The Titans (44 page)

was amused. "Nor y The reply stunned Gideon. He hadn't suspected the chief executive of such blatant egotism. Davis waved: "Oh, the words aren't mine. I was merely quoting a certain gentleman who spoke on behalf of the Texas rebellion against Mexico in forty-eight. The gentleman was serving his first term in Congress-was He clapped Gideon on the shoulder. Yet there was a certain melancholy in his tone when he added: "His name was Lincoln. Good morning, Lieutenant." The Titans605

Eight days later, toward four o'clock on a drizzly, humid afternoon, Lieutenant Gideon Kent reined in the team and brought the wagon to a halt at a road junction some three miles southwest of Washington City. Four Confederate cavalrymen jogged toward the wagon. Gideon recognized two of them. The trooper in charge was a sergeant of K Company, First Virginia. He examined Gideon's papers, which bore the signature of the President himself. The sergeant's companions were more interested in the black-haired, cigar- puffing civilian seated next to Gideon. The sergeant seemed displeased by the documents Gideon had presented: "Lieutenant, this man has the same last name as yours-was "What about it?" "He's no kin, is he?" "He's my father." The cavalrymen exchanged surprised looks. The sergeant's reply bordered on insolence: "We got to let him go on your say-so?" Irked, Gideon pointed to the papers. "Not mine. The President's." Jephtha reached into the wagon for an old portmanteau he'd been given at the time of his release from the Almshouse. The motion stirred the cloud of cigar smoke around his head. The smoke moved slowly in the damp air. The sergeant sounded even more hostile: "Says here the wagon stays-was "I'm taking it back to Richmond." "Then the prisoner'11 have to ride shank's mare the rest of the way." 6068And If a House Be Divided-was "He's not a prisoner any longer." "Hell be lucky if he gets into Washington aty," another of the soldiers said. "Them Yanks are so damn scant of an invasion, they pull up planks on all the bridges ever night." "Are there enemy troops between here and the river?" Gideon wanted to know. "No, just a few of ours." Again the sergeant eyed Gideon. "That's an I Company uniform you're wearin', isn't it?" "Correct." "You detached from duty?" "You want to try saying, "sir, once in a while, Sergeant?" The other man's cheeks darkened. "Sorry, sir. Just sort of forgot-was "Hell you did. Yes, I'm detached until I find a horse. I lost mine at Manassas. Are there any other personal questions I can answer for you?" Scarlet, the sergeant said, "No, sir." He touched his cap and wheeled his men away down the road leading left from the junction. Gideon sat still, staring past the team toward the mist-covered hills gray as the sky above them. A farmhouse and trees in the distance were dark blurs in a darker world. The journey up from Richmond had been an uncomfortable one; and not just physically. Gideon and his father had conversed along the way. But always about inconsequential topics. Each acted wary of the other; almost overly polite. Then- talk had been the talk of strangers thrown together for a few hours by circumstance. Jephtha flipped the butt of his cigar into a pool of water at the roadside. "Torn-up planks or not, I'll be in the capital by dark." The Titans607 Gideon hoped so. His father was still weak, and looked it. His normally swarthy complexion had a wan cast. But he acted cheerful as he hoisted the portmanteau and climbed down into the mud on the right side of the wagon. r Gideon looped the reins over the brake lever and jumped down on the left. Both men walked forward, then halted, the heads of the horses separating them. Gideon couldn't find the words to ask for the forgive- ess he wanted so badly. A light rain pattered on the wagon's canvas top. The left-hand horse stamped, slopping mud on Gideon's faded light-blue trousers. It was Jephtha who broke the strained silence: "I do appreciate your company all the way up here, Gideon." He rubbed a hand across his mouth. "I'd better be going along-was "If we can believe those troopers, I don't expect you'll run into any danger from here to the river." Jephtha grimaced as he eyed the hills. "Why, no. Everyone in Richmond said our boys are sitting in Washington drunk and demoralized, or praying the new hero of western Virginia, that young McClellan, can bring some order out of the shambles of the Division of the Potomac. Lincoln certainly dumped poor McDowell fast enough." "The night after the retreat from Centreville, the paper said-was Idle talk. Empty talk. Gideon hated it. There was so much that needed to be said, and he didn't know how to begin. Jephtha faced him, laying his left hand on the neck of the restless horse. The hand moved back and forth, calming the animal. "I don't expect we'll see each other again soon. I owe 6088And If a House Be Divided-was you my life, just as I owe Davis my freedom. I've turned into such a cussed Yank, I never imagined I'd be thanking two Southerners-even if one is my own son." Both tried to smile. Suddenly Jephtha walked around the horses and gripped Gideon's arm. "You have a lovely wife. I'm happy I was permitted to attend the wedding-even if I did sit there with a guard on either side. Damnedest marriage service I ever saw! All that kneeling those Episcopalians do-a Yankee prisoner and the President of the Confederacy and his wife in the pews-and that poor old cripple, drunk as