CHAPTER XIII.
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE BEGINS TO RUN ROUGH.
In some Arabian Nights or other, there is a story of voyagers in abecalmed ship who were drifted by irresistible currents towards anunknown island. As they gazed at it their eyes were deceived by anenchantment in the atmosphere, so that they seemed to see upon the shorea number of beautiful women waiting to welcome them, whereas theseexpectant figures were really nothing but hideous apes with carniverousappetites, whose desire it was to devour the approaching strangers.
As Miss Ravenel drifted towards Colonel Carter she beheld him in theguise of a pure and noble creature, while in truth he was a more thancommonly demoralized man, with potent capacities for injuring others.Mrs. Larue, on the other hand, perceived him much as he was, and likedhim none the less for it. Had she lived in the days before the flood shewould not have cared specially for the angels who came down to enjoythemselves with the daughters of men, except just so far as theysatisfied her vanity and curiosity. Seeing clearly that the Colonel wasnot a seraph, but a creature of far lower grade, very coarse and carnalin some at least of his dispositions, she would still have been pleasedto have him fall in love with her, and would perhaps have accepted himas a husband. It is probable that she did not have a suspicion of theglamour which humbugged the innocent eyes of her youthful cousin. Butshe did presently perceive that it would be Lillie, and not herself, whowould receive Carter's offer of marriage, if it was ever made toeither. How should she behave under these trying circumstances? Painfulas the discovery may have been to her vanity, it had little effect on atemper so callously amiable, and none on the lucid wisdom of a spirit soclarified by selfishness. She showed that she was a person of goodworldly sense, and of little heart. She soon brought herself toencourage the Carter flirtation, partly because she had a woman'spassion for seeing such things move on, and partly for reasons of state.If the Colonel married Lillie he would be a valuable friend at court;moreover the match could not hurt the social position of her relatives,who were ostracised as Yankees already; it would be all gain and noloss. She soon discovered, as she thought, that there was no need ofblowing the Colonel's trumpet in the ears of Miss Lillie, and that theyoung lady could be easily brought to greet him with a betrothal hymnof, "Hail to the chief who in triumph advances." But the Doctor, whoevidently did not like the Colonel, might exercise a deleteriousinfluence on these fine chances. Madame Larue must try to lead the sillyold gentleman to take a reasonable look at his own interests. What aparoxysm of vexation and contempt she would have gone into, had sheknown of his refusal to make forty or fifty thousand dollars on sugar,merely because the transaction might furnish the Confederate army withsalt and quinine! Not being aware of this act of cretinism, she went athim on the marriage business with a hopeful spirit.
"What an admirable _parti_ for some of our New Orleans young ladieswould be the Colonel Carter!"
The Doctor smiled and bowed his assent, because such was his habitconcerning all matters which, were indifferent to him. The fact that hehad lived twenty-five years in New Oceans without ever being driven tofight a duel, although disagreeing with its fiery population on varioustouchy subjects, shows what an exquisite courtesy he must havemaintained in his manners and conversation.
"I must positively introduce him to Mees Langdon or Mees Dumas, and seewhat will come of it," pursued Madame.
Ravenel professed and looked his delight at the proposition, withoutcaring a straw for the subject, being engaged in a charmingmineralogical revery. Mrs. Larue perceived his indifference and wasannoyed by it, but continued to smile with the Indian-like fortitude ofa veteran worldling.
"He is of an excellent family--one of the best families of Virginia. Hewould be a suitable _parti_ for any young lady of my acquaintance. Thereis no doubt that he has splendid prospects. He is almost the onlyregular officer in the department. Of course he will win promotion. Ishould not be surprised to see him supersede Picayune Butler. I beg yourpardon--I mean Major-General Butler. I hear him so constantly calledPicayune that I feel as if that was his name of baptism. Mark myprophecy now. In a year that man will be superseded by Colonel Carter."
"It might be a change for the better," admitted the Doctor with thecomposure of a Gallio.
"The Colonel has a large salary," continued Madame. "The mayoralty giveshim three thousand, and his pay as colonel is two thousand six hundred.Five thousand six hundred dollars seems a monstrous salary in these daysof poverty."
"It does, indeed," coincided the Doctor, remembering his own fifteenhundred, with a momentary dread that it would hardly keep him out ofdebt.
