"
"I meant to be frank, Ann, but I have felt so alarmed about your
health--"
"You need not be--I can bear anything but not to know--"
"That is why I brought you here, my dear. You are aware that I took out
of the business the money you loaned to us."
"Yes--yes--I know."
"I have given up my partnership and withdrawn my capital. The business
will go on without me."
"Was this because--I?--but no matter. Go on, please."
He was incapable of concealing the truth from her, however much he
might have disguised it from others. "You had your share in causing me
to give up, but for a year since this war has gone on from one disaster
to another, I have known that as a soldier I must be in it."
She was perfectly calm. "I have long known it would come, James. To have
you and John and my brother Henry--all in it, is a hard fate."
"My dear, Charles writes me that Henry has left the army and gone to
Europe on business for the Confederates."
"Indeed." Some feeling of annoyance troubled her. "Then he at least is in
no danger."
"None, my dear."
"When do you go?"
"I am to command the 129th Infantry, and I shall leave about August 1st."
"So soon!" She sat still, thinking over what Grey Pine would be without
him. He explained as she sat that all details of his affairs would be put
for her clearly on paper.
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