by Sara Orwig
“Who do you think will claim you?” Lydia Hobson asked, fanning herself until the pink rosebuds began to flutter in her black hair.
“With Ronald away fighting, the only men I want to dance with are Major O’Brien or Captain Ainsley or Major Tischler,” Eunice Mott replied.
“We’ll see which one of us gets to dance with them first.”
There were lines of men making payment and the first men claimed their partners and moved to the dance floor. Major O’Brien headed toward her and Eunice leaned forward, the wide hoop beneath her green satin dress bumping against Sophia. Sophia caught the scent of hyacinth and looked at Eunice’s shining blond hair and pink cheeks.
“Here comes Major O’Brien,” Eunice whispered to Lydia Hobson. “I wonder which one of us he’ll dance with.”
Sophia wanted to get out of the line. Everyone would watch them and she would gladly hand him over to the other women. And then he was in front of her, looking only at her.
“Good evening, Major O’Brien,” Lydia said, smiling at him. He returned the smile and shifted his attention.
“Miss Merrick, may I have this dance? I’ll have to favor my wounded leg.”
“Of course, Major O’Brien,” she answered, moving with him onto the dance floor aware of the stares from the women. He placed a hand on her waist.
“She saved his life,” came a loud whisper from behind them.
“Then he has to dance with her.”
“No, I don’t,” he said with amusement to Sophia, looking down into her eyes.
“Lydia Hobson was dying to dance with you. So was Eunice Mott,” she said, feeling more relaxed.
“I doubt that. There are other dances. Put one hand on my arm. Now we’ll take four steps like this in a square. You follow me. One, two, three, four. Very good. Do it over again. It would help if I could use both arms.”
She watched his feet, trying to follow his lead. “Why are you doing this? There are some ladies here who want desperately to dance with you. I’ll let you go.”
He cocked his brow, looking amused. “Want to be rid of me, don’t you?”
“No. I just think you could have more fun.”
“I’ll take care of fun. I’ll dance with others. This first dance is with you. It’s time you learn how.”
“Papa would have apoplexy.”
“Your father is gone and you have to live your life. And I can tell you Sophia,” he said, his green eyes sparkling, “that you are far too lively to go through life without learning to dance. You’re doing splendidly.”
“Thank you,” she said, feeling a rush of pleasure and looking up at him. He watched her while they danced, and she smiled at him. “I’m dancing!” she exclaimed softly, beginning to enjoy herself.
“I’m afraid, Sophia, that after this dance, I won’t find it so easy to get the next dance with you.”
“Why not?”
He gave her a look that was amused, yet didn’t answer. Was he thinking she would have others claiming her for dances? “I don’t think I’ll be in demand. Look at my dress and hair.”
His gaze drifted over her hair and then down, slowly, languidly perusing her full length. This unexpected gesture made her remember his kisses, remember that night when he had been nude and she had walked into the room, remember his coppery body. A sticky, lethargic heat engulfed her, making her feel weak and trembly. How could he do this to her by a look?
Just as leisurely as his gaze lowered, it drifted up until he looked into her eyes. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
Her pulse fluttered. Just words, yet the compliment wasn’t like any other she’d ever received. Did he really think she was beautiful? This man who had dazzling women fawning on him? Who had women like Desirée and Amity Therrie travel from another state to see him? His words were scalding, stirring that low, aching warmth in her the same as his kisses did. You’re a beautiful woman. The compliment became a treasure to keep in memory, to hold forever.
“Thank you,” she answered, knowing she sounded breathless, feeling foolish for her reaction to the simple compliment, yet he watched her solemnly and looked at her as if he meant it. “You’re very nice.”
His hearty laugh was deep, rolling up out of his throat, his eyes sparkling, white teeth showing, a warm laugh that coaxed her to smile in return. “Nice? Sophia, you have called me many things, but never did I even come within a mile of nice.”
