Glorious Angel (13 page)
And he learned soon enough that she would not talk about the past. The one time he did question her, she became upset and frightened. She was never going to tell him who she really was. It was too late for that now. He would be furious if he knew, and then she would lose him.
So Bradford did not question her again. They did talk, however, a great deal. He told her about the war and the battles he won and lost.
“The Potomac Army was the best,” Bradford said as they sipped warm wine before the fire. “I rejoined in the summer of ’63 when the army was
commanded by General George Meade. Fighting with old George was an honor, Angel. You had to respect the man’s courage. We engaged Lee near Gettysburg and forced the Rebs to retreat to Virginia. That was a day for celebration.
“But it was not all glorious victories—some were enough to turn any man’s stomach. It was outright slaughter at Cemetery Ridge when we cut down nearly all of a Rebel division as they charged that accursed hill.”
Bradford’s expression turned hard as he remembered. He didn’t talk any more of the war that afternoon, but the next day he concluded his story.
“After Cemetery Ridge, I rode under Little Phil with the cavalry until the end of the war.”
“Was he a general too?”
“Major General Sheridan. He was a good man. There were many more decisive battles, and then in ’65 we encountered Lee’s army again. Hell, we knew the South was defeated, but they were too stubborn to admit it. We got Lee to surrender in April when we blocked his line of retreat.”
“I wish the war had ended then,” Angela remarked, remembering that it was after Lee’s surrender that Canby occupied Mobile, and Wilson raided Alabama.
“It didn’t take long after the victory at Appomattox for the remaining southern armies to be brought to heel. But why did you say that, Angel? You were safe up here in the North, weren’t you?”
“Yes, of course,” she lied quickly.
Angela had Naomi to thank for helping her to lose her southern accent. She was glad Bradford took it for granted she was from the North, though she didn’t like lying to him. Omitting the truth was one thing, but an outright lie was different.
That day, Bradford explained how the war had changed him. It also explained his high-handed treatment of her.
“All that killing, seeing friends shot, seeing young boys dying, it made me realize how short life really is, and how uncertain. I decided about halfway through the war that if I came out of it alive, I was going to live the rest of my life to the fullest. No compromising, no second best. And I’ve done just that. Anything I’ve set my mind on, I’ve gone after and gotten. There’s no reason to settle for less when you don’t have to. I got you, didn’t I?” He grinned.
Yes, he had gotten her, and she was willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. Only he didn’t ask her to. He fully expected her to return to school, and he took her there himself when the holidays were over.
Angela was miserable that day, until he explained that he would return when school finished for the summer.
When the first flowers came to the school for Angela Smith, Angela was delighted. She couldn’t claim the flowers herself, and they were
sent away, but at least she knew they were from Bradford, that he hadn’t forgotten. He sent flowers three more times, but they were turned away too. And then no more arrived. But she wasn’t upset. She didn’t expect him to keep sending flowers. After all, flowers were ridiculously expensive in the winter time.
But then summer arrived, and Bradford didn’t.
Zachary Maitland knocked on the door to the study and then opened it without waiting for a reply. “Father, I would like a word with you, if you can spare me a minute.”
“A minute is about all I can spare,” Jacob replied from his position behind the desk. “I want to finish these accounts before it’s time to leave to meet Angela.”
“Well, Angela is the reason I want to talk to you, Father. It is time you realized what you are doing,” Zachary said as he sat down in the leather chair by the desk.
“What I have come to realize is that one of my sons has turned into a snob, like his wife,” Jacob replied with some irritation. “I thought I raised you better than that, Zachary.”
“I resent your choice of words.”
“I thought you might, but I believe ‘snob’ is the
right word indeed. It describes you and Crystal perfectly. It’s a shame you can’t be more like your brother-in-law—though I fear he changes his opinion of Angela only because he’s in love with her.”
“He’s a besotted fool, but he’ll get over it,” Zachary replied drily.
“Really?” Jacob asked, closing his books for the day. “It seems to me that
you
were the fool when it came to love. You cast aside your convictions just so you could win Crystal over.”
“I believe I have lived here long enough to give the South my loyalty,” Zachary retorted with indignation. “It was a good cause to fight for. I didn’t change loyalties for Crystal’s sake.”
“Who are you trying to convince, Zachary, me or yourself? Crystal and Robert were loyal to the South because the South is all they’ve ever known. But you no more believed in the southern cause than Bradford or I did. At least my oldest son had the guts to fight for his beliefs, even if it cost him dearly.”
“Is it my fault Crystal broke their engagement and said she never wanted to see him again when she discovered he was sympathetic to the North? I could have told her, but I didn’t!” Zachary shouted, to hide his deep fear of his older brother. He always felt uneasy when his father touched on this subject. “It was Bradford’s fault he lost her, not mine!”
“Crystal made a hasty decision, but you didn’t
give her time to reconsider it. You were after the girl from the moment you knew Bradford was with the Union. You joined the Confederacy and bided your time, knowing what would happen when she learned about his sympathies. Did it ever occur to you that she might have married you just to spite Bradford?”
“She loves me, Father, and I love her.”
“I might believe that if I saw some grandchildren as proof. You’ve been married to that woman for six years now! But all I see is that this so-called love between you and Crystal is keeping Bradford away from his home.”