Mrs. Larue paused and considered whether she should venture further. Shehad already got as far as this two or three times without eliciting fromher brother-in-law a word good or bad as to the matter which she had atheart. She had been like a boy who walks two miles to a pond, puts onhis skates, looks at the thinly frozen surface, shakes his doubtfulhead, unbuckles his skates and trudges home again. She resolved to trythe ice this time, at no matter what risk of breaking it.
"I have been thinking that he would not be a bad _parti_ for my littlecousin."
The Doctor laid aside his Robinsonites in some quiet corner of his mind,and devoted himself to the subject of the conversation, leaning forwardand surveying Madame earnestly through his spectacles.
"I would almost rather bury her," he said in his excitement.
"You amaze me. There is a difference in age, I grant. But how little! Heis still what we call a young man. And then marriages are so difficultto make up in these horrible times. Who else is there in all NewOrleans?"
"I don't see why she should marry at all," said the Doctor very warmly."Why can't she continue to live with me?"
"Positively you are not serious."
"I certainly am. I beg pardon for disagreeing with you, but I don't seewhy I shouldn't entertain the idea I mention."
"Oh! when it comes to that, there is no arguing. You step out of thebounds of reason into pure feeling and _egoisme_. I also beg yourpardon, but I must tell you that you are _egoiste_. To forbid a girl tomarry is like forbidding a young man to engage in business, to work, toopen his own _carriere_. A woman who must not love is defrauded of herbest rights."
"Why can't she be satisfied with loving me?" demanded the Doctor. Heknew that he was talking irrationally on this subject; but what he meantto say was, "I don't like Colonel Carter."
"Because that would leave her an unhappy, sickly old maid," retortedMadame. "Because that would leave you without grandchildren."
Ravenel rose and walked the room with a melancholy step and acountenance full of trouble. Suddenly he stopped short and turned uponMrs. Larue a look of anxious inquiry.
"I hope you have not observed in Lillie any inclination towardsthis--this idea."
"Not the slightest," replied Madame, lying frankly, and without theslightest hesitation or confusion.
"And you have not broached it to her?"
"Never!" affirmed the lady solemnly, which was another whopper.
"I sincerely hope that you will not. Oblige me, I beg you, by promisingthat you will not."
"If such is your pleasure," sighed Madame. "Well--I promise."
"I am so much obliged to you," said the Doctor.
"I know that there is a difference in age," Mrs. Larue recommenced,thereby insinuating that that was the only objection to the match thatshe could imagine: but her brother-in-law solemnly shook his head, as ifto say that he had other reasons for opposition compared with which thiswas a trifle: and so, after taking a sharp look at him, she judged itwise to drop the subject.
"I hope," concluded the Doctor, "that hereafter, when I am away, youwill allow Lillie to receive calls in your house. There is a backpassage. It is neither quite decorous to receive gentlemen alone here,nor to send them away."
Mrs. Larue made no objection to this plan, seeing that she could be justas strict or just as careless a duenna as she chose.
"I wonder why he has su
ch an aversion to the match," she thought.Accustomed to see men matured in vice lead innocent young girls to thealtar, habituated to look upon the notoriously pure-minded Doctor as asocial curiosity rather than a social standard, she scarcely guessed,and could not realize, the repugnance with which such a father wouldresign a daughter to the doubtful protection of a husband chosen fromthe class known as men about town.
"Aurait il decouvert," she continued to meditate; "ce petit liaison demonsieur le colonel? Il est vraiment curieux mon beau-frere; c'estplutot une vierge qu'un homme."
I beg the reader not to do this clever lady the injustice to supposethat she kept or ever intended to keep her promise to the Doctor. Tohim, indeed, she did not for a long time speak of the proposed marriage,intending thereby to lull his suspicions to sleep, and thus prevent himfrom offering any timely opposition to that natural course of humanevents which might alone suffice to bring about the desired end. Butinto Lillie's ears she perpetually whispered pleasant things concerningCarter, besides leaving the two alone together for ten, fifteen, twentyminutes at a time, until Lillie would get alarmed at her unusualposition, and become either nervously silent or nervously talkative. Forthese services the Colonel was not as grateful as he should have been.He was just the man to believe that he could make his own way in a loveaffair, and need not burden himself with a sense of obligation for anyone's assistance. Moreover, valuing himself on his knowledge of life, hethought that he understood Mrs. Larue's character perfectly, anddeclared that he was not the man to be managed by such an intriguante,however knowing. He did in fact perceive that she was corrupt, and bythe way he liked her none the worse for it, although he would not havemarried her. To Colburne he spoke of her gaily and conceitedly as "theLarue," or sometimes as "La rouee," for he knew French well enough tomake an occasional bad pun in it. The Captain, on the other hand, nevermentioned her except respectfully, feeling himself bound to treat anyrelative of Miss Ravenel with perfect courtesy.