a lord and wheeling that little platform in the aisle when he gave the bride away. Bizarre-that's the only word for it." He added softly, "But I'm glad I was there." Gideon looked into his father's eyes. "I am too." "Davis was damned decent to me. He came up afterward and expressed his regrets about what happened at the Almshouse. I do wish I'd had a chance to speak with your mother alone, though. I wanted to offer something more than what I said in public-worn-out words of condolence. Tell her-tell her I'm genuinely sorry Lamont died." "Are you?" "Yes. It would have been better if he'd just been arrested. I know Fan loved him. I know he must have had good qualities or she wouldn't have married him. Tell her also that I don't want her to feel guilty about La- mont's plan. She was deceived." Gideon nodded in a glum way. "So were we all." "I'm glad your mother's going back to Lexington. She'll be safer there-was That irked the younger man: "You're still positive Richmond will fall, aren't you?" The Titans609 Jephtha smiled. "There's that Virginia blood. It's what makes some of the Kents so feisty-and you a good cavalryman, I don't doubt." The smile faded. "Yes, Gideon, I know Richmond will fall. Along with the whole Confederacy. If not next month, then next year. It's inevitable." "I don't agree with-was "Listen to me a minute. On the Sunday morning before I rode out to Cub Run in that rented buggy, I ate breakfast with a colleague. British fellow, name of Billy Russell. He's over here for the London Times. He went out to Cub Run, too, but I gather he got back safely. Anyway, Russell's a little pompous, but he's a smart fellow. Especially on the subject of warfare. He was in the Crimea for the Times, among other places. He gave me his opinions about the war-starting with people. There are five and a half million whites in the South-six and a half if you add in some in the border states that haven't seceded. Balance that against twenty-one million in the North. That alone means the Confederacy can't win. Russell said something else interesting. He predicted this would be a war unlike any other ever seen on the face of the earth before. Not even numerical strength counts as much as the equation of your men against our machines." "You mean Northern factories." "Yes. There are other new ingredients, too. Railroads comlook at the Bull Run battle. If Johnston hadn't shipped men out of the Valley by rail, the outcome might have been entirely different. The armies have telegraphs now. Communication is much faster. It could decide an engagement. Russell called it war on a titanic scale. The first in history. And all the advantages- except maybe plain courage-are on the side of the North." 6108And If a House Be Divided-was Gideon scowled. "I intend to do my best to prove Mr. Russell's judgments are wrong." "I wouldn't expect you to do anything else." Gideon was astonished to hear admiration in his father's voice. Silence again. Rain splashed softly in the roadside pools. In the distance, a clatter of hoofs indicated mounted men on the move, unseen in the mist. Gideon was sick of the quibbling about the war. Time was running out. "Papa-was "What is it?" "I want you to know one thing before you go. I-I'm deeply sorry for hurting you in Washington." Jephtha waved. "It's forgotten. Completely! Don't forget I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you." "And don't you forget Edward isn't all there is to the South. Nor Grandpa Tunworth either. I don't want you to spend your life thinking every man in the Confederacy's a monster." Jephtha shook his head. "I won't." His father turned his head. Rain got in his eyes. At least Gideon assumed so, because Jephtha wiped the corners with the back of his hand. "I told you before, Gideon. Time changes people. Once I was a zealot like Lamont. Perhaps not quite ready to commit murder for what I believe, but a zealot all the same. Unforgiving of anyone who didn't see eye to eye with me on the slave question. I haven't changed my thinking about the institution, mind you, but I have a different view of some of the people who defend it- or should I say the people who have been forced to defend it? You helped accomplish the change. Davis, too. You know, it's peculiar, our standing here like this-a father and his boy on opposite sides of the quarrel. We share the same blood, but not the same ideas. I don't The Titans611 believe in what you're fighting for and I never will. But I'm proud of you-was A rueful smile: "Rebel or not, you're a Kent to the bone." He sighed. "Too much has happened for us to ever be close, I expect. But we mustn't hate each other any more. We need to live through this war and prove Mr. Lincoln's prophecy wrong. At least as it applies to our family." "What prophecy, Papa?" "The one he appropriated from Saint Mark. "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." When the war's over, I'd like to see the Kent house still standing. Whole, and healed. But there's one thing even more important-was Jephtha had tears in his eyes. So did Gideon. "I don't want this war to destroy you. I gave you life, and Margaret's given you life in another way. Both are too precious to lose." "I'll come through just fine, Papa." "I pray so." Jephtha looked at his son. "Because I love you." The quiet words faded quickly. Something drove Gideon forward then; a bursting relief; a draining of old pain. He took his father in his arms and held him close. When they drew apart, Jephtha uttered another small, pleased sigh and picked up his portmanteau. Then he put it down again: "By the way-I know nothing about smuggling money across a hostile border. I suppose it can be arranged-was "Edward was apparently going to try." "So am I." "What?" "One way or another, I'm going to see you receive five thousand in gold from the Ophir money." 