Tender Betrayal

by Rosanne Bittner

  Audra shivered. Too many things to think about at once. “I’m so worried about Joey. It seems we’re suddenly losing the war, Toosie.”

  “We don’t know that yet. We have to have faith.”

  Audra turned and met her eyes. “Poor George! He must have been so afraid.” New tears came. “Do you think it’s terrible…that I feel more grief over George’s death…than my own husband’s?”

  Toosie shook her head. “No. George was a far better man, even if he was a Negro.”

  Audra did not miss the meaning of her words. George had been just as deserving of respect and love as any white man. At times Audra had not even thought of him as Negro. He was just a sweet man who had always been good to her…and she suddenly saw it was like that for her father and Lena. Joseph saw past the color of Lena’s skin. Why couldn’t it be that way for everyone?

  “I’ll go to Baton Rouge, if that is what Father wants,” she said. “But first I want to visit George’s grave.”

  Toosie nodded. “I knew that you would.” She reached out, and Audra took her hand. In the next moment they embraced, and Audra began to cry bitter tears. Everything was so twisted and wrong—Joey off at war, George dead, her being estranged from her beloved father, Richard dying at the hands of a Negro, the Yankees coming to Baton Rouge. What would happen to Cypress Hollow and Brennan Manor? What was happening to the whole South? The only person she could turn to for strength was a sister she had never even knew she had until these last few months.

  She felt literally weary from the battle going on in her soul over how she should feel about the Negroes. Richard had been killed by a Negro, but there were good, loving Negroes like George, and like Toosie and Lena and Henrietta. She had taken it for granted all these years that they were perfectly happy with things as they were. “I am so confused. I don’t know who to trust anymore, what to believe is right or wrong. I just want Joey to come home and for things to be like they used to be.”

  Toosie kept an arm around her waist and began leading her toward the house. “I don’t think they can ever be exactly the same,” she said. “We just have to take one day at a time now, Audra, and be glad when that day brings us peace.”

  Audra looked back at the grave once more, wishing it held March Fredericks. Poor old George! He must have been so terrified, felt so alone! The thought of it made her sick, and she vowed that if March Fredericks ever showed his face at Cypress Hollow or Brennan Manor again, she would shoot him.

  22

  May 1862

  Audra sat in a porch swing on the veranda of her Aunt Janine’s house, watching the cone-shaped tents spring up like mushrooms. From the hillside mansion, she could see the Yankees settling into Baton Rouge as though here for a holiday. Hundreds of white tents were being erected across a wide expanse of flat land east of the city, and only a quarter mile from the McAllister home. Audra thought it was a good thing Uncle John was off to war himself and not here to see what was happening to his own home town.

  She wished she could set fire to every single tent. The Federals had come into the city as if they owned it, their boats berthed in the harbor, troops marching through the streets unchallenged. She supposed she should be relieved that the occupation had been peaceful. Their own Confederate Army had withdrawn to the countryside—many, she was sure, having gone to help shore up Port Hudson, a strategic stronghold on the Mississippi that everyone knew was next on the Yankees’ list.

  Audra felt ashamed that there had been no resistance. Even in New Orleans, Confederate General Duncan had been unable to put up a decent defense. According to reports, half of his men had literally fled before the Union forces, which drove right through Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip with their mighty gunboats. It had been the citizens of New Orleans who had tried to defend their city, angry mobs who had supported city officials in their refusal to surrender, until so many Yankee troops landed that there was no hope.

  Union troops had surged through areas surrounding New Orleans and routed the remaining Confederates. New Orleans had finally fallen, but not before the Confederate General Duncan had ordered the Confederate ship Louisiana to be set afire and directed at the Federal gunboats, hoping that the ironclad, her magazines full of powder, would plow into the Federal ships and destroy them. To the humiliation of the citizens of New Orleans—indeed, of Baton Rouge and all of Louisiana—the Confederate boat had exploded before ever reaching the Federal ships. None were damaged, but the Louisiana was lost.