She blushed, feeling foolish, suddenly sorry she had been cross with him so often. “You have your moments. You’ve been very nice tonight. The necklace is beautiful. I love dancing, and that was nice of you,” she finished, thinking about the compliment.
“What was nice of me?”
“To give me the compliment.”
The music ended and she wanted it to go on forever.
“Ladies, line up for the next dance,” Mayor Park announced. “Gentlemen, get ready. We’re off to a fine start! Over five hundred dollars in gold, plus some fine gold watches.”
“Thank you, Major O’Brien,” Sophia said.
“Get back in line and we’ll dance one more.”
“No. You have too many pretty ladies waiting for you to ask them to dance. As difficult as it is, I’ll share you,” she said solemnly, and he grinned.
“I’ll be back and I expect to find you and to have another dance.”
She nodded and moved away, sitting down in a chair near a cluster of matrons. She watched Major O’Brien ask Hannah Lou to dance. In minutes Will Stanton was in front of her.
“Sophia, I’d be honored if you would dance with me.”
“Will, how nice,” she said, surprised and standing. “Do you feel like dancing?”
“Only for a few minutes and then I have to get off my leg. But I want to dance. I saw you with Caleb.”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever danced in my life, so I’m not very good at it.”
“Well, we’ll be evenly matched, because I can barely hobble around,” he said, placing his hand on her waist and taking her other hand in his.
She looked at his feet to concentrate on following him, but in minutes she realized he was the one having difficulty keeping in step.
“You dance divinely,” he said. “And I’m glad you’re here tonight. Mama said it’s high time you join the rest of Memphis at a party.”
“Will Stanton, I think you should stop this and sit down.”
He smiled and headed toward the edge of the dance floor. “I agree. My leg feels like it’s on fire, but I’m so thankful to have two legs and two feet that I just had to get out here and dance even for only a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Will, for asking me to dance,” she said, pleased, realizing she didn’t feel the same disturbing reaction to dancing with Will or talking to him as she did with Major O’Brien. She watched him waltz past with Hannah Lou whose eyes were sparkling. He laughed at something she was saying, and he looked handsome, debonair. Papa would never approve of him. Not ever in the next hundred years. Nor would John or Morris or Amos. For that matter, she didn’t approve of him. He smoked and gambled and swore and was rough and wild and sometimes quite ungentlemanly. Yet … She drew a deep breath. She would not think about his kisses.
“Do you mind if I sit with you? It may keep someone from asking you to dance,” Will said.
“Of course, I don’t mind! I’ll be happy to sit with you,” she said. “Want a chair to prop up your foot?”
“That would be nice.”
She pulled a straight-backed chair closer and lifted his foot to place it on the chair, and then she sat beside him.
“Tell me about that night in the barn,” Will said. “When I ask Caleb, he says he doesn’t remember.”
She related all she remembered, leaving out that she had slept beneath the same blanket with Major O’Brien. The music ended and Mayor Park called for the women and men to line up for the next dance, reminding them that in a few more dances, they would be treated with a song from Miss Henrietta Claypool.
People applauded and then left the dance floor to line up again.
She saw Major O’Brien dancing with Eunice Mott who was smiling up at him, no doubt flirting with him.
“Miss Merrick.” A tall, brown-haired officer wearing rimless spectacles faced her.
Startled, she looked up. “I asked someone your name. I’m Lieutenant Oakley. May I have this dance?”
She glanced at Will. “Go ahead, Sophia.”
“Yes,” she answered, still surprised, suddenly uncertain again about her dancing, yet biting back the fact that she didn’t know how.
“I’m from East Tennessee, ma’am. Up in the mountains. I fought at the battle near Shiloh and was wounded and I’m just getting well.”
“So many are here tonight who were wounded in that battle and are recovering. I know you want to go home.”
He placed his hand on her waist and took her other hand in his and she made an effort to follow him, but in moments she was moving with ease and realized Lieutenant Oakley wasn’t as expert at dancing as Will and Major O’Brien.