But while Carter supposed that he comprehended the Larue, he walked inthe path which she had traced out for him. From week to week he foundit more agreeable to be with Miss Ravenel. Those random tete-a-teteswhich to her were so alarming, were to him so pleasant that he caughthimself anticipating them with anxiety. The Colonel might have knownfrom his past experience, he might have known by only looking at hishigh-colored face and powerful frame in a mirror, that it was not a safeamusement for him to be so much with one charming lady. Self-possessedin his demeanor, and, like most roues, tolerably cool for a littledistance below the surface of his feelings, he was at bottom and by thedecree of imperious nature, very volcanic. As we say of some fierywines, there was a great deal of body to him. At this time he wasdetermined not to fall in love. He remembered how he had been infatuatedin other days, and dreaded the return of the passionate dominion. To usehis own expression, "he made such a blasted fool of himself when he oncegot after a woman!"
Nevertheless, he began to be, not jealous; he could not admit that verysoft impeachment; but he began to want to monopolize Miss Ravenel. Whenhe found Colburne in her company he sometimes talked French to her,thereby embarrassing and humiliating the Captain, who understood nothingof the language except when he saw it in print, and could trace out themeaning of some words by their resemblance to Latin. The young lady,either because she felt for Colburne's awkward position, or because shedid not wish to be suspected of saying things which she might not havedared utter in English, usually restored the conversation to her mothertongue after a few sentences. Once her manner in doing this was sopointed that the Colonel apologized.
"I beg pardon, Captain," he said, to which he added a white lie. "Ireally supposed that you spoke French."
No; Colburne did not speak French, nor any other modern language; he didnot draw, nor sing, nor play, and was in short as destitute ofaccomplishments as are most Americans. He blushed at the Colonel'sapology, which mortified him more than the offence for which it wasintended to atone. He would have given all his Greek for a smattering ofGallic, and he took a French teacher the next morning.
Another annoyance to Colburne was Mrs. Larue. He was still so young inheart matters, or rather in coquetry, that he was troubled by being madethe object of airs of affection which he could not reciprocate. I do notmean to say that the lady was in love with him; she never had been inlove in her life, and was not going to begin at thirty-three. The plain,placid truth was, that she was willing to flirt with him to pleaseherself, and determined to keep him away from Lillie in order to giveevery possible chance to Carter. Only when Mrs. Larue said "flirt," shemeant indescribable things, such as ladies may talk of without reproachamong themselves, but which, if introduced into print, are consideredvery improper reading. Meantime neither Carter nor Colburne understoodher, although the former would have hooted at the idea that he did notcomprehend the lady perfectly.
"By Jove!" soliloquized the knowing Colonel, "she is sweeter on him thana pailful of syrup. She puts one in mind of a boa-constrictor. She islicking him all over, preparatory to swallowing him. Not a bad sort ofserpent to have around one, either," pursued the Colonel, almost winkingto himself, so knowing did he feel. "Not a bad sort of serpent. Only Ishouldn't care about marrying her."
Indeed the Colonel reminds one a little of "devilish sly old JoeyBagstock."
The innocent Colburne acknowledged to himself that he did not comprehendMrs. Larue nor her purposes. He would have inferred from her ways thatshe wanted him for a husband, only that she spoke in a very cool way ofthe matrimonial state.
"Marriage will not content me, nor will single life," she said to himone day. "I have tried both, and I cannot recommend either. It is achoice between two evils, and one does not know to say which is theleast."
Widows in search of second husbands do not talk publicly in this style,and Colburne intelligently concluded that he was not to be invited tothe altar. At the same time Mrs. Larue went on in this way, she treatedhim to certain appetizing little movements, glances and words, which ledhim to suspect with some vague alarm that she did not mean to let himoff as a mere acquaintance. Finally, as is supposed, an explanationensued which was not to his liking. There was an interview of half anhour in a back parlor, brought about by the graceful manoeuvres of thelady, of which Colburne steadily refused to reveal the secrets, althoughstraitly questioned by the fun-loving Colonel.