“I’m not stopping him from coming home, and neither is Crystal. Bradford has stayed up North because he wants to,” Zachary said stubbornly, but he couldn’t quite meet his father’s gaze.
“It’s not because he wants to, Zachary,” Jacob sighed. “It’s because he’s afraid if he came face to face with you, he might kill you. He loved Crystal enough to make her his wife. They had an argument and she called off the engagement. But time would have mended it. He was still determined to marry her when he came back, and you knew that. Do you think he will ever forgive you?”
No, Zachary thought to himself, he won’t. And thank God he chose to stay away. Zachary lived in constant fear that Bradford would come home someday. Zachary was scared to death of his brother’s explosive temper.
“I came here to talk about your precious Angela, not Bradford,” Zachary said bitterly.
“Ah, yes. So you want to rehash the same old arguments. Or are these new ones? Zachary, just what do you have against Angela?”
“Personally, nothing. She’s a perfectly nice girl, and I wish her well. Only I wish her well elsewhere. Every time she comes home on vacation, the gossip and rumors go on for months, well after she has gone back to school.”
“Do you dare to talk to me about these rumors again, when it was
you
who started the gossip in the first place? If you hadn’t packed your wife up and moved to the city that first summer Angela was home, then none of these rumors would have started! Your little act of defiance, Zachary, of staying in the city until Angela went back to school, was what led people to believe you were protecting your wife from immorality in this house. You would brave the fever in the city, rather than face the sins that were going on in your home, that’s what you led people to believe.”
“I’ll talk to Crystal, Father, but there is still the matter of the gossip. It’s bad enough that our friends are talking about you and Angela behind our backs, but last summer, when she locked herself up in this house with you and wouldn’t go anywhere, that made it even worse. Angela isn’t even here yet, and already the gossip has started.”
“I don’t give a damn what people are saying! I’ve told you that before,” Jacob said in a rising voice, beginning to lose his temper.
“Well, the rest of us care. How do you think we feel when we go to the city and people stare at us? They don’t even bother to whisper anymore. Do you know what they are saying? That you fancied a piece of white trash and brought her into your home to keep you warm at night. That you had her educated in a fine school so she wouldn’t shame you. That you shower her with gifts so she won’t leave you for a younger man. And now people pity Robert because he was unfortunate enough to fall in love with a rich man’s mistress,” Zachary sneered. “Doesn’t that bother you in the least?”
“No,” Jacob returned angrily, deciding to put Zachary in his place. “But since it bothers you so much, perhaps I should give your brother-in-law my permission to ask Angela to marry him. Robert has already approached me once on the matter.”
“You can’t be serious!” Zachary was appalled at the thought. “I won’t have my best friend marrying the girl you’ve been sleeping with all these years!”
“Damn you, Zachary!” Jacob stormed, coming to his feet in a burst of fury. “So you believe all those filthy lies too! I thought I explained years ago that—that—”
Jacob brought his hands up over his heart, un
able to speak for the stabbing pain in his chest. He fell back in his chair, his face quickly turning white, and was hardly able to breathe.
“Father!” Zachary cried, beside himself with fright. “Father! I’ll get Dr. Scarron. I’ll ride like hell, Father, only hold on!”
Angela waited anxiously on the dock, sitting on one of the large trunks filled with winter clothes. She had left the steamboat an hour ago, and Jacob should have been here then to meet her. What could be keeping him?
Her stomach rumbled angrily, but she didn’t want to spoil her appetite for the dinner Jacob would be treating her to. All the other times when she came home from school, he took her to a fine café before they started for Golden Oaks. Last year, miserable over Bradford, she hadn’t been very appreciative, but she would be this year. Her long sadness was over.
A sudden breeze swept a stray curl into her face, and she tucked it under her white bonnet. She was dressed entirely in white, right down to her shoes and silk stockings. She was glad, for it was a very hot afternoon.
The dock was teeming with people, and Angela tried to concentrate on them, but she couldn’t. She kept wondering what kind of reception she would receive at Golden Oaks this time. For the past three years, Zachary and Crystal had stayed away from Golden Oaks during most of her visits home. But she was home to stay now, and Hannah had told her last summer that Zachary would never move out of Golden Oaks permanently, so Angela would have Crystal to contend with now. Angela didn’t look forward to it.
Why couldn’t Crystal accept her after all this time, like her brother Robert did? Angela spoke as well as the older girl did. Angela was much better educated than Crystal, who had deserted school at fourteen. And Angela could hold her own at a social gathering now. She was in all outward respects an equal, so why couldn’t Crystal accept her? Would Crystal hold Angela’s poor upbringing against her forever?
“Well, fancy this. If it isn’t the fine lady. Home from school, are you?”
Angela started, turned quickly, and faced Billy Anderson. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, dressed immaculately in a blue-gray tweed suit. It was seven years since she had last seen him, the day she ran him off at riflepoint. She had often wondered what had happened to Billy. On her frequent trips to the city over the years, escorted either by Robert Lonsdale or Jacob, she had occasionally seen his father, Sam Anderson, but never
Billy. It was as though he had disappeared from Mobile altogether.