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

Alfred Wilkinson

Alfred฀Wilkinson october฀17,฀1906 I฀have฀just฀read฀of฀the฀death฀of฀Mrs.฀Jefferson฀Davis.฀Spotting฀the฀ prominently฀featured฀obituary฀provided฀a฀moment฀of฀elation,฀as฀ though฀I฀had฀won฀a฀long-waged฀competition—but฀there฀was฀no฀ competition,฀and฀no฀winner. The฀last฀time฀I฀saw฀Mrs.฀Davis฀was฀at฀Winnie’s฀funeral฀in฀Richmond ,฀Virginia,฀and฀then฀from฀a฀considerable฀distance.฀Hoping฀ to฀be