6128And If a House Be Divided-" Gideon's mouth dropped open. "If that's not enough, I'll send more. In care of your mother in Lexington. It may take a while, but I promise I'll get it to you. If you're going to survive this damned war, you have to be adequately equipped." "I don't understand, sir. Why should you send me gold?" "To buy horses, Lieutenant. Horsesl It's the only gift I can give you besides a father's love and a prayer for your forgiveness." Once more he picked up the portmanteau. The bottom dripped muddy water. "Now you turn that team around and head back for Richmond. If you stay away from Margaret too long, some other chap's going to steal her." They laughed and clasped hands. "God keep you, Gideon. You and your brothers and your mother, too. We'll see each other when this trouble's done." He leaned disforward and kissed his son's cheek. Then he turned and trudged past the junction and on down the road leading north. t" Gideon didn't leave immediately. He couldn't He climbed up on the seat of the wagon, untied the reins and sat watching the black-clad figure dwindling into the misty landscape of pale greens and gray. There seemed to be a briskness to his father's walk; a vigor entirely new and reassuring. Jephtha's figure grew smaller and smaller. He walked steadily toward the place where the road wound out of sight between low hills. The words from Saint Mark lingered in Gideon's mind. The Titans613 "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." Perhaps it was true of America. He hoped it wasn't true of the Confederate States. Despite the victory at Manassas, Davis" policies were already being called into question. The very principle of state sovereignty which had caused the separation from the Union was becoming the basis of outraged protests from governors throughout the South. How dare Mr. Davis insist on additional military levies? The power of centralized au- yuiority was the very power against which the South had rebelled- But a few thoughtful men were already warning that unthinking insistence on states' rights would ultimately undo the Confederacy. Or at least dangerously hamper its ability to fight. No such philosophic arguments disrupted the North. Lincoln was recouping swiftly and firmly. Speaking to the special session of the Yankee Congress in early July, he'd demanded authorization to call another four hundred thousand men to arms, and spend four hundred millions of dollars to wage war against the cause symbolized by the flag Gideon had finally sent to Miss Nancy Wonderly of White House. His father was probably correct. Terrible times might lie ahead. The war could be longer and grimmer than anyone had imagined. But no matter how it came out-and he fervently hoped it would come out in favor of his side-perhaps his father was also correct in saving the Kents needn't be forever split into warring camps. The possibility doubled his reasons for wanting to live through the days ahead. One reason was Margaret, of course. The other was the sense of family that had never quite left him. Until the windy evening when he went rushing to the Alms 6148And If a House Be Divided- house, he'd never fully realized how wide and deep the river of family blood flowed. And if a house be divided- Whatever else happened, perhaps the Kents could fight from principle, not hatred. And prove that wrong. Far in the distance, Jephtha Kent halted. Gideon watched his father's arm rise in a final wave. He lifted his own hand, waving in return. Then Jephtha disappeared in the murk between the pale green hills. Gideon snapped the reins over the backs of the horses. He maneuvered the wagon into the crossroads, turned it around and headed south, the sound of his fine, strong voice singing "Lorena" drifting out behind. CHAPTER The Better Angels "COWARDICE! ABSOLUTE cowardice and the refusal to obey orders-that's what caused the defeat, gentlemen." The voice of the young captain in spotless blue carried through the racket of Williard's saloon bar. It reached Michael Boyle where he sat at a small table against the wall, sipping his fifth whiskey of the hot
August evening. Late in the afternoon he'd received a startling and wholly unexpected note. He was waiting for the sender of the note. And growing more sullenly drunk by the moment. His first couple of whiskeys hadn't cost him a penny. A gregarious, flamboyant young man named Jim Fisk had bought every soldier in the bar two rounds before departing for a dinner engagement. Mr. Fisk was one of the hundreds of businessmen who had come to Washington to vie for a piece of the Federal military budget. Fisk had told Michael he represented the Jordan Marsh store of Boston, and was prepared to make the War De- tpartment an attractive offer on badly needed blankets. The loud-mouthed captain notwithstanding, drinking was certainly preferable to the guard duty for which Michael had been scheduled this evening. Only the note had rescued him; the duty officer recognized an important name when he saw one. Michael had been glad to leave the dispirited encampment out on the grounds of