Encounter at Cold Harbor

Encounter at Cold Harbor by Gilbert L. Morris

Book: Encounter at Cold Harbor by Gilbert L. Morris Read Free Book Online
Authors: Gilbert L. Morris
black boots. He listened to the band playing, then said, “I know. I feel the same way. I suppose when you’re married to someone that you love, you think it can never end. But it does.”
    “Well,” she said brightly, apparently trying to lighten the conversation, “I’ve danced three dances straight with you. Are we going to have every dance?”
    “No, the general over there has warned me he’ll have me court-martialed if he doesn’t get the next one.”
    “Oh, we mustn’t let that happen! But right now, tell me some more about what you did in Kentucky.”
    When the ball ended, Nelson was shocked at how late it was. He said so as he helped Eileen into the carriage. “Why, it’s after one o’clock. We won’t get you back to the house until one thirty!”
    “Everybody may be asleep,” she said. She waited until he got inside and picked up the lines, and then, as the carriage moved off, began talking about the officers of the regiment. “They all seem very young.”
    “Most of the older ones haven’t made it this far,” Nelson said. He quickly amended his statement. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
    “It’s all right, Colonel.”
    Nelson looked at her and said, “Look, when you call me colonel I feel as old as Methuselah. You think you could use my name for the rest of the evening?”
    “Of course, Nelson, if you think it’s proper for a housekeeper to address the master by his first name.”
    They passed a street lamp, and the light fell across her face. He had never seen a woman more calm, which surprised him. “When you first came storming into my office,” he said, “I thought you had a temper like musket fire, but you don’t, really.”
    “Yes, I do—when things go wrong. I like to have my own way.” She smiled at him, and he smiled back. “I suppose most of us want our own way, but few of us get it.”
    They chatted amiably as the horse plodded on down the road. He talked mostly of Kentucky and his life there. “I had a nice farm, and it was good. I had to sell it when we came to Richmond.”
    “You never know. Maybe you can go back there when the war’s over.”
    “I wouldn’t be very welcome, I’m afraid,” he said soberly. “Most of the people in that area are for the Union. They wouldn’t want a Rebel back in the midst of them. I’d like to go back, though. And Jeff and Tom loved it there.”
    When they got to the house and Nelson pulled up the horse, he said, “Great guns! I’ve never talked so much in my whole life. I’ve bored you to death, Eileen.”
    “I haven’t been bored.” Her voice was quiet.
    They sat listening as an owl crossed the sky, making a lonely cry.
    “It’s a beautiful evening,” she said. “I love the full moon.” She looked up at the huge, silver disk and added, “Look, you can even see the pockmarks on it!” She turned to him. “I used to look to see the man in the moon, but I never saw him.”
    “Neither did I! He’d be a pretty old fellow by this time, I think.” Nelson admired the stars that dotted the heavens and said, “I wish I knew the names of all those. The Bible says God calls them all by name.”
    “That’s a nice thought—that He named all the stars.”
    “I find a lot of comfort in the Bible,” he said. “I miss my church back in Kentucky, although we’ve had some good chaplains. There’s just something about taking your family and going into a church, sitting down, looking at people, listening to the sermon, singing together. I miss that a lot.”
    “I’m sure you do. I love church too.”
    The two sat in the buggy talking until finally Eileen said, “Well, it’s very late …”
    “Of course it is.” He wrapped the lines tightly, jumped out, then walked around to her side and helped her to the ground. They stood facing each other. “I can’t tell you what this has meant to me, Eileen. I’ve been, to tell the truth, a little bit lonely.”
    “I guess we’ve both been lonely. It’s been nice for me

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