August 13, 1862
Anna has received some news. There was a battle at Cedar Mountain a few days ago. Our boys rallied and Jackson led them to victory. Strange that I now think of the rebs as our boys. Many of the boys fell but Anna has heard that my young sergeant is alive and well. Thank you God! I pray for her continued safety so that someday she may come back to me. It is strange the war is all around us and yet it can days sometimes weeks for us to find out what is going on. Where are you Eleanor?
August 15, 1862
I am truly blessed. Eleanor and her unit returned. They could not stay long. Many of them were disappointed that there were no longer woman to entertain them. Anna offered them food, bathes and a dry place to sleep. This pleased the weary men. I could barely hold back when I saw her walk threw the front door. I grabbed onto her and rushed her upstairs. After we made love, I returned downstairs and helped Anna care for the others. When they were finally settled down for the night, I returned to my room and Eleanor’s waiting arms. What I shared with this woman was more than passion. I gave her my body, my heart and my soul. She left me before dawn. She promised to return as soon as she could. I begged her to stay. She refused explaining that they had a truce with the Union Army so they could bury the dead.
August 20, 1862
I praise Jesus for Anna’s unknown sources. For they have set my mind at ease once again. It seems that the truce was not honored. More fighting broke out. But Eleanor’s unit was not involved. They were engaged in a small skirmish elsewhere. Fortunately it was not serious. Each I day I look out over the hills that surround this small town. I know that just over those hills somewhere is the one who has captured my heart. Each dawn I look for her to come back to me.
I finally closed Haley’s journal for the night. After reading everything that this woman endured so bravely and without question, I suddenly felt like a wimp. Here a sat in my comfortable home, lacking the courage to break up with my boyfriend. Disgusted with myself I turned off my reading lamp and crawled under the covers and drifted off to sleep.
I walked into our office Allison had departed quietly in the morning without her usual fan fair. I found her sitting at her desk working intently on her computer. I could smell cigarette smoke in the air. I walked over to her and gave her a knowing glare. I looked behind her file cabinet and discovered what I was seeking. There nestled behind the file cabinet was a pack of Merits. Without a word I retrieved the half of pack of cigarettes and brushed past her. I opened the window behind her and unceremoniously tossed the cigarettes out of the window.
“Brat.” Was her only response to my actions.
I brushed past her without bothering to comment and proceeded to my desk. I placed my briefcase on my desk and returned to her side of the office. I slumped down onto the couch adjusting my the pleat of my skirt. “I missed my morning concert.” I said softly.
“Things to do.” She replied without looking up. “Here we go again. One step forward and two steps backward.”
“I can see that.” Was all I could muster up to say. If she did not want to talk, I was not going to force her. We continued to sit in an uncomfortable silence. The only sound was the constant clanking of Allison’s keyboard. It was hard for me to fathom that just last evening I was a hair’s breath away from kissing this woman and this morning I was being treated like a redheaded stepchild at a family reunion. The typing stopped. “Don’t push Stephanie for once let her come to you.”
“I can not believe that you threw my cigarettes out of the window.” Allison said finally looking at me. I laughed as she tried to intimidate me with her classic scowl. I shot her a look that said nice try. She just flashed me a cocky smirk.
“It is for your own good.” I explained calmly. “What are you working on?”
“Notes for our book.” Allison offered blankly as if nothing had happened between us. I did not know if I should be angry or relieved.
“Great.” I answered with enthusiasm. Relief was the option I selected. “So it was Eleanor. What an incredible story.”
“It is going to upset people.” Allison stated bluntly.
“Do you care?”
“No.” She answered firmly. “Now that you know ask me anything.”
I smiled at the offer. “Anything huh? So Allison could you ever love me?” Sure ask you anything but the one thing I really need to know. I decided it was safer to stick to the book. “Did Stephan make it to England?”
“Yes.” She answered. “But he did return briefly near the end of the war. He had changed his name to Arthur Fennimore. He sailed back when he heard that the Confederacy was certain to fall. Then he began to buy up property from the war widows.”
“What a sleaze bag.” I choked. “First he runs away then he comes back and takes advantage of those who stayed and lost everything. I mean if he had some moral objection to the war I could understand his leaving.”
“He had no morals.” Allison answered shaking her head in disgust. “While he was hiding in England he was selling arms to both sides. Just as everything is about to come to a close he hopped on the first ship heading to the States. Then he buys up land dirt cheap.” I groaned in disgust. “It gets better.” Allison sneered. “While traveling through the South ripping off widows and orphans he hears about a young Sergeant from New Orleans.”
“No!” I gasped.
“Yes.” Allison confirmed. “I don’t know if it was curiosity or his over sized ego but he decided to pay a call on the widow Ballister. Haley’s diary is a little sketchy on the subject. I get the definite impression that he blackmailed her into sleeping with him. The timing was just close enough that everyone assumed that it was her husband’s child.”
“Nice guy.” I blanched. “Okay now Eleanor died in battle.”
“No.” Allison teased. “The end of the war was approaching. Eleanor sensed that the Confederacy was about to surrender so she deserted. She was terrified of being captured.”
“Since she could not rely upon the union soldiers to behave like gentlemen.” I cut in recalling the words from Haley’s journal. “But many women were discovered passing as men and they were treated very well.”
“She could not have known that.” Allison added sadly.
“Tell me just when did she marry Haley?”
“Just after Eleanor returned from Gettysburg.” Allison explained. “She had been wounded. Though it was not serious she became concerned that she may not live until the end of the war. They were very much in love and Eleanor knew that by marrying Haley she could give her respectability. With one simple ceremony Haley went from fallen woman to an officer’s wife.”
“Well, this certainly explains a lot.” I said absently lost in thought. The historian in me was thrilled beyond belief. “In Haley’s diary she said that Mrs. Moorehouse’s daughter Sarah had died in childhood. That confused me since I remembered that my earlier research led me to believe that when Mrs. Moorehouse and Haley and her son moved up North, Sarah Moorehouse had traveled with them.”
“It was easy enough to pull off.” Allison explained knowing that I had figured out how Eleanor stayed with them. “After the war everything was in upheaval. And with no birth or death records. While they were still in Virginia Eleanor simply kept out of sight. If anyone asked they simply explained that she was Sarah Moorehouse. No one in the area had ever asked Mrs. Moorehouse about her past. Those who had known her before she became a prostitute knew that she had a daughter who she had sent away.”