  State and Confederate flags had been hauled down by Federal soldiers, and now the same was happening in Baton Rouge. The Yankees had shown such superior force in New Orleans that the citizens in Baton Rouge had put up no defense at all. In fact, some seemed literally excited about the flood of Yankees that had come to town. Fear had presented itself in the form of a quiet welcome, people running into town to watch the Yankees march through the streets, some actually opening their homes to them, merchants figuring to make some money, at least, off the Yankees. Audra found the entire event ludicrous and humiliating. She was not about to go into town to make a fool of herself the way Eleanor and Aunt Janine were doing right now.

  Even Toosie had been anxious to go and watch, and Audra had allowed it. She could no longer bring herself to order Toosie around like the other slaves, and she had brought Sonda along to do most of the work, with Toosie only helping her dress and doing her hair. Aunt Janine fumed that she was spoiling Toosie now, reminding her that, although Toosie was her half sister, she was still a Negro and a slave.

  A lot of southern women are related to mulattoes, the woman had added. They do not choose to treat them any differently from the rest of the Negroes. Most, in fact, white and Negro alike, consider the mulattoes of an even lower class than the full-bloods. It looks bad to show favoritism, Audra, and it creates hard feelings among the rest of the Negroes under your control.

  Audra cared little for what Aunt Janine or anyone else thought. The fact remained that Toosie was her half sister and just about the only friend she had. In spite of how Audra had treated her before then, Toosie had remained loyal and seemed to harbor no resentment.

  Things looked very bad, and the sweet life of wealth and luxury Audra had always known was already changing. The Yankees had nearly all ports closed off, and hiring blockade runners took a great deal of money. With none coming in, and valuable slaves running off, surely nothing but hardship lay ahead. Southern banks were collapsing, and Confederate money was losing its value. In Audra’s mind every terrible thing that was happening was all the fault of men like those who pitched their tents in the fields below.

  She did not trust the gentlemanly manners of these Yankee invaders. She had learned from living with Richard that power did something to a man, and she knew from stories of atrocities that when men were full of victory and feeling power over their “conquered foe,” they often turned into animals. They could choose at any time to raid and plunder, steal and rape and destroy at their will, for they had the citizens of Baton Rouge at their mercy now, and they damn well knew it! No, she was not going into town to greet them with a smile as though they were long-lost friends!

  Damn Yankees! They must all be laughing at the Confederates, even joking about how easily they had taken over New Orleans and now Baton Rouge. Slavery was no longer the issue now, nor the economy. It was obvious the Federals were cocksure they were winning this war, and the biggest loss here was the damage to southern pride.

  Now here they were, boastful and victorious, probably thinking the Confederate soldiers were weak cowards. It made her want to cry, knowing boys like Joey were still out there risking their lives to keep the South alive. Joey would be heartbroken if he saw this. The only thing to be glad about was the fact that there had been no bloodshed…yet—but the scene below reminded her of dry tinder just waiting for a spark. Everyone whispered about the possibility of Confederates planning a sneak attack after the Yankees settled in. If that happened, Baton Rouge would become a war zone, and a lot of buil
dings would be destroyed, a lot of lives lost. Audra had read and heard too many stories about bloody battles everywhere, like the horror at a place called Shiloh in Tennessee.

  Reading the reports had made her shiver. Estimates of the dead and wounded came to thirteen thousand for the North, nearly eleven thousand for the South, staggering numbers that had made people gasp when they had heard or read them. She still lived in constant fear that Joey might have been there, and every day she had Toosie go to the newspaper office and check the names of lost loved ones that were posted there. So far Joey was not among them, but she would not rest easy until she heard from her brother that he was all right.

  She rose when she saw the three-seater carriage that belonged to Uncle John coming up the road to the house. The driver, a slave named Henry, who belonged to her aunt and uncle, kept her uncle’s fine black mare at a modest trot, and Eleanor and Aunt Janine rode in the second seat, their parasols twirling as though they had just returned from a holiday picnic. Audra noticed that Toosie had been relegated to the backseat. As they came closer, Henry’s face was unreadable. He was one Negro who she suspected was not any happier to see the Yankees here than most whites. Henry liked his job, had been owned by John McAllister for years, and appeared to harbor no desire to be “set free.”

