Gregory, Lisa (3 page)

But
there was a quiet young lieutenant in the Navy that he favored. He had been in
the merchant marine before the War and if he survived the War, would probably
return and steadily rise to a command of his own ship. He wasn't in Katherine's
social class, of course, but Josiah Devereaux didn't stand on such formalities;
after all, he had not quite been in her mother's social class either. The
lieutenant seemed like a good, solid lad to Josiah. one who would care for
Katherine and who could—with Katherine's help—take over the shipyard when he died.
And it seemed to him that the man was interested in Katherine; after all, he often
came by the office on some pretext or other. But no doubt the difference in
class seemed insurmountable to him—and just let Katherine unleash that tongue
on him one time, and he'd be gone forever. Sometimes he wished he could take
him aside and tell him that his daughter was not one who chose a husband by the
social register and that those things about her which might deter a lover would
be highly valued as a wife. But since Mr. Devereaux was a rather reserved man,
he did not. Instead he just sighed and wished that Katherine would put a curb
on her tongue.

After
Katherine's exposition of her ideas, the dinner conversation lagged, as Mr.
Stephens was rather miffed. Devereaux was never a conversationalist, and
Katherine inwardly seethed at Stephens' condescension, so the brunt of the
conversation fell on Lillian Stephens. And she, reared to be pretty and
modestly silent, floundered under the burden. Unlike her Southern counterpart,
she had not been taught to capture attention with her personality, and she hadn't
the spark of one who is naturally entertaining. So the meal limped along
through its courses, and the guests did not linger after it was over.

When
the Stephenses had gone, Katherine and her father retired to his study to enjoy
a companionable glass of sherry before retiring. Josiah (Katherine often
wondered how even his very New Englandish parents could have coupled a name
like Josiah with one like Devereaux) lit a cigar and sat thoughtfully puffing
away for a few moments before he spoke.

"Stephens's
mentioning Fort Warren reminded me of something that happened after you left
today."

"What?"

"Well,
a gentleman from Fort Warren approached me with a proposition concerning some
of their Confederate prisoners. They want us to hire them to work on the ships."

"Prisoners?"

"Yes.
You know how short of men we are, and the Naval Department wants us to get as
many ships built this winter as we can. We're beating them in the West, and
with the blockade and now with Gettysburg—well, we hope to make a real push this
spring—and to wipe out those raiders of theirs. Our Navy's far superior to
theirs, of course—the blockade proves that—but the rebel raiders are a real
thorn in our side."

"But
is it really wise to use Confederate prisoners? I mean, won't they do shoddy work,
perhaps even sabotage it?"

"Well,
those are the doubts I had. Here's the argument Major Aherne presented to me:
they intend to use the prisoners only on building commercial vessels—we have to
get those out, too, after all, and the prisoners would be less likely to do
poor work on those than on a ship they knew would actually be firing on their
own men. And it would release more workers to build Navy ships. And, of course,
we'll be inspecting their work and if they are sabotaging it, we'll stop using them."

"It
would speed things up, if they work out And it would be cheap labor for
us," Katherine mused.

"Aherne
says they are hoping that the prisoners will be so pleased to spend their days
outside the prison that they'll do good work so as not to lose the
privilege."

"But
aren't they worried about their escaping?"

"They
will be in irons and heavily guarded, and it would be so far to go through
enemy territory to reach the South that it's unlikely."

"I
don't see that it could do much harm to try it."

"Good.
I agree. I shall visit Aherne tomorrow and tell him. He will be pleased; they
are looking forward to getting the money I'll pay for the prisoners. The only
thing is—perhaps it would be better now if you didn't come down to the
yards."

"Oh,
stuff and nonsense," she said stoutly. "No doubt it will make a few
old biddies gasp to think that I'll be only a few hundred feet from prisoners,
but I don't care. I don't think my reputation will be forever sullied. I mean,
it's hardly as if I'll be associating with them. And now there will be even
more work for me to do."

"Yes,
but the idea of a young lady being exposed to that element—it's not right,
Katherine. Something might happen."

"Oh,
Papa, I'm not the sort who would incite men to riot. Please, let's not talk anymore
about it. I'm sure it will be all right." She walked over to him and
leaned down to place a light kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight, Papa."

"Goodnight,
my dear," he sighed. He knew it was not proper for her to continue at the
office, but he knew he would let her stay because Lieutenant Perkins would
continue to come around to the yards to see her, though he would not have the
courage to come calling at the house.

"Oh,
miss, I can hardly think straight, I'm that excited," Pegeen chattered
cheerfully as she deftly pinned up her mistress's hair.

Katherine
smiled. "Whatever for, Peggy?"

"Why,
the prisoners, miss, didn't you say that they'd be coming today? Don't you
think it's exciting? Why, you'll be that close to them Rebel devils. Why, who
knows what they might do!"

"Oh,
Pegeen," she laughed, "I'll probably never come close to the
prisoners. They'll be working on the ships and I'll be safe inside the office.
Why, I won't even pay them; we pay the prison officials. Maybe, just maybe, I
shall be able to see them if I look out the window."

"Well,
Miss Kate, if you won't be scared, then I'll be scared for you. 'Tis dangerous
they are, and there's no telling what they might try. Why, I have a cousin from
Kilkenny, coming across from Ireland on an immigrant ship he was—hundreds of
people on it, mum. And that Read fellow stopped 'em and made the captain sign a
bond for $150,000 not to burn the ship. Proper scared they was, for fear of
what he might do. Right in front of their very eyes he stopped another boat and
burned it, just to let 'em feel the fear. No, miss, it ain't safe being that
close to them."

"Surely
they aren't absolutely inhuman, Pegeen."

"Well,
Miss Kate, I'm sure I don't know about that. But 'twas you who told me all
those horrid things they do to them poor black people down there."

