinking of taking a house in Richmond, and, if he did, he would send for me at once.
He wanted me badly, as there was not a decent looking woman to be had in the place. He wound up by saying that, when I came away, I could leave everything in charge of the overseers-if there was anything left to be taken charge of.
The letter was typical of the man. It was utterly selfish; there was not a word of tenderness in it, and he had not even thought it necessary to be silent about his doings with other women.
However, his unfaithfulness did not trouble me in the least, and I only smiled when I read that part of his letter.
During the time which had passed, I had seen very little of the soldiers, for they had kept well out of the way. But I was pretty sure that they were having a good time with the women and girls belonging to the plantation. I knew that Rosa had secured a sergeant as her beau, for I had seen her one afternoon in a summer house with him in a rather suspicious attitude. But I did not care how many sweethearts the girl had, or what they did to her, so long as she was at my service whenever I wanted her. And she always was.
Captain Franklin had never obtruded his presence on me, but we met at meals and he always used to spend an hour with me in the drawing room after dinner. It was a most pleasant time for me, because he was always agreeable and amusing. Moreover, we had many ideas in common, and our natures were sympathetic. I saw that he admired me, and before long I felt pretty sure from the way he looked at me and by various other little signs that he had more than a mere liking for me, though I had but little doubt that he had guessed the nature of the relations existing between me and the owner of Woodlands. But whether he had or not, he always treated me with respect, and I could not help contrasting his courteous, gentlemanly manner with the coarse and often brutal way in which Randolph nearly always had treated me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
From the day when Captain Franklin had come to the house, I had liked him, and, as I got to know him better, my feelings had gradually grown warmer until, at last, I fell in love with him. It was the first time in my life that I had felt this passion, and it took full possession of me. I always was thinking of Franklin when he was not with me. I began to want to feel his kisses on my lips, and I longed to lie in his arms. I had not disliked being poked by Randolph, for whom I had not the slightest liking therefore I could not help but think how delightful it would be to be embraced by a man whom I loved. Randolph had never cared for me; he had not scrupled to tell me that he was unfaithful to me, and, above all, he had possessed himself of me originally by most cruel means: therefore I did not consider that I was in the least way bound to be faithful to him. He certainly had given me plenty of fine clothes and a quantity of jewelry, but then-as he probably would have said himself- he had taken the value out of my body. Anyhow, I thought he had most fully.
I became quite lovesick over Franklin-or, to put it more truly, though in coarser language, I wanted very much to be poked by him. But, although he had had plenty of opportunities, he never made love to me, even in the mildest manner, and yet I felt sure that he did love me. I could not determine whether his reserve was caused by shyness or by a sense of honor which would not allow him to make advances to a defenseless woman who was quite in his power.
Three or four more days passed without his showing more warmth, and, since my lovesickness was increasing and there was only one cure for it, I determined to make the first advance. Randolph had instructed me well in all the little artifices by which a woman may allure a man. Thus, I decided to try the effect of one or two of them on my cold lover.
I remembered that Randolph had told me that, if a man happened to be fond of perfume, the odor of it increased his sensual desire for the woman who happened to be wearing it. Franklin liked the perfume of violets, so, that night, when I was dressing for dinner, I sprinkled my chemise and my hair with the delicate but strong