  Eleanor and Aunt Janine were excited and chattering like magpies. In spite of being a married woman whose husband was still in New Orleans trying to protect his businesses there, Eleanor flitted about in the prettiest dresses she could find. She had not seemed the least bit worried about poor Albert when the Yankees invaded New Orleans, and she had seemed almost disappointed when she received a telegram from him telling her he was all right. Audra supposed that maybe her cousin was hoping the man would be killed so that she could inherit his hotel and other businesses, live like a queen on the money, and go on to pursue other men. Eleanor had done her “duty” of marrying and making herself appear a proper woman. Who would blame her if, as a widow, she fell into other men’s arms in her loneliness? Audra continued to find Eleanor’s attitude and behavior disgusting, and she did not care to be seen with her in town.

  Eleanor and Aunt Janine climbed down from the carriage, and Audra noticed Eleanor seemed to be in a hurry to reach her first. She walked swiftly toward her, while her mother unloaded some packages and spoke with the driver. Audra did not miss the look of contempt in her cousin’s eyes. Since the day Audra had come to Baton Rouge, Eleanor had treated her rudely. Audra knew Eleanor all but hated her for keeping her from Richard those last few months, actually resented her now for being the one who got to play the role of the beautiful, lonely widow.

  “Oh, you really should go into town, Audra!” the woman exclaimed when she got closer. She wore pink today, and Audra decided that the color made her look even heftier. “I never dreamed that there were so many handsome Yankees, and they are being ever so kind and gentlemanly. If this is war, I can’t imagine what all the fuss is about!” She smiled wickedly. “And with most of our own men gone…” She twirled her parasol. “My, my, a town full of lonely men who haven’t been with a woman in months…how utterly tempting!”

  Audra kept her eyes on the camp below. “Don’t trust them, Eleanor.”

  “Oh, you’re such a prude and a worrier, Audra.”

  Audra turned then to look at her. “How can you betray our own boys who are out there fighting for the cause, and men like your own father, by greeting those Yankees with open arms! You should be ashamed, Eleanor. You shouldn’t even be in Baton Rouge. You should be in New Orleans with your husband.”

  Eleanor sniffed, then turned and smiled at her mother, who had reached the veranda.

  “Hurry inside, Eleanor, and we’ll try on our new hats,” the woman told her daughter.

  Audra was dumbfounded that they had actually shopped! With the banks collapsing and Uncle John’s own bank in danger, every penny was important. How could they think about buying hats at a time like this!

  Eleanor waited for her mother to go inside the house before resuming her conversation. She leaned closer to Audra then, her puffy eyes full of animosity. “You’re just jealous because you’re still in mourning and will be for months! A recently widowed woman can’t go flaunting herself, now, can she? Poor, lonely Audra, having to wear that ugly black,” she sneered. “If only everyone knew that you probably rejoiced at Richard’s death!”

  Audra clenched her fists. “No matter how I felt about Richard, I’m the one who had to sit and watch him die a horrible death! I would not have wished such a thing on my worst enemy. You’re a selfish, cruel-hearted woman, Eleanor.” She held the woman’s eyes boldly. “But then I suppose you know that and are proud of it!” She watched the hurt and anger in her cousin’s eyes and enjoyed it. “I might add that a lonely widow on a manhunt would at least be more acceptable than a married woman whose husband is still alive! What would Albert think?”

