She had to admit that he looked splendid, in his blue coat with its shining buttons. She certainly couldn't deny that. But...it meant he was leaving her.

She knew where he was going. Of course she did. But Alice refused to admit it. She had to hear it from his mouth, because her mind refused to admit that he was actually doing what she knew he was.

"Alfred…" she started. "Where are you going, all done up like that?" Before her eyes he was turning from her husband to her soldier boy.

Soldier boy, soldier boy,
Where are you going to?
Soldier boy, soldier boy,
In your coat so fine.

He smiled softly at her, his shining eyes matching the fabric of his coat. "President Lincoln has called for troops to help bring back the rebel states. I have to go help."

Something was bothering him, she could tell. "What is it, love?" she asked worriedly.

Alfred frowned. "My brother...is fighting for the Confederacy…"

But then he shook his head and grinned widely at her. "But never mind that. I'm gonna go fight to reunite the country, and we're gonna win, and then I'll come home to you. You'll stay mine, right?"

His tone was so full of optimism that Alice had to smile. "Of course I will, love." She would always belong to her soldier boy.

I am riding off to war
Where the mighty cannons roar,
Where the golden bugles shine-
Oh, lady fair, be mine!

"But, Alfred, when will you come back?" she asked in concern. The American was terrible at timekeeping, running into town for something simple and losing track of time and returning hours later. It even happened when Alice was there with him, dragging him along. Her ridiculous soldier boy.

Soldier boy, soldier boy,
When will you come again?
Soldier boy, soldier boy,
In your coat so fine.

"As soon as the war's over," he promised, kissing her softly. "When your garden blooms, I want to be home to see it. It's nearly as gorgeous as you."

She wrapped him in a tight hug, never wanting to let him go. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," Alfred replied, before heading off, leaving Alice in tears behind him as she watched her soldier boy leave.

When the leaves are green again,
When the lilacs bloom again.
When there is an end to war,
Then I will come once more

The years went by, the passage of time marked only for Alice by the yearly snows and the blooming of her garden, the one Alfred had told her was nearly as gorgeous as she was.

She missed her infuriating but wonderful soldier boy.

Seven times, then seven more
Leaves turned to green again.
Lilacs bloomed every spring,
Just like before.

The war stretched on for years, then ended, but still Alfred did not come home. Not once on break, not once the war ended-he never even wrote to her. Alice's logical side knew what had happened, but her heart refused to admit that Alfred had died.

She was wooed over the years, most adamantly by a French immigrant, but she never gave in. However irrationally, she still waited for her soldier boy.

But there was no end to war-
Seven years, then seven more.
Still, she waited just the same,
But no one ever came.