I will take you
there after breakfast."
And then followed a brief description of the changes the war had made
in the homestead, the burning of the barns, the abandonment of the
quarters, the destruction of the lawns--"A yard for their damnable
wagons, suh;" the colonel pointing out with great delight the very
dent in the ridge where General Early had ridden through and captured
the whole detachment without the loss of a man.
While we were talking that same rustling of silk that I had learned
to know so well in Bedford Place was heard in the hall, then a sweet,
cheery voice giving some directions to Chad, and the next instant dear
aunt Nancy--Fitz and I had long since dared to call her so--floated
(she never seemed to walk) out upon the porch with a word and a curtsey
to the agent, a hand each to Fitz and me, and a kiss for the colonel.
Then came the breakfast, and such a breakfast! The outpourings of a
Virginia kitchen, with the table showered with roses, and the great
urn shining and smoking, and the relays of waffles and corn-bread and
broiled chicken; all in the old-fashioned dining-room, with its high
wainscoting, spindle--legged sideboards, and deep window seats; the
long moon-faced clock in the corner-and the rest of it! After that the
quiet smoke under the vine-covered end of the portico with the view
towards Cartersville.
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