"By Jove! he's been bluffing her," soliloquized Carter, who thought heperceived that from this private confabulation the parties came forth onterms of estrangement. "What a queer fellow he is! Suppose he didn'twant to marry her--he might amuse himself. It would be pleasant to him,and wouldn't hurt her. Hanged if he isn't a curiosity!"
The next time that Colburne called on Miss Ravenel the Larue took herrevenge for that mysterious defeat, the particulars of which I am unableto relate. To comprehend the nature and efficiency of this vengeance, itis necessary to take a dive into the recesses of New Orleans society.There is a geographical fable of civilized white negroes in the centreof Africa, somewhere near the Mountains of the Moon. This fable isrealized in the Crescent City and in some of the richest plantingdistricts of Louisiana, where you will find a class of colored people,who are not black people at all, having only the merest fraction ofnegro blood in their veins, and who are respectable in character,numbers of them wealthy, and some of them accomplished. These Creoles,as they call themselves, have been free for generations, and untilAnglo-Saxon law invaded Louisiana, enjoyed the same rights as othercitizens. They are good Catholics; they marry and are given in marriage;their sons are educated in Paris on a perfect level with youngFrenchmen; their daughters receive the strict surveillance which isallotted to girls in most southern countries. In the street many of themare scarcely distinguishable from the unmixed descendants of the oldFrench planters. But there is a social line of demarkation drawn aboutthem, like the sanitary cordon about an infected district. TheAnglo-Saxon race, the proudest race of modern times, does not marry norconsort with them, nor of late years does th
e pure French Creole, drivento join in this ostracism by the brute force of Henghist and Horsaprejudice. The New Orleanois who before the war should have treatedthese white colored people on terms of equality, would have shared intheir opprobrium, and perhaps have been ridden on a rail by his outragedfellow-citizens of northern descent.
Now these white negroes from the Mountains of the Moon constituted thesole loyal class, except the slaves, which Butler found in Louisiana.They and their black cousins of the sixteenth degree were the onlypeople who, as a body, came forward with joy to welcome the drums andtramplings of the New England Division; and when the commanding Generalcalled for regiments of free blacks to uphold the Stars and Stripes, hemet a patriotic response as enthusiastic as that of Connecticut orMassachusetts. Foremost in this military uprising were two brothers ofthe name of Meurice, who poured out their wealth freely to meet thoseincidental expenses, never acknowledged by Government, which attend therecruiting of volunteer regiments. They gave dinners and presentedflags; they advanced uniforms, sabres and pistols for officers; theytrusted the families of private soldiers. The youngest Meurice becameMajor of one of the regiments, which I take to be the nearest approachto a miracle ever yet enacted in the United States of America. Theirentertainments became so famous that invitations to them were gratefullyaccepted by officers of Anglo-Saxon organizations. At their profuse yetelegant table, where Brillat-Savarin would not have been annoyed by abadly cooked dish or an inferior wine, and where he might have listenedto the accents of his own Parisian, Colburne had met New Englanders, NewYorkers, and even stray Marylanders and Kentuckians. There he becameacquainted (ignorant Baratarian that he was!) with the _tasse de cafenoir_ and the _petit verre de cognac_ which close a French dinner. Therehe smoked cigars which gave him new ideas concerning the value of Cuba.For these pleasures he was now to suffer at the Caucasian hands ofMadame Larue.
"I am afraid that we are doomed to lose you, Captain Colburne," she saidwith a smile which expressed something worse than good-natured raillery."I hear that you have made some fascinating acquaintances in NewOrleans. I never myself had the pleasure of knowing the Meurices. Theyare very charming, are they not?"
Colburne's nerves quivered under this speech, not because he wasconscious of having done any thing unbecoming a gentleman, but becausehe divined the clever malice of the attack. To gentle spirits theconsciousness that they are the objects of spite, is a doloroussensation.
"It is a very pleasant and intelligent family," he replied bravely.
"Who are they?" smilingly asked Miss Ravenel, who inferred from heraunt's manner that Colburne was to be charged with a flirtation.
"Ce sont des metis, ma chere," laughed Mrs. Larue. "Il y a dineplusieurs fois. Ces abolitionistes ont leur gouts a eux."
