“Well, the story goes that Agnes was the belle of the ball, as everyone expected she would be. Every gentleman in the hall was doting on her, asking to be placed on her dance card. However people said that she looked distraught most of the evening, barely smiling and only acknowledging her suitors to the extent that courtesy demanded.
“People say that Marge was furious not only that she was being blatantly ignored by most of the men in attendance, but also that Agnes was disregarding the attention that she so desired. They say that she confronted Agnes and the two girls were seen out in the courtyard having what seemed to be a heated discussion.
“Then Marge returned to the party and Agnes didn’t. No one knew where Agnes had gone, no one expect Marge that is. Everyone was whispering about where Agnes could have disappeared to, but Marge feigned ignorance right up until the moment when she destroyed that poor girl.”
“What do you mean? Where was she?” Maggie asked.
“Well, the rumor goes that Agnes had confided in Marge that she did not want to be at the ball at all. Her father had forced her to attend because she was eighteen years old and of marrying age. It was expected of her to be debuted, to find a good match, and be married off by year’s end. If she didn’t, her father would arrange a marriage for her. That was the custom of the time, which was partly why Marge was so desperate for attention that evening. She was already nineteen. If she did not succeed in gaining the affection of a suitable gentleman then her father already had one in mind, a business partner of his that was quite a bit older than she was.”
Maggie understood the desperation that the girls must have felt that evening. As Maggie’s eighteenth birthday had approached she’d lived in fear of being informed that her father was marrying her off to one of his business partner’s sons to secure some sort of negotiation. She, however, had the option of going out on her own, cutting ties with her family, leaving for school, and making a life for herself. These girls, in the 1950’s, didn’t have that option.
“But why didn’t Agnes want to be there?” Maggie asked. “Wouldn’t she want to have her choice of husbands, rather than leave it in the hands of her father?”
“Apparently she was already in love with a young man who was not at the ball and would never be considered a suitable match for her. He was a young farmhand who her father had taken in when he was just a boy. He was an orphan. His own father had died in an accident on the plantation when he was ten. Mr. Devereaux had taken the boy in, converted an old barn into living quarters for him, and allowed him to live on the property. He and Agnes had grown up together.”
Maggie immediately thought of Aaron and realized he was living in the same old barn that Ms. Devereaux’s lover had lived in. Maggie also realized that this story must not have a happy ending, because seventy years later Ms. Devereaux was still living alone in the house, unmarried.
“What did Marge do?” Maggie asked, feeling a sense of dread settling into the pit of her stomach.
“Agnes had confided in her that she was in love with the farm boy and Marge had encouraged her to go to him. She promised to keep her secret, to cover for her, and give her this evening alone with him. Marge went back into the ball and filled her dance card pretending as if she’d never seen Agnes leave.
“Some say she waited until she’d secured an offer of courtship from Charles Bouchard, others say that she was pushed to it out of frustration because as the hours passed no one stopped asking about Agnes. It was no secret that the two girls had always been held in comparison over the years because they both came from high standing families and were of similar age, and it was also no secret that Marge never measured up to Agnes in beauty or wit or kindness. It was quite evident that Marge had always been jealous of Agnes. Many believe that she simply took this opportunity to crush the other girl out of spite. Regardless of her motive, what Marge did next destroyed Agnes.”
“She told them where Agnes had gone?” Maggie guessed. Ms. Brandy nodded sadly.
“Agnes was found in the barn, wrapped in the arms of her lover. Her reputation was destroyed. Her father was furious. She was literally ripped from his arms. He was arrested and charged with assault. Charges her father pressed with a vengeance. He was hung for his ‘crimes,’ and Agnes was never seen again.”
Maggie gasped in shock. “He was hung?! How could they do that?”
“It was a different time, and Mr. Devereaux was a very powerful man. He owned most of Sweetwater,” Ms. Brandy explained.