He stopped. His eyes flashed as his words quickened.
"They are rushing with a fierce shout as one man. The North thinks that only a small part of the Southern people are in this revolution, misled by politicians. The truth is, the ma.s.ses are sweeping their leaders before them, as leaves driven by a storm. The cotton states are unanimous. Virginia has seceded. North Carolina and Tennessee will follow her to-morrow, and the South a Unit, the Union is divided."
The sister drew herself up with pride, and squarely faced him. She spoke with deliberation.
"Our families, Robert, from the beginning have stood for the glory of the Union. It is unthinkable that you should leave it. Such men as Edmund Ruffin--yes--the impulsive old firebrand has already volunteered as a private and gone to South Carolina. He pulled the lanyard that fired the first shot against Fort Sumter. We have nothing in common with such men--"
Lee lifted his hand in protest.
"Yes, we have, my dear. We are both sons of Virginia, our mother and the mother of this Republic."
"All the more reason why I"m begging to-day that you dedicate your genius, your soul and body to fight the men who would destroy the Union!"
Lee raised his eyes as if in prayer and drew a deep breath.
"There"s but one thing for me to decide, Annie--my duty."
His sister clasped her hands nervously and glanced about the room. Her eyes rested on the portraits of Washington, and his wife and she turned quickly.
"Your wife is the grand-daughter of Martha Washington. Can you look on that portrait of the father of this country, handed down to the mother of your children, and dare draw your sword to destroy his work?"
"I"ve tried to put him in my place and ask what he would do--"
He stopped suddenly.
"What would Washington do if he stood in my place to-day?"
"My dear brother!"
"Remember now that you are appealing to me as my sister. Did Washington allow the ties of blood to swerve him from his duty? His own mother was a loyal subject of the King of Great Britain and died so--"
"Washington led an army of patriots in a sacred cause," she interrupted.
"Surely. But he won his first victories as a soldier fighting the French, under the British flag. He denounced that flag, joined with the French and forced Cornwallis to surrender to the armies of France and the Colonies of America. He was equally right when he fought under the British flag against the French, and when he fought with Lafayette and Rochambeau and won our independence. Each time he fought for his rights under law. Each time with mind and conscience clear, he answered the call of duty. The man who does that is always right, my sister, no matter what flag flies above him!"
"Oh, Robert, there is but one flag--the flag of Washington, and your father, Henry Lee--"
The brother broke in quickly.
"And yet, the first blood in this conflict was drawn by a man who cursed that flag, who again and again defied its authority, and gloried in the fact that he had trampled it beneath his feet. The North has proclaimed him a Saint. Their soldiers are now marching on the South singing a song of glory to John Brown and all for which he stood. What would Washington do if he were living, and these men were marching to invade Virginia, put his home at Mount Vernon to the torch, and place pikes in the hands of his slaves--"
Lee searched his sister"s eyes and drove his question home.
"What would he do?"
The woman was too downright in her honesty to quibble or fence. She couldn"t answer. She flushed and hesitated.
"I don"t know--I don"t know. I only know," she hastened to add, "that he couldn"t be a traitor."
"Even so. Who is the traitor, my dear? The man who defies the Const.i.tution and the laws of the Union? Or the man who defends the law and the rights of his fathers under it?"
Again she couldn"t answer. She would not acknowledge defeat. She simply refused to face such a problem. It led the wrong way. With quick wit she changed her point of attack. She drew close and asked in pa.s.sionate tenderness:
"Have you counted the cost? The frightful cost which you and yours must pay if you dare defend Virginia?"
Lee nodded his head sorrowfully.
"On my knees, I"ve tried to reckon it." He looked longingly over the wide lawn that rolled in green splendor toward the river.
"I know that if I cast my lot with Virginia, this home, handed down to us from Washington, will be lost, and its fields trampled under the feet of hostile armies. That my wife and children may wander homeless, dependent on the charity or courtesy of friends. The thought of it tears my heart!"
His voice sank to a whisper. And then he lifted his head firmly.
"But I must not allow this to swerve me an inch from my duty--"
The sound of horses" hoofs again echoed on the roadway, as Ben entered from the dining room to announce breakfast.
Lee listened.
"See who that is, Ben."
"Ya.s.sah."
As Ben pa.s.sed out the door, Lee continued:
"I will not say one word to influence my three sons. I will not even write to them. They must fight this battle out alone, as I am fighting it out to-day."
His sister smiled wanly.
"Your sons will follow you, Robert. And so will thousands of the best men in Virginia. Your responsibility is terrible."
Ben announced from the door.
"Mr. Francis Preston Blair, ter see you, sir."
Lee waved the butler from the room.
"I"ll receive him, Ben. You can go."
"Thank G.o.d!" Mrs. Marshall breathed. "He"s the most influential man in Washington. He is in close touch with the President, and he is a Southerner--"
She looked at her brother pleadingly.
"You"ll give him the most careful hearing, Robert?"
"I don"t know the object of his visit, but I"ll gladly see him."
"He"s a staunch Union man. He can have but one object in coming!" she cried with elation.