Ella Lorena Kennedy sat on the train watching the trees go by with great speed. She was on a train again, heading for a new destination, slightly excited, but not as excited as her trip to Atlanta just a week previously.
Ella was still getting over the harsh remark she had heard India Wilkes say. No wonder Scarlett hated India so much, she could now understand Scarlett's animosity toward India.
Ella had her money now, but she was happy to be exploring new places, but she was still sad. After that harsh remark by India, Ella ran back to the hotel room, where she bathed, and tried to block the harsh words of India from her memory, but to no avail. The next day, she explored Atlanta in greater detail, but she was reluctant to tell anyone who she was because she feared another India Wilkes-like comment.
She decided to leave Atlanta, declaring that there were other places that she would like to visit. Ella was now en-route to Charleston. Ella didn't truthfully consider staying there that long; she was more visiting out of natural curiosity. Ella had her Aunt Carreen in Charleston, who she had never met. Carreen joined a convent and became a nun shortly after the war, and from what both Scarlett and Suellen had said about her, she was always a little foolish.
Ella also had a great-aunt who lived there, her great Aunt Pauline, her grandmother's sister. Ella had never met her either, she recalled someone, either Scarlett or Suellen saying that they had never approved of Ellen, Ella's grandmother marrying Gerald, Ella's grandfather. Pauline and Ellen had another sister, Eulalie who died several years previously.
Something that interested Ella was the fact that Pauline, Eulalie, and Ellen were all members of the Robillard family, and she was a descendant. Ella remembered the picture of her great-grandmother Solange Robillard at Tara, who, from Suellen's descriptions, sounded similar to Scarlett. Great-Grandma Robillard had been married three times, like Scarlett, and she had many beaux, like Scarlett in her youth. She recalled Suellen mentioning that rather coldly.
Thinking about Aunt Carreen and Pauline made Ella a little more excited about visiting Charleston. She had kin there, and she would be visiting them for the first time. Maybe they wouldn't be as bad as Suellen, the only real relative that Ella knew. Ella had another Aunt, her father Frank's sister, whom began a correspondence with her before she died. Frank Kennedy's sister, Louisa, had lived in Macon, and when Ella was 12 she was shocked to receive a letter from her. They began a correspondence, where she learned the history of the Kennedy family, and was saddened when she died unexpectedly two years later.
Ella looked out the windows, seeing the trees go whipping by, and began to feel more anticipation in visiting Charleston.
Ella felt a little tired. She closed her eyes, deciding to take a short catnap.
Ella woke up when someone was shaking her shoulder. Her eyes flew open. "Excuse me, miss, but, we're at Charleston." A nice man told her. "Thank you sir," Ella replied politely. Ella managed to get her luggage, and get into a carriage, she then told the driver to take her to a hotel. She didn't know anything about Charleston's businesses and layout. The driver continued on, and Ella noticed how old-fashioned and picturesque Charleston was. It was nothing like Atlanta, which had construction and constant building everywhere.
Ella enjoyed watching the nice places, it reminded her of a story she once read. The driver stopped, and said. "Here we are Miss, at the Cherrywood Hotel." Ella got off and a gentleman came up and took her luggage. She entered the lobby and got a hotel room, where she went up to, and dropped off her luggage, and decided to stay there for a little while.
At the moment, she still felt a little groggy after the nap that she took on the train. She decided to take a nap. Several hours later, Ella woke up, and had a light meal, and decided to explore Charleston further. She tried hard to remember where her Aunt Carreen's convent was, but she couldn't remember.
She remembered that her Aunt Pauline lived somewhere on the Battery. She didn't intend on visiting her just yet. She had never met her, and it would be a little shocking for her Aunt Pauline if this niece she had never met just showed up on her doorstep.
Ella enjoyed looking around Charleston. She noticed that some people were looking at her curiously. Ella was a little nervous about this, but she realized that it was probably because nobody recognized her. She remembered that Charleston also had a very intricate line of genealogies in which everyone was related to this person and that person.
When she heard the clock tower ring, she looked and saw that it was three o'clock. She decided that she might as well visit her Aunt Carreen. She looked around for a little bit, visiting several churches, and she finally found the right one.
