Chapter 5

With the resilience of youth, Frederick Stetson snapped back from his long, arduous journey from Pittsburgh to Washington with remarkable ease. He woke up in a strange room, a room that was wonderfully warm, and looked around in confusion before he remembered that his mother's friends had taken them in, fed them a hearty breakfast, and then sent them upstairs to sleep. He made use of the commode he found behind a screen in the corner of the room and then put his outer clothing back on before stepping out into the hallway. He went past the room that nice Mrs. West had showed his mother to and thought about peeking in but decided against it. Instead, he went downstairs, expecting to find Captain and Mrs. West in the parlor. Just as he reached the lower floor, the longcase clock in the parlor struck the hour of two, and he realized he'd been asleep for over five hours. He followed the smell of baking bread into the kitchen, where Molly McGuire was just taking a bread pan out of the oven. She turned and set it on the heavy wooden worktable to cool and said, "Well, now, young sir, ye look much better. Are ye hungry? O' course ye are. Sit yerself down, lad, and I'll have somethin' ready in two shakes."

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Molly. Mother's still asleep."

"Poor lady, she looked worn to a thread. She hasn't been eatin' right, I'm thinkin'."

"No. It's been hard ever since Father was killed three months ago. My grandmother won't leave her room except for supper each night, and she barely picks at her food, so she expected Mother to do the same."

"Well, that's just silly. How does starvin' herself to death help? It won't bring your father back."

"No. Where are Captain and Mrs. West and Bobby?"

"Oh, over at the house cleanin' it."

"They're cleaning our house?"

"It needed cleanin', and unlike some, they're not too proud to do it. Major Davis and Miss Amanda are over there too."

"We were over there; we're back now," Amanda said as she entered the kitchen, looking somewhat untidy. Her hair was covered by a kerchief which was very dusty, and she wore an old gown of her mother's that was two sizes too big for her, since her old gowns, the ones she used for nursing at the hospitals, were all in the room where Louisa Stetson was sleeping. "Hello, Frederick; I'm Amanda Davis, your mother's friend. The house is clean now, and the fires are going, so you and your mother can move over there tonight if you wish."

"Mrs. Davis, thank you so much. When we first saw the condition the house was in, I thought Mother was going to cry."

"Yes, well, the state it was in would make anyone weep, but that's all fixed now. I'm going upstairs to check on her, and then I'm going home to take a bath. My husband Matthew went ahead to ask our servants to start heating the water, you see. You'll meet him later today; we want you and your mother to come to our house for supper."

"Ma'am, you are so kind; we can't thank you – all of you- enough."

"You've already done it, Fred; that's what friends are for."

Forty-five minutes later, Amanda walked back into her house to find Matthew sitting in the parlor, still in the uniform he'd been wearing when they cleaned the Stetson house. He stood up and came to greet her, using his handkerchief, itself none too clean, to wipe a smudge off her cheek. "You look like a ragamuffin, my love," he said as he kissed the somewhat cleaner cheek and then its opposite before urging her to take a seat on the sofa beside him.

"Well, you aren't exactly fit for a full-dress parade either, Matthew," she said with a laugh.

"No. Have you been talking to Louisa?"

"Yes. I got her to eat the food Molly fixed for her, and I told her that we're expecting them here for supper. so we'll send Curtis with the carriage over at a quarter to six, and of course Bobby will come with them, so Fred will have a friend. Oh, Matthew, she looks so…she looks like she's barely hanging on by a thread, that a strong gust of wind would just blow her away. When I told her what we'd done, she started to cry."

"I'm told that sometimes that's what needs to happen."

"Yes. So, I held her while she cried, even in all my dirt. I don't think she minded."

"I'm sure she didn't. No one is better at that than you are, my love."

"I think I helped. When Jim was killed, I was devastated, but Mother was here to support me; she has no one except Fred, and try as he might, he's only twelve."

"On the contrary, my love, she also has you and your mother, and by extension, me and Daniel. The two of you will support her, and we will support you. When does she start her job at the War Department?"

"Not until Monday. She said she could have waited a few more days to come here, but she simply had to get out of that house in Pittsburgh. Matthew, I know we were planning to leave for Chicago tomorrow, but could we put it off for a few days? She's never lived here before and I really need to show her how to ride the streetcar, where to shop for food, and so on. She's never had to do any of those things before, you see."

"Does she plan to hire a maid?"

"Yes, if she can find one she can afford. Honestly, Matthew, she's like a babe in the woods. Her father was a prosperous merchant in St. Louis when she met Will back in 1849, when he was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, so they always had servants to do the cooking and cleaning. She was nineteen when she and Will married, and her father gave them money so they could always have servants. Her parents died of typhoid four years ago, but the Panic of 1857 hit Mr. Livesay's business very hard, so after his debts were settled there was very little money left over for her to inherit. When Will went to war he moved her into the house with his parents so she'd have someone to help her and so they could save most of his pay."

"A mixed blessing, from all accounts."

"Yes, definitely that, but now she's broken free, and that's good."

"Yes. You know, darling, as long as we're there for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, my parents won't mind if we delay our trip for a few days. If we leave on the morning train on Monday, we'll still be in Elgin on the 24th, and we can just extend our visit through the 1st of January and come home on the 2nd."

"Oh, Matthew, could we? It would help her so much."

"I'll wire my parents with the change of plans first thing in the morning."

They looked up as Curtis Hollis came into the parlor to announce, "Major, ma'am, Lucy say to tell you the water is hot."

"Excellent, thank you, Curtis. We'll be right up."

Curtis withdrew and Matthew stood up, drew Amanda to her feet, and tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow to escort her upstairs. "Two baths in the space of one day," he remarked. "We'll set a new record for cleanliness."

"Yes, and this time, I simply must wash my hair. Even with this kerchief over it, I'm sure it's very dusty."

"I'll help, and then I'll help you dry it in front of the fire. I've been wanting to brush your hair dry for months now."

"Have you?"

"Oh, yes. From the moment we met, I dreamed of taking your hair down and seeing just how long it really is."

"Darling Matthew."