The Visitor - The Bell Tower 1873 - 1875

by Barbara Svetlick

  It was a late night with a lot of whiskey and loose women but the first round of poker wasn’t scheduled until after lunch when the table assignments would be drawn. Garnett lay in the dark bed as the woman went through his pockets looking for something. He had paid her ahead of time so either she had no sense at all or she had other intentions. You never rob a man when you can’t escape into the night and last he checked very few were capable of surviving going overboard in the Mississippi. She bumped into the table almost knocking over the lamp and swiftly reached for it as Garnett smiled.

  “Are you alright?”

  She turned to the bed. “I was looking for the loo but I can’t see well in the dark.”

  “You can leave.”

  “Are you sure? I mean you paid for all night.”

  “Yeah. I need my sleep if I am going to play tomorrow.”

  The woman walked over and quickly dressed letting herself out of the suite as Garnett reached over and picked up his cigar before looking for his jeans. His body moved with such agility despite the fact that he was thirty-five years old and it hadn’t been what you would call an easy thirty-five years. Garnett slipped on his jeans; made sure the door was locked and watched as the riverbanks slowly rolled by under a bright moon and clear sky.

  The last time Garnett had been on a paddlewheel was before they were designed for comfort or opulence but they were a relaxing way to travel up and down the Mississippi. He could see the newspaper as though it was in front of him.

  “April 1860 – The Natchez IV sunk after colliding with another boat with a loss of twenty-three passengers many from our fair city.”

  Garnett’s house in Vicksburg was designed and built by his father right after he married Garnett’s mother. Vicksburg was a vital trade center on the Mississippi that supplied much of the northern part of Mississippi as well as the state capital. Garnett’s father owned a large mercantile store in the center of town and was also a deacon in the church. Their life was quiet and his father gave as much to the community as to his small family. The best memories he had of his mother was when she would sit down at the piano and play for hours but it was his father that taught him about life.

  After the wedding, Julie moved into his home but the small town offered her no entertainment and after a few months she convinced Garnett to purchase a small home near her parents. He didn’t mind since he spent enough time in New Orleans and wouldn’t have to endure her parents during the family visits. The longer his absences the more financially demanding she became and the harder it was to think the marriage would work but the more successful his law practice became. Garnett finally hired a housekeeper for his Vicksburg home and set up his father’s library as his law office and had the entire house renovated and redecorated. He didn’t know what he thought would happen with Julie.

  Every time Garnett approached her regarding whether or not she wished to remain married to him, Julie would break down into tears and take to her beds until he gave up. Her enthusiasm to please him waned soon after the wedding. They were no longer sharing a bedchamber but his habits with other women had never diminished so he didn’t demand she submit to him.

  Garnett was sitting at his desk looking at his court calendar which had a large criminal trial set for the end of the month. The defendant was a dock worker who had purportedly been caught in bed with a young girl. Her father had attacked him with a meat cleaver that promptly chopped off two of his fingers causing him to lunge at the burly Irishman pushing him out the door against the loose railing and down into the alley where his head slammed against the brick wall knocking him unconscious. The father later died from what the doctor indicated was mass hemorrhaging of his brain which kept swelling despite attempts to drill holes to relieve the pressure. It would have been a classic case of self defense except the girl had just turned twelve and was considered slow. The butcher was a well liked member of the neighborhood and the dock workers were often transient and responsible for the growth of crimes along the waterways. Garnett packed up his files and decided to head to New Orleans to prepare for trial and attempt one last time to save his marriage.

  In passing through Natchez, Garnett decided to spend the night and look for his friends. The sheriff stepped off the walkway when he saw Garnett dismount in front of the tavern.

  “Hey stranger, what brings you to our neck of the woods?”

  “Just passing through and thought I would spend the night.”

  “Garnett.” Garnett turned as Dominic dismounted and walked around his horse. “I was hoping you would ride through. I’m heading down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Which way are you riding?”

  “South. I have a big trial at the end of the month plus I have personal matters to attend to.”

  “Well, I don’t understand the draw to marriage but I give you credit for thinking it offered something worth having.”

  Garnett laughed. “Have you heard from anyone?”

  “James indicated that he and Meeks would be passing through New Orleans for the festivities since New York has been bitter cold this winter but I think they are riding through the south rather than Mississippi.”

  “It’ll be good to have everyone together if just for a great festivity.”

  The ride to New Orleans brought back the days on the trail and both Dominic and Garnett enjoyed the fast pace and cool weather. They checked into the Waterford Hotel on the Pontchartrain bay and headed for the bar. Neither was surprised to see James and Meeks standing at the bar. They grabbed a table and caught up on the news of the fighting between the southern representatives in Congress and the staunch position of the north. No one even considered that anything would come of the fighting other than bad feelings and maybe a black eye or three.

  “You can’t travel through the south anymore without antagonizing someone. I think the feelings of the citizens are being understated and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the issues escalate.”