“I’ve never seen so many beautiful ladies in my life as here in Memphis,” he said, and she smiled. “And that includes you, Miss Merrick.”
“Thank you,” she said, thinking he was unaccountably polite. Her plain muslin dress couldn’t be described as beautiful in a room filled with ladies in silks and satins. “Have you ever been away from home before?”
He grinned and shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“You’re a lieutenant. That’s a high rank for a man from the mountains who hasn’t been away from home before and is so far away now.”
“I got my officer’s rank because of my shooting. That’s one thing you learn at home. I’ve heard about you, Miss Merrick. All the men are talking about how you wore a Yankee uniform and rode into that battle and brought five wounded men back to the hospital in Memphis.”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, Lieutenant. I only brought two men back to Memphis and one of them helped me with the other.”
“Five or two men, what you did was brave. I admire that, Miss Merrick. I like a person with grit.”
She danced with him, talking to him about his home and family, noticing that she couldn’t spot Major O’Brien and then she saw him coming through the door to the outside with Eunice Mott. Her lips were red and she gazed up at him with a look that was adoring. He had kissed Eunice. Sophia felt annoyed with him and then with herself. She didn’t care who he kissed or what he did. He didn’t care that he had kissed her. She was so inexperienced where men were concerned. No doubt he hadn’t enjoyed kissing her. She shifted her attention to Lieutenant Oakley, giving him a broad smile. Concentrate on what Lieutenant Oakley is saying. Forget Major O’Brien, she told herself. He can kiss anyone he pleases. It doesn’t matter. Lieutenant Oakley was smiling at her, his brown eyes friendly above narrow cheeks covered with a smattering of freckles.
“Thank you, Miss Merrick, for the dance,” he said as he left her beside Will.
“How I wish my leg didn’t ache! Except I’m so thankful to still have two legs,” Will said. “I’m going to lose you again.”
“What—” She followed his gaze and looked up at another soldier. He had black hair and blue eyes and reminded her of her older brother.
“Miss Merrick,” Private Gates said, his face flushing, “I don’t know how to dance and if you want to go back and sit down so you can dance with someone else—”
“Of course, not. I’ll show you,” she said, biting back a smile. “You follow my steps and we’ll step in time to the music; just do these four steps and repeat them. Look now. One, two, three, four.”
He followed, stumbling and slowly getting it, looking up and smiling broadly. “Thank you so much! I watched you, ma’am, and you looked like you’d be nice. I was afraid some of the ladies would laugh at me.”
“No one would do that,” she said.
“Oh, my. Sorry,” he said as he stumbled and stepped on her toe. For the first time she saw the bandage sticking slightly above the collar of his coat. Was every soldier there wounded? She glanced around the dance floor for Caleb and couldn’t find him, but when she turned and looked toward Will Stanton, the major was seated next to him, arms folded across his chest. He was talking, Will turned toward him, but as his gaze met hers, the contact was as tangible as a touch. She turned to look up at Private Gates. “Where are you from? Not Memphis.”
“No, ma’am. I’m from Chattanooga. I’ve never been away from home before and I’ve never been to a dance before. For that matter, I’ve never been in a hospital before, but I have now. Or a war.”
“I wish all of you could go home. I hope it doesn’t last long.”
“Do you have men in the war?”
“Yes. My three brothers are in the East fighting with Lee and Jackson.”
“I hope they get home soon. Miss Merrick, I heard you saved six men from the Shiloh battle.”
She laughed. “Each time I hear about that night, the number of men I saved grows. It was only two.”
“Well, it’s still an amazing thing you did. I wish I’d found you. I had to ride the train with all the wounded men and it was pure he—. Sorry. It was bad.”
“Tonight is the first dance I’ve attended, too, Private.”
“Pshaw, ma’am. You’re saying that to make me feel good. But it’s nice of you. All the ladies in Memphis are nice. And they’re the prettiest women. Makes me homesick. There are some pretty women in Chattanooga, too.”