"They
do seem to be a particularly violent group of people," Katherine agreed.
"And yet think of the great men who have come from the South—Washington,
Jefferson, Marshall, Madison. They can't
all
be monsters."

"Well,
my brother, who's in the Army of the Potomac, he says they're like the English
landlords back home. Very aristocratic, you know, and full of fine words, but
cruel tyrants underneath."

"Perhaps
so. But these particular tyrants will be guarded and in irons. So I don't think
they'll be able to do me any harm." Her hair done, she stood up for Pegeen
to lace her stays.

"Suck
in, miss," Pegeen said and when Katherine obeyed her, yanked at the
strings until the stays were tight enough. Then she quickly tied the laces and
proceeded to help her mistress into her hoop and multitude of petticoats.

After
breakfast, Katherine, swathed in a heavy cloak, a prim brown bonnet on her
head, and her gloved hands encased in a fur muff, set off with her father for
the shipyards. Though it was their hardy custom to walk, because of the cold
this morning they took the carriage.

When
their carriage pulled up at the office, the prison wagons were already
unloading. Katherine felt a stir of excitement. Though she had denied it to her
maid, she did feel a certain apprehension. She had never in her life seen a
Southerner and she had heard tales of their wild drinking and fighting and
riding. And in suitably vague and hushed words, she had been told many times
that "no woman was safe around them." (Exactly what they did to
women, she was not sure, any more than she was sure what happened to a woman to
make her "fallen.") Moreover, the abolitionist literature she had
read and the tales of their terrors on the seas had implanted a definite
impression in her mind that they were merciless, whip-wielding tyrants. So she
felt the spice of danger at being this close to them, and a certain thrill of
curiosity to see what such ogres looked like up close.

Her
father stepped out of the carriage and reached back to help her down the steps.
As she stepped out, she looked curiously over at the descending prisoners. They
were ragged and generally unkempt, and the heavy iron manacles on their wrists
and ankles enhanced their dangerous appearance. But strangely enough, her
initial reaction was a thrill of pity at the sight of human beings so chained
and at the thought that they were not warmly enough dressed.

One
of the prisoners turned after he jumped down from the wagon, and seeing her,
insolently returned her stare. He was a tall man, slender but broad-shouldered;
his movements were silkily muscular, like the graceful motion of a jungle cat.
He obviously had spent his life in the sun, for his skin was brown, his brown
hair was sun-streaked with blond, and there were squint lines at the edges of
his clear gray eyes. His eyes held her gaze magnetically; though she wanted to
look away, she somehow couldn't.

An
icy wind from the harbor tore at her, pushing the prim bonnet back from her
head and whipping her cloak apart. The man suddenly smiled, his strong white
teeth startling against the brown skin, and his heavy black eyebrows rose,
conveying a masculine appreciation of her face and figure as strongly as if he
had whistled. Flushing hotly, she jerked her hat back on her head, clapped her
cloak about her and, taking her father's hand, descended from the carriage and
stalked into the office.

"Miss
Katherine, did you see the prisoners?" Teddy Mathias called cheerfully
from his station at the window. "Just look at them Johnny Rebs."

"Yes,
I saw them," Katherine said, furiously tugging at the bow of her bonnet.

"Katherine,
is something wrong?" Her father paused in the doorway of his office to
look at her.

"No,
Papa; it just unnerves me to see men in chains."

"Katherine,
perhaps you shouldn't—"

"Papa,
we've already discussed that. I'm staying right here."

He
shrugged a little and went on into his office. Katherine unfastened her cloak
and hung it beside her bonnet, then began to slam things into place on her
desk.

How
dare he! she fumed inwardly. He had looked at her so coolly and insolently, not
at all like a man in chains should look. And that impudent grin on his face
when her cloak had blown open. No one had ever looked at her like that before!
It was like the way low, common workers at the yard looked at Pegeen and
whistled or called brash comments to her. Not that it seemed to bother Pegeen;
she just smiled and tossed back a sharp retort. Katherine didn't see how. That
man's grin had made her feel tongue-tied and knotted her stomach.

Teddy
Mathias, in his fourteen-year-old boy's excitement, was completely impervious
to her mood. He clung to the window, staring at the prisoners and chattering
away. "Do you think any of them are Read's men? Or maybe Hampton's? Or
Dawson's? They look like a fierce lot, don't they? Why, I wouldn't put it past
'em to try to escape, chains and all. Wouldn't that be exciting, Miss
Katherine? What would you do? We'd have to barricade the door, pull a desk
across it, maybe. And then I'd shoot 'em out of this window." He shrugged.
"Only I haven't got a gun."

"Teddy,
don't you think you had best get to work now? I'm sure all those guards can
handle the prisoners if they try to escape."

"Yes'm,
I guess you're right." Teddy looked at her, his green eyes sparkling and
the very freckles on his nose seeming to stand out in excitement. "But it
sure would be fun, wouldn't it?"

She
had to smile at him. "Your idea of fun and mine differ somewhat, I'm
afraid."

It
was difficult to concentrate that morning. She found that, like Teddy, her eyes
often strayed to the window. It was a relief when Pegeen came in at twelve
o'clock carrying a tray with her lunch on it. Teddy took his sack lunch and
went out to eat it with the workers. Since Mr. Devereaux went to his club to
lunch, Katherine ate by herself, but Pegeen kept up a flow of chatter to keep
her amused.

"Law,
miss, where are those Rebels?"

"I'll
show you." Katherine took her to the window and pointed. "Down there;
they're working on that fishing vessel for Wheatley and Sons."

"Well,
you can't see much from here," Pegeen said in disappointment. "Maybe
we ought to take a stroll down there, miss."

"Pegeen!"

"Well,
don't you ever look over the ships and see how they're coming along?"