  Eleanor laughed. “Albert thinks whatever I want him to think. I’ll go join him a time or two, and that will keep him happy. In the meantime, Baton Rouge is full of gentlemanly Yankees who are starved for a woman’s affection. If I want to show some of them a little of our…southern hospitality…that is my business.” She looked Audra over. “You really shouldn’t waste yourself in this fake mourning, Audra. After all, you’re the one who has already slept with a Yankee man!” She tossed her head and stomped into the house, and Audra fought for control, telling herself there was never any sense in arguing with Eleanor. The woman still behaved like a selfish, spoiled child, and she felt sorry for poor Albert, a nice enough man who truly seemed to care about Eleanor. She turned and walked down the steps of the veranda to greet Toosie, then noticed the woman looked ready to cry. “What’s wrong, Toosie? Are you afraid of the soldiers?”

  Toosie shook her head. Was it best to tell Audra what she had seen, or to let it go? Surely the woman had a right to know. “I saw him, Audra,” she said quietly.

  “Saw whom?”

  Toosie swallowed hard. “Lee Jeffreys.”

  Audra froze, and she just stared at Toosie. “You must be mistaken,” she said finally. “It has been two years since—”

  “I would never forget that man. It was Lee! He’s some kind of important officer. I don’t know what the different uniforms mean, but his was decorated with fancy patches on his jacket, some medals, too. He rode a horse beside a big group of marching soldiers and was giving them orders.”

  Audra put a hand to her chest. “Dear Lord! Did he see you?”

  “No. He was too busy to notice. I kept to the crowd, followed along behind as far as where the soldiers are pitching those tents. He ordered some men to search through that school building in the clearing and make sure there were no Confederates hiding inside. I think he means to make the school his headquarters while he is here. I hurried back to find Eleanor and Janine, but he’s probably still at the school. If you want to see him, I think you’d find him there.”

  Audra turned away, feeling almost faint. “I have to sit down.”

  Toosie helped her up the steps and sat down beside her in the porch swing. “I didn’t say anything to Eleanor or your aunt,” she said quietly. “They never saw him. I’m not sure they would even recognize him—they saw him only that one night at the cotillion—but even so, I wasn’t sure you’d want either of them to know.”

  Audra rubbed her temples. “I don’t know what to think, or what to do.” She looked at Toosie, then took her hand. “Are you really, really sure?”

  Toosie nodded. “I’m sure. It was Lee.” She smiled. “I hate to say it, his being a Yankee and all, but he was handsome as ever, especially in that uniform.”

  Audra gazed again at the tents below. Lee! She’d been so sure she had gotten over him, but just the mention of his name, knowing he was not more than a quarter mile away from her…after all this time…Why did God keep sending him back into her life? “Did he look all right? I mean…not wounded or anything?”

  “He limped a little whe
n he got off his horse, but he wasn’t using a cane or anything like that. Will you go and see him?”

  It still didn’t seem quite right to be talking to Toosie about these things, but who else could she turn to? And Toosie was the one person she knew she could trust. Her heart was pounding wildly, her thoughts swirling with sweet memories. But everything was different now. “It would seem so shameful, me still in mourning over my husband, him being the enemy now.”

  “He was your good friend first, and he did love you dearly.”

  Audra rose, wrapping her arm around a column of the veranda. “Yes.” She watched the activity in the distance. One of those men riding through the city of tents could be Lee. Cannons were being brought in, and she could hear the distant voices of men shouting orders. “If I don’t go, the whole thing will be left ended, as it should be.”

  Toosie came to stand beside her. “They say some of these soldiers could be camped here for a year or two. They are here to hold the city until this war is over, Audra. Can you really imagine living here that long with Lee Jeffreys so close? Even if you went back to Brennan Manor, you would still know he is here. And after his risking his very life to come and defend you two years ago, he deserves to know that Richard Potter is dead and you’re all right. He gave me and my mother instructions to write him if Richard kept abusing you. He was willing to come back down here and kill the man if he had to, and I think he would have done it, even if it meant he’d be hanged.”

  “He told you that?”

  Toosie nodded. “He should know you’re all right. And maybe he should know where you are staying. Lord knows how long all this peace is going to last. If the Confederates attack and the Yankees go on a rampage through the city, it might help for him to know where you are so he can make sure nothing happens to you. It can’t hurt to have at least one of those Yankees down there looking out for us.”