Ella managed to find the right convent, and more surprising even found Carreen, who was Sister Mary Joseph. This turned out to be a pleasant visit. Ella and Sister Mary Joseph had a pleasant chat over tea and biscuits. Ella did most of the talking, about Scarlett, Suellen, Wade, and Tara.
Ella was surprised. She almost expected Carreen to treat her like India Wilkes did, considering that her mother disgraced the O'Hara family with a divorce, and she Carreen was a nun, but Carreen seemed to completely disregard this fact.
When Ella decided that she should go, due to the fact it was getting a little late, Carreen told her that Pauline came for tea on Thursdays and she could meet her then. Ella was excited over this, also. That was in two days.
Ella was anxious over the next two days; she spent a lot of time exploring Charleston in greater detail, visiting the library in Charleston, which turned out to be the largest one she had ever seen. She kept herself occupied reading so much.
Finally Thursday came, and Ella made sure that she dressed well, and looked proper. Ella was very jittery as she made her way to the convent. Ella came a little early, but found Carreen with an old lady that turned out to her Aunt Pauline. Aunt Pauline was all excited as she hugged and kissed Ella. She seemed to look oddly at Ella's eyes.
Pauline sat Ella down and they talked for a long time, and insisted that Ella stay with her at the Battery. Ella wasn't sure if she wanted to do this or not, as she thought that if she stayed with Aunt Pauline, she would ultimately end up staying in Charleston longer than she had intended.
Eventually, Pauline left, asking Ella to come over sometime to call. Ella left shortly after deciding to get back to the hotel room. Ella found Charleston to be very pleasant. She liked it a lot more than Atlanta; at least people weren't as familiar with Scarlett O'Hara in Charleston as in Atlanta.
Ella decided to stay a little longer. She went over to Aunt Pauline's to call, and met some Charleston socialites, who were all courteous to her, but all they did was gossip, and Ella found gossip to be somewhat rude, but also dull, as she had no idea who most of the people were.
Ella was debating over leaving or staying in Charleston when she visited Aunt Carreen. She wanted to know about Scarlett and Suellen in their days of youth. She asked Carreen, and Carreen replied. "Oh, Scarlett had so many beaux. She had Brent and Stu Tarleton, Cade Calvert, Alex and Tony Fontaine, just so many." Ella had heard all these names previously.
"I remember Scarlett could be particularly pretty when she wanted to," Carreen recalled fondly, remembering her carefree days of youth. "However, the war changed that, when I got sick with the Typhoid, and mother died, Scarlett came back so different."
Ella recalled Suellen saying something along the lines that her mother was monster when she came back to Tara. She didn't know whether or not to take this seriously or not. Apparently it could be true.
"Now, Suellen, I remember was so taken with Frank-." Carreen stopped there. "Frank Kennedy" Ella replied. Carreen looked like she had just sworn. "Yes, dear, I'm sorry, Suellen and Frank Kennedy were courting, and when the war was over, they became engaged, and he went to Atlanta for work. Then, Scarlett went, and then a letter came saying that Frank and Scarlett had married.
Ella was shocked. No wonder Aunt Suellen always gave her such cold hateful looks all the time. She was a reminder to Suellen's painful past, when her sister had stolen her own beau away from her.
"Ella?" Aunt Carreen asked quietly. "Look, Aunt Carreen, I think it's time for me to go." Carreen looked sad. "Don't cry, I came here today to tell you that anyway." She said shortly, that wasn't the truth, but she had to get away.
Ella ran back to the hotel room as quick as she could. She had to absorb what Aunt Carreen had just told her. Scarlett stole her father away from Aunt Suellen. Why, she wondered privately. She may never know. Some questions are better left unanswered she told herself.
Ella fell asleep for a short while, and decided that it was time to go. She wanted to travel the world when she got her inheritance, and she should be doing it. Ella then and instantly started to pack her belongings.
Authors Note: Dear Readers: I have to include this note to answer your questions. Scarlett will be making an appearance before too long. Also, chapter 3 wasn't the last of Beau Wilkes. Also, sorry for such an uneventful chapter, there will be more things happening.
- Silver 186