“Did you leave a sweetheart behind?”
“No, ma’am. But when I go home, I’m going to get me one and if I survive this war, I’m getting married and start my farm.”
They danced and when the music ended, he led her back to the sidelines where another officer stepped to her side. “Miss Merrick?”
She looked up at a tall, dashing officer in the newest uniform in the room. Brass buttons gleamed against a gray uniform with gold braid and gold stars on his standing collar. “Good evening, Private,” he said. “I’m claiming the next dance with Miss Merrick.”
“Thank you, Private Gates,” she said, smiling at him and turning to the major.
“I’m Major Tischler. May I have this dance?”
“Of course,” she said, amazed, a fluttery feeling coming as she gazed up at the blond officer who looked as commanding as Major O’Brien. In minutes they were dancing and she realized that Major Tischler was an excellent dancer and the first man who seemed to have escaped being wounded. “Were you in the battle near Shiloh?” she asked.
“No. I’m just passing through Memphis to catch up with General Beauregard. I’ve been transferred to his command. Now I wish I were staying longer in Memphis.”
“I wish you could,” she said.
“Everyone is talking about you and your daring rescue of six men.”
She laughed again, looking up at him. “Only two, Major. The story grows.”
He grinned and they spun around. His long legs stretched out and she enjoyed herself, delighting in dancing, feeling air rush against her, loving every moment until the music finally stopped.
She looked up at him and laughed. “That was fun, Major.”
“The pleasure was all mine. May I call before I leave town, Miss Merrick?”
“Of course,” she said as she walked beside him.
“I think that’s our last dance until the singing is over,” he said.
“And I need to return to my seat. I was with Captain Stanton and Major O’Brien.”
Major Tischler led her to her seat and turned away as Major O’Brien stood up and gave her his chair, pulling another one up next to hers.
“You look as if you’re having a good time,” Major O’Brien said quietly.
“I agree with you that dancing is fun.”
“Will and I are having a discussion about the city.”
“Caleb already knows everyone in town,” Will said.
“I’ve learned how much Memphis has s
upported the railroads. Will just told me that the state of Tennessee, after urging by Memphians, endorsed a three hundred and fifty thousand dollar bond issue to finance the Memphis and Louisiana Railroad.”
“They backed the Memphis and Charleston with five hundred thousand,” Will added. “This is a railroad city. They hoped to get the route to the West Coast.”
“I know how the city has supported the railroads. But look how many saloons have opened since some of the railroads have come into town,” she said. “And I know, Major, you think that’s just dandy. You’re as happy with the saloons as you are with the railroads.”
Cutting into conversations, Mayor Park rapped a gavel for attention and the room quieted.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed the dances. Tonight has been good for all of us and for the Confederacy. So far this evening we’ve raised over two thousand dollars.”
Everyone applauded while soldiers cheered the news and one of the councilmen waved a fistful of gold in the air.
“Now a special moment for all of us. Miss Henrietta Claypool will sing for us.”
With her golden curls piled high on her head, ringlets curling on the back of her neck, Miss Claypool held her pink satin skirt and stepped forward. When the applause died, she began to sing. As Sophia listened and watched her, she looked down at the emerald necklace, the deep green catching the light. She touched it, picking it up. The silver felt warm from lying against her. She held it in her hand and gazed at the emerald. She turned her head to meet Major O’Brien’s cool green-eyed gaze. What was he thinking while he studied her?
They applauded and then Henrietta Claypool held out both hands. “If all of you will join me,” she said, and the musicians began the stirring notes of “Dixie.” Everyone who could stand came to his feet. Sophia sang, hearing Will’s tenor and Major O’Brien’s baritone, glancing at them to see tears in Will’s eyes and a solemn expression on the major’s face. The musicians went from that to “When This Cruel War Is Over,” and she noticed several soldiers wiping their eyes.