Southern Beauty

chapter 2

“Miss Patricia. Why you look lovely in your red bonnet! What brings you here today?” Johanna asked.

“Hello Johanna. I came by to see if you were coming for tea this afternoon?” Patricia asked.

“Oh, I’m feeling a bit tired, I think I need to rest, perhaps another day. Please tell the ladies I said hello, will you?” Johanna forced a smile, hoping Patricia would just leave without asking questions.

“Of course I will.” Patricia said while her eyes searched the foyer and the rooms that adjoined.

“Goodbye then,” Johanna said as she began closing the door.

Patricia put her foot in the doorway to prevent the door from closing on her, “A lady should never answer her own door. Where are all the servants?”

“They were giving me a headache,” Johanna answered.

“All of them?” questioned Patricia.

Johanna sighed, “If you must know, some were sent to another plantation and I assume others fled. I will be leaving soon anyway my uncle is sending a soldier to escort me to Arlington today.”

“Oh dear, we must have you over for dinner before you leave,” Patricia said.

“Oh, that is not necessary, really. I have already said my goodbyes,” said Johanna.

“Very well then,” She gave up. Patricia thought how terribly sad it was that just a few months ago when Johanna’s parents fled she had become so secluded. “Maybe you won’t leave before the ball on Saturday hosted by the Beauregard’s. I heard it’s in honor of the cadets firing on the Union ship. All those handsome young cadets from Citadel will be there!”

“Oh then, why I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Johanna mimicked Patricia’s thick accent with ease and rolled her eyes in disgust. And then she watched Patricia stroll pass the iron-gate, nod to her driver, and step into her carriage.

As Johanna closed the door, her condescending smile disappeared. As she thought about Clarice’s party, she felt nauseous. She walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall. She leaned in to get a better look at herself, tears began to swell up in her eyes and she watched them trickle down her rosy cheeks.

It didn’t matter that Johanna was alone, she was used to it. Johanna became a recluse since her parents’ financial ruin and their embarrassing escape. She preferred to stay home and read. It was a favorite pastime of her mother’s and she in turn enjoyed it herself. Since her best friend Abigail wed in September to a lawyer from Georgia and moved to be near his family, she had few friends. She had no one really to be confidantes with except her matchmaking friend Mary Alice, who always tried to set her up to meet the most boorish of snooty men at parties they were expected to attend. The men rarely fussed over her, which didn’t bother Johanna in the slightest. She actually welcomed becoming another tapestry on the ballroom walls. She did hate that when the General’s daughter, Clarice, came around, Johanna was but forgotten.

Clarice Beauregard was an auburn-haired Cajun-goddess. She was extremely admired by young eligible men for her beautiful looks and her flirtatious nature. Actually the whole family was extremely handsome. Clarice’s twin brother, Rene, was one of the most eligible bachelors of the South. During teatime at Miss Patricia’s there was so much gossip about Clarice and Rene, Johanna stopped attending them. She only wanted to stay as far away from the women who gossiped, and the men who they gossiped about.

Johanna’s heart ached for a new life in Virginia. She longed for the day she would unite with her family. Johanna’s tears began to flow even harder now, and she ran up to her room and fell hard onto her bed. At her beside she cradled the last book her parents had given her, an 1859 copy of Blackwood’s Magazine, all the way from London. She had it book marked to her favorite novel, by a Miss Austen. She liked it not for the romance, but the family’s closeness, especially that of sisters. It was something she had always longed for.

Romance was the last thing on Johanna’s mind. She hadn’t had much luck with it in the past and she hated the drama that always seemed to accompany it. She had more important things to think on.

Since December, Charleston had become independent from the Union and while many celebrated others were fleeing in fear of Lincoln’s army. This fear ran rapidly through Johanna’s plantation. Many of the workers fled and the ones who stayed behind began to migrate to their new appointed employer a mile away. Although being in the South slavery was legal, the Lees did not believe in it. Therefore all men who worked were paid in some kind of form. Johanna had many acquaintances who believed differently. She believed no one should be someone’s property. They were all handmade by God and should be treated alike. There were several who felt like the Lees but would not fight against it. Johanna just wanted to be away from all the turmoil and the extreme emotions that this controversy stirred up. Virginia seemed like a safer place being near family and those who shared her point of view.



Private Malcolm Graystone eyed his new dress clothes. His commander had him wear a new Southerner’s uniform to ward off any trouble retrieving Johanna. It seemed they just washed a union uniform many times with lye to turn it gray. He laughed at his predicament. Pretending to be someone he wasn’t was not new territory for Malcolm. Ahead he spied a local tavern. His stomach growled and he decided to stop for something to eat. Only five miles down the road from his destination was Johanna Lee and if he wasn’t so tired and hungry he would have continued on, but his hunger pains began to make him feel weak. He just needed to regenerate, and he would be on his way.

Malcolm couldn’t wait to meet the woman his commander told him so much about. He was 21 and ready to start a family. The barmaid approached him and asked him his order. Malcolm decided to order a drink to calm his nerves.

Malcolm didn’t realize how much rum he had until he stood up to walk out towards his horse. His head began to spin. He squinted as he scanned the town and noticed a small inn across the road. He decided that it would be best if he met Johanna in the morning. He felt so good that he began to whistle as he staggered toward the inn. He was interrupted by a sweet voice from behind.

“Hello handsome, are you a soldier here to protect little ole me?” the lady asked.

Malcolm turned to see a beautiful sultry woman in a pastel green dress, lace from head to toe, and his heart began to pound. He smirked as his eyes traced her perfect body. He could see the outline of her full breasts through her dress and was immediately smitten.

“Why, ma’m, you’re going to need someone to protect you from me,” he smiled. The woman blushed as her hungry eyes inspected the handsome soldier.

“Are you going to stay the night there?” she motioned in the direction he was heading. “You must not be from around here. Why don’t you come with me, I know where you can find more comfortable accommodations.”

“No thank you, Miss.” Malcolm declined.

“Well, no self respecting gentleman should stay there, my family owns the mansion on the next street over. Let me escort you there.”

He leaned over and kissed her hand, and grinned. “No thank you. I must leave early in the morning. I have a mission to accomplish. Now what is a beautiful lady like you doing here without an escort?”

“Oh, I am shopping for a new bonnet. There are so many now that we receive shipments from London. I always get the newest in fashion. It’s a way for me to feel pretty and of course to be the envy of all my dear friends,” she giggled.

“Well, I am sure even without the new bonnet you are envied,’ he said.

She smiled a strange shy yet seductive smile at him. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Of course not, just observing,” his head seemed in a cloud. He thought to himself that he definitely shouldn’t have had that last drink. He had no idea where this was heading and wasn’t sure if he should find out. “I’ve never met a lady like you before.”

“And you never will.” She said with her seductive smile and slipped her hand into his as they made there way toward the inn. It was now dark, but the inn lit up before them, a welcoming sight especially for Malcolm whose thoughts were getting fuzzier by the minute.

“Thank you ma’am,” Malcolm was going to kiss her cheek, but she pressed her body to his and kissed him gently on the mouth.

His lips tasted of alcohol, but they were warm, and her skin tingled as they made their way towards her bare shoulders.