  Dominic agreed and asked if he had to keep Meeks from talking since he had the only classic northern accent of the four of them. They finally headed down to the wharf where the ale was cheap, the card games dangerous and the women were wild. After a week of just getting into trouble, they headed into New Orleans checking into a tavern along Canal Street.

  Meeks looked at Garnett as he signed the registry. “Aren’t you going home?”

  “Later. I have things to do but with Mardi Gras next week the hotel will fill up fast and I want to make sure I have somewhere to sleep other than my office.”

  “Expecting problems?”

  “Just making sure I have an escape route.”

  “Greatest statement for avoiding being tied down to a woman. Are you at least going to get children out of this arrangement?”

  “Nope.”

  Dominic said he had to visit his brothers and would be back after dinner. After three days, Garnett headed for the house and when he dismounted near the stable a young boy came out and nodded before taking his horse.

  “Brush him down.” The boy nodded again and tied him to the railing. Garnett walked into the house through the back entrance as the lady in the kitchen curtsied watching him pass through into the library. He unbuckled his holster and rolled it up putting it in his desk. The maid came in and asked if he would like anything.

  “Where’s my wife?”

  “I believe she went out with friends and was not expecting you to arrive today or she would have certainly been here to welcome you home.”

  Garnett didn’t know the staff well since he rarely spent time at the house but he could tell that they were all uncomfortable. He headed upstairs and stood in the doorway to Julie’s bedroom. It was obvious that a man didn’t live in the house. The furniture was very gilded with a lot of floral accents. Garnett opened the French doors and stepped onto the small balcony that overlooked the pristine gardens. In the center of the garden was a large stone fountain with a black cat sleeping on the edge and another one lying in the grass. He didn’t know why he wa
s there for everything seemed so foreign.

  He put his bag down in the back bedroom and cleaned up before heading downstairs. Garnett heard her voice before he came around the landing.

  Julie turned when she heard him handing her cape to the maid. She was always so perfectly coiffure with the most impeccable manners. “I wasn’t aware you were coming home.”

  “You asked me to be here for the festivities. Something about people wondering if you were actually married.” His tone hung in the air chilling her as she took in her breath.

  “You could have at least sent me a message as to your arrival.” Julie slowly removed her gloves and placed them on the silver tray near the door before taking off her bonnet. “I would have had the staff prepare your room.”

  “Then it is your desire to sleep apart even when in the same house?”

  “Until you decide that you want to settle down and become a part of my life, I think it is for the best.”

  Garnett walked into the parlor and poured a shot of whisky as she stood in the doorway. “Then I am afraid that you leave me no choice but to dissolve the marriage.” Julie started to protest when his look stopped her cold. “You knew when we married that my profession would involve a lot of travelling and that my home was in Vicksburg. I assume that you believed once we were wed that you could change my desire to practice law.”

  “I thought I could change your philandering. I am well aware you have been in the area for a few days with your friends.” Julie’s anger seemed to be right on the edge of her lips. “You think I don’t hear about the things you do and the shame you bring to me?”

  “I think you overstep the boundaries of a married woman and your sharp tongue merely is a reflection on your growing unhappiness.”

  “I will not give you a divorce.”

  Garnett drank the shot and walked up to Julie as she stepped back putting her hand against her heart as though she were going to faint. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up close. “Then you will submit to me when I seek out your company.”

  “I will not.”

  Garnett smiled. “Is there someone else who is crawling into your sheets while I am away?”

  Julie’s eyes reacted before her hand even thought about rising to slap him. He caught her hand and pulled her closer as her breathing changed. “You are a cruel man who cares about nothing other than your own satisfaction. I will never submit to you again.”

  “You think not?” Garnett pulled her up the stairs as she struggled to get free without causing a commotion in front of the help. He closed the door striping the coverlet off of her bed and threw her down. Julie attempted to escape as he tore off her new dress and took her with so much fervor that she gave into his lips then begged him to forgive her and move home.

  Garnett spent his days working on the case and visiting his client in jail. He was a very swarthy looking young man with one eye that was white from an accident when a rope broke free from the mooring and slashed his face. He would not invoke sympathy with any jury.

  Julie was very accommodating in her attempt to make him want to stay in New Orleans. They had dinner with her parents who were polite but disapproving of his profession of defending criminals. They attended several dances and Garnett was more than attentive to her but the warmth of their first few months was lacking. Dominic attended most of the same social events where James and Meeks preferring to find entertainment in less acceptable parlors.

  Dominic spoke to Garnett following several incidents where Dominic’s niece Suzanna attempted to engage Garnett and when unsuccessful attempted to break up the marriage by telling Julie that she was involved with Garnett. Suzanna ability to set up a man was really quite impressive but she was way out of her league. Garnett’s issue had more to do with Suzanna’s derailing his ability to get out of the marriage without a scandal or losing too much of his property. Suzanna became an extreme annoyance but in the social circle of New Orleans it was hard to politely ignore her advancements.

  The night of Mardi Gras Garnett dressed in a tuxedo and was waiting in the library as Julie came down dressed in a very colorful dress in satin. She was holding a red and gold mask that was encrusted with rhinestones that picked up the color of her dress. Her petticoats rustled as she moved and the dress hid any part of her except her tiny waist and large breasts which were held in place with a corset.

  Their open carriage was decorated in brilliant colors which would play off the gas lights as they made their way through the festivities. The floats became more and more exorbitant with each year but the majority of the citizens of New Orleans preferred to be on the street where the costumes were less proper and the liquor spilled out of the taverns into the streets. The men generally dressed similar because to blend into the crowd was preferable if your intentions were to step into the parlor of the wicked drug influenced debauchery before confessing your sins and giving up your well loved vices for Lent.

  James and Meeks stood out on the balcony and watched as the floats moved slowly up the avenue from the river followed by drunk and rowdy people. They spotted Garnett as he stepped out of the carriage and turned to help Julie step down. You could tell that she was reluctant to be on the street with the growing crowds but he ignored her as a man leaned into him and they exchanged something before he took her elbow working toward the hotel. Dominic finally made his way across the street and into a back alley before returning to their rooms overlooking the parade. Even though the best of the dances was held during Mardi Gras, all four of them loved being on the street where sex was not only abundant but more deviant than their wildest dreams.

  Julie had thrown such a tantrum when he told her he was going to the street parade that he promised her that they would attend the ball if she would first go to the parade. Julie stepped out onto the balcony glad to be above the fray of the streets. Garnett stopped in the room fixing them both a drink before dropping something into her glass. He walked out and handed her the glass of red wine as she took a seat in the iron chair next to the railing.

  “I don’t feel safe even up here above the street. How can you desire to mingle with these people? They are thieves and murders.” Julie held the mask in front of her face as James wondered if she was so proper that being on the street was an embarrassment.

  Meeks looked at Garnett then back at Julie. “I’m going to hit the street.”

  James was bending over talking to a group of underdressed women in outrageous masks and told Meeks he would join him. They stepped out of the hotel and stood on the stoop waiting for Garnett to come down. He finally appeared and they headed down the street.

  “What did you slip her?”

  “Something to make her less proper.”

  “Why did you even bring her down?”

  “She insisted when I told her I wouldn’t attend another dance where she slips away from me.”

  “Do you think she will fight you on the divorce?”

  “No, the report on her affair is quite explicit and very damaging.”

  Julie awoke from the fog as the room seemed to just spin. She grabbed the edge of the bed but it didn’t seem to help. As she stood, the man came up behind her caressing her with such a light touch that sent tingles through her entire body. He slowly undid the back of her dress and pulled it down as she tried to look at him. “Garnett?” He kissed her as he turned her to face him. When she reached up to take off his mask, someone encircled her wrists and brought them behind her back tying them with something soft and silky. “Where am I? Where is my husband?”

  The room was hot as she stepped out of her slips and her corset fell to the floor exposing her to the air. It felt delightful as he kissed her again while the other man removed her stockings and panties. The night was filled with the sounds of the revelry and the smells of the back alley. Julie gave into the feelings as her mind was swirling with visions of devils and gorgeous naked masked men mingled into the darkness of the swamp. The more she drank the stranger the night became and the more she en
joyed the night as she ran along the walkways above the water laughing as someone would catch her twirling her around before treating her to wonderful pleasures. Everything was heightened, everything felt breathtaking and the sex was beyond anything she had ever experienced.

  The night slowly faded into a fog filled morning as only a few people were still capable of standing for longer than a few steps. The street was littered with empty bottles, colorful masks that had been abandoned and unconscious bodies. Julie sat up slowly wiping the spittle off the corner of her mouth as she looked around while her room slowly came into focus. She laid back down and fell back to sleep.

  Garnett was sitting at the table with Dominic when she finally came down. She nodded to them as she sat down at the table and the maid inquired as to what she would like for lunch. Julie squinted at the brightness of the room before she asked for a cup of hot tea with toast.

  “Not feeling well this morning?”

  “I’m fine.” She sat back and looked at both of them when James and Meeks were brought in by the maid. They both sat down and said good morning to her.

  “Nice house Garnett.”

  “Julie picked it out but the location is good. What are your plans?”

  Meeks asked for a cup of coffee as James told Garnett that they were heading north to Natchez then up to Chicago before returning to New York. Dominic said he would ride north with them. Julie ignored them as they talked but she watched them intently as the night kept coming and going through her mind. It was like dancing in a graveyard with the damp fog caressing every inch of your body. She could feel the cold stone against her back as she wrapped around someone. Garnett was watching her closely.

  “Julie, I assume you enjoyed yourself last night?”

  “And exactly where were you?”

  “You don’t remember last night?”

  “I want to know what you did to me.”

  “Julie, I didn’t do anything that you didn’t ask me to do.”