Lillie colored crimson with amazement, with horror, with downrightanger. To this New Orleans born Anglo-Saxon girl, full of the pride oflineage and the prejudices of the slaveholding society in which she hadbeen nurtured, it seemed a downright insult that a gentleman who calledon her, should also call on a _metis_, and admit it and defend it. Sheglanced at Colburne to see if he had a word to offer of apology orexplanation. It might be that he had visited these mixed bloods in theperformance of some disagreeable but unavoidable duty as an officer ofthe Federal army. She hoped so, for she liked him too well to be willingto despise him.
"Intelligent? But without doubt," assented Madame, "if they had beenstupid, you would not have dined with them four or five times."
"Three times, to be exact, Mrs. Larue," said Colburne. He had formed hisline of battle, and could be not merely defiant but ironicallyaggressive. But the lady was master of the southern tactics; she hadtaken the initiative, and she attacked audaciously; although, I mustexplain, without the slightest sign of irritation.
"Which do you find the most agreeable," she asked, "the white people ofNew Orleans, or the brown?"
Colburne was tempted to reply that he did not see much difference, butrefrained on account of Miss Ravenel; and, dropping satire, he enteredon a calm defence, less of himself than of the mixed race in question.He affirmed their intelligence, education, good breeding, respectabilityof character, and exceptional patriotism in a community of rebels.
"You, Mrs. Larue, think something of the elegancies of society as anelement of civilization," he said. "Now then, I am obliged to confessthat these people can give a finer dinner, better selected, bettercooked, better served, than I ever saw in my own city of New Boston,notwithstanding that we are as white as they are and--can't speakFrench. These Meurices, for example, have actually given me new ideas ofhospitality, as something which may be plenteous without being coarse,and cordial without being laboreous. I don't hesitate to call them nicepeople. As for the African blood in their veins (if that is a reproach)I can't detect a trace of it. I shouldn't have believed it if theyhadn't assured me of it. There is a little child there, a cousin, withblue eyes and straight flaxen hair. She has the honor, if it is one, ofbeing whiter than I am."
It will be remembered here that any one who was whiter than Colburne wasnecessarily much whiter than Mrs. Larue.
"When I first saw the eldest Meurice," he proceeded, "I supposed fromhis looks that he was a German. The Major bears a striking resemblanceto the first Napoleon, and is certainly one of the handsomest men that Ihave seen in New Orleans. His manners are charming, as I suppose theyought to be, seeing that he has lived in Paris since he was a child."
Mrs. Larue had never transgressed the borders of Louisiana.
"When this war broke out he came home to see if he might be permitted tofight for his race, and for his and my country. He now wears the sameuniform that I do, and he is my superior officer."
"It is shameful," broke out Lillie.
"It is the will of authority," answered Colburne,--"of authority that Ihave sworn to respect."
"A southern gentleman would resign," said Mrs. Larue.
"A northern gentleman keeps his oath and stands by his flag," retortedColburne.
Mrs. Larue paused, suppressed her rising excitement, and with anexterior air of meekness considered the situation. She had gained herbattle; she had wounded and punished him; she had probably detachedLillie from him; now she would stop the conflict.
"I beg pardon," she said, looking him full in the eyes with a charminglittle expression of penitence. "I am sorry if I have annoyed you. Ithought, I hoped, you might perhaps be obliged to me for hinting to youthat these people are not received here in society. You are a stranger,and do not know our prejudices. I pray you to excuse me if I have beenofficious."
Colburne was astonished, disarmed, ashamed, notwithstanding that he hadbeen in the right and was the injured party.
"Mrs. Larue, I beg your pardon," he answered. "I have been unnecessarilyexcited. I sincerely ask you pardon."
She accorded it in pleasant words and with the most amiable of smiles.She was a good-natured, graceful little grimalkin, she could be prettyand festive over a mouse while torturing it; so purring andvelvet-pawed, indeed, that the mouse himself could not believe her to bein earnest, and prayed to be excused for turning upon her. It isprobable that, not being susceptible to keen emotions, she did not knowwhat deep pain she had given the young man by her attack. The advantagewhich blase people have over innocents in a fight is awful. They knowhow to hit, and they don't mind the punishing. It is said that DeafBurke's physiognomy was so calloused by frequent poundings that he wouldpermit any man to give him a facer for a shilling a crack.
Lillie said almost nothing during the conversation, being quite overcomewith amazement and anger at Colburne's degradation and at thewrongheadedness, the indelicacy, the fanaticism with which he defendedit. When the erring young man left the house she did not give him herhand, after her usual friendly southern fashion. The pride of race, theprejudices of her education, would not permit her to be cordial, atleast not in the first moments of offence, with one who felt himself atliberty to go from her parlor to that of an octoroon. How could a MissRaven
el put herself on a level with a Miss Meurice.
"Oh, these abolitionists! these negar worshippers!" laughed Mrs. Larue,when the social heretic had taken himself away. "Are they not horrible,these New England isms? He will be joining the voodoos next. I foreseethat you will have rivals, Mees Lillie. I fear that Mademoiselle Meuricewill carry the day. You are under the disadvantage of being white. Etpuis tu n'est pas descendue d'une race batarde. Quel malheur! Je nedirais rien s'il entretenait son octaronne a lui. Voila qui est permis,bien que ce n'est pas joli."
"Mrs. Larue, I wish you wouldn't talk to me in that way;--I don't liketo hear it," said Lillie, in high anger.
"Mais c'est mieux an moins que de les epouser, les octaronnes,"persisted Madame.
Miss Ravenel rose and went to her own house and room without answering.Since her father fled from New Orleans, openly espousing the cause ofthe North against the South, she had not been so vexed, so hurt, as shewas by this vulgar conduct of her friend, Captain Colburne. Although itcannot be said that she had even begun to love him, she certainly didlike him better than any other man that she ever knew, excepting herfather and Colonel Carter. She had thought, also, that he liked her toowell to do anything which would be sure to meet her disapprobation; andher womanly pride was exceedingly hurt in that her friendship had beenrisked for the sake of communion with a race of pariahs. There is littledoubt that Colburne now had small chance with Miss Ravenel. He guessedas much, and the thought cut him even more deeply that he could haveimagined; but he was too chivalrous to be false to his education, to hisprinciples, to himself, though it were to gain the heart of the onlywoman whom he had ever loved. In fact, so fastidious was his sense ofhonor that he had disdained to fortify himself against Mrs. Larue'sattack by stating, as he might have done truthfully, that at one ofthese Meurice dinners he had sat by the side of Colonel Carter.
I consider it worth while to mention here that Colburne committed agreat mistake about this time in declining a regiment which the eldestMeurice offered to raise for him, providing he would apply for thecolonelcy. But it was not for fear of Mrs. Larue nor yet of Miss Ravenelthat he declined the proffer. He took the proposition into seriousconsideration and referred it to Carter, who advised him against it.Public opinion on this subject had not yet become so overpoweringlyluminous that the old regular, the West Point Brahmin, could see thenegro in a military light.
"I may be all wrong," he admitted with a considerable effusion ofswearing. "If the war spins out it may prove me all wrong. A downrightslaughtering match of three or four years will force one party or otherto call in the nigger. But I can't come to it yet. I despise the lowbrute. I hate to see him in uniform. And then he never will be used forthe higher military operations. If you take a command of niggers, youwill find yourself put into Fort Pike or some such place, among themosquitoes and fever and ague, where white men can't live. Or yourregiment will be made road-builders, and scavengers, and baggage guards,to do the dirty work of white regiments. You never will form a line ofbattle, nor head a storming column, nor get any credit if you do. Andfinally, just look at the military position of these Louisiana blackregiments. They are not acknowledged by the government yet; they are nota part of the army. They are only Louisiana militia, called out byGeneral Butler on his own responsibility. Suppose the War Departmentshouldn't approve his policy;--then down goes your house. You haveresigned your captaincy to get a sham colonelcy; and there you are, outof the service, with a bran-new uniform. Stay in the regiment. You shallhave, by" (this and that!) "the first vacancy in the field positions."
In fact it was an _esprit du corps_ which more than anything elseinduced Colburne to cling to the Tenth Barataria. A volunteer, a citizensoldier, new to the ways of armies, he longed to do his fighting underhis own State flag, and at the head of the men whom he had himselfraised and drilled for the battle-field.
About these times Colonel Carter broke up that more than questionabledomestic establishment which Lieutenant Van Zandt had alluded to underthe humorous misnomer of "a little French _boudoir_." Whether this stepwas taken by the advice of Mrs. Larue, or solely because the Colonel hadfound some source of truer enjoyment, I am unable to say; but it iscertain, and it is also a very natural human circumstance, that fromthis day his admiration for Miss Ravenel burgeoned rapidly into thecondition of a passion.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty Page 16
