Devotion: A novel based on the life of Winnie Davis, Daughter of the Confederacy

Margaret Connelly

Margaret฀Connelly september฀15,฀1898 Having฀been฀in฀domestic฀service฀since฀I฀was฀fifteen—over฀half฀ my฀lifetime—I฀could฀tell฀tales฀that฀would฀raise฀an฀eyebrow฀or฀ cause฀a฀gasp,฀but฀I฀don’t฀have฀the฀urge฀to฀prattle฀about฀people฀I฀ have฀worked฀for฀and฀come฀to฀know฀as฀well฀as฀I฀do฀my฀own฀family .฀Most฀of฀them,฀including฀my฀current฀mistress,฀Mrs.฀Jefferson฀ Davis,฀have฀been฀kind฀and฀considerate.฀So฀I฀say฀at฀the฀outset,฀in฀ the฀event฀this฀rumination฀is฀ever฀read฀by฀anyone฀else,฀that฀I฀am฀ writing฀in฀this฀diary฀for฀one฀purpose฀only—so฀that฀I฀might฀revisit฀ these฀observations฀when฀and฀if฀I฀have฀acquired฀the฀wisdom฀of฀ advanced฀age,฀should฀I฀be฀so฀lucky. Mrs.฀Davis฀and฀her฀daughter฀Winnie฀had฀only฀been฀in฀New฀ York฀City฀for฀about฀three฀years฀when฀I฀started฀to฀work฀for฀them,฀ but฀their฀crisp฀way฀of฀speaking฀sounded฀as฀if฀they’d฀never฀lived฀ anywhere฀else.฀When฀I฀felt฀at฀ease฀enough฀with฀Winnie฀to฀mention ฀that฀fact,฀she฀explained฀that฀her฀mother฀had฀grown฀up฀in฀ Mississippi,฀attended฀a฀school฀in฀Pennsylvania,฀and฀also฀had฀lived฀ in฀Washington,฀D.C.฀And฀she฀herself฀had฀spent฀a฀good฀part฀of฀ her฀life฀outside฀the฀South.฀She฀said,฀“Neither฀of฀us฀is฀of฀a฀regional฀ mind-set,฀although฀there฀are฀those฀who฀expect฀us฀to฀be.”฀I฀didn’t฀ 88 devotion฀ catch฀the฀drift฀then฀of฀what฀she฀meant,฀but฀the฀words฀have฀stayed฀ with฀me.฀One฀of฀the฀things฀I฀admire฀most฀about฀Winnie฀Davis฀ is฀that฀she฀doesn’t฀talk฀down฀to฀me.฀I฀call฀her฀Miss,฀but฀in฀my฀ thoughts,฀I฀call฀her฀Winnie,฀the฀name฀she฀goes฀by. Having฀just฀said฀Winnie’s฀mother฀is฀kind฀and฀considerate,฀I฀will฀ add฀that฀Mrs.฀Davis฀is฀a฀mixture฀of฀haughty฀and฀down-to-earth.฀ Some฀of฀the฀time,฀it’s฀as฀if฀she’s฀reminding฀herself฀and฀me฀that฀ we฀have฀to฀observe฀the฀difference฀in฀our฀stations.฀When฀Winnie฀ is฀away฀on฀a฀trip฀or฀in฀one฀of฀her฀moods฀where฀she฀won’t฀talk฀to฀ her฀mother,฀or฀as฀she฀has฀been฀these฀past฀weeks,฀really฀low-sick,฀ Mrs.฀Davis฀gets฀all฀friendly฀with฀me. I฀was฀not฀supposed฀to฀be฀here.฀She฀had฀explained฀that฀she฀ couldn’t฀afford฀to฀bring฀me฀on฀vacation฀with฀them฀and฀had฀lined฀ up฀summer฀employment฀for฀me฀in฀the฀city.฀Then฀as฀I฀was฀about฀ to฀end฀that฀service฀and฀go฀to฀Boston฀to฀see฀my฀family,฀Mrs.฀Davis฀ called฀for฀me฀to฀come฀to฀Narragansett฀Pier฀to฀help฀with฀her฀ailing฀ daughter.฀She฀could฀have฀engaged฀hotel฀maids฀who฀would฀like฀ to฀pick฀up฀extra฀wages฀during฀their฀off฀time,฀but฀she฀wanted฀me฀ because฀I฀am฀used฀to฀the฀“routine.”฀I฀expected฀Winnie฀to฀be฀in฀ one฀of฀her฀moods฀where฀she฀takes฀to฀her฀room฀and฀doesn’t฀leave฀ it฀for฀days.฀At฀such฀times,฀she’s฀not฀that฀much฀of฀a฀care;฀mainly,฀ she฀wants฀to฀be฀left฀alone.฀This฀time,฀though,฀I฀could฀see฀right฀ off฀it฀was฀more฀than฀one฀of฀her฀dark฀spells.฀Soon฀after฀I฀arrived,฀ I฀overheard฀Mrs.฀Davis฀tell฀Mrs.฀Pulitzer฀that฀Winnie฀was฀sicker฀ than฀anybody฀she’d฀ever฀seen฀not฀to฀be฀dying. Mrs.฀Pulitzer฀got฀a฀city฀doctor฀involved฀that฀same฀day,฀but฀even฀ he฀has฀not฀been฀able฀to฀turn฀things฀around.฀Mrs.฀Davis฀sent฀me฀to฀ the฀village฀pharmacy฀yesterday฀for฀Dulcet’s฀Tonic,฀which฀was฀the฀ only฀thing฀she฀could฀think฀of฀that฀hadn’t฀been฀tried฀on฀Winnie.฀ It’s฀hard฀on฀her฀to฀watch฀her฀daughter฀fade฀in฀and฀out,฀as฀though฀ margaret฀connelly฀ 89 reality฀is฀a฀room฀with฀doors,฀so฀Mrs.฀Davis฀has฀had฀me฀doing฀most฀ of฀the฀watching.฀At฀first,฀I฀was฀uneasy฀sitting฀by฀the฀bedside฀with฀ Winnie฀lying฀there฀like฀she’d฀already฀passed฀on฀or฀staring฀toward฀ the฀ceiling฀as฀though฀she฀saw฀things฀there฀that฀weren’t.฀Winnie฀ usually฀has฀a฀notebook฀handy,฀which฀she฀writes฀in฀when฀she฀feels฀ like฀propping฀up.฀Not฀when฀her฀mother’s฀around,฀though.฀When฀ she฀hears฀a฀tap฀on฀the฀door,฀she฀stashes฀the฀binder฀under฀the฀bedcovers .฀She฀has฀instructed฀me฀to฀place฀it฀beneath฀her฀bed,฀should฀ she฀doze฀off฀with฀it฀in฀her฀hands. After฀I฀had฀coaxed฀some฀coddled฀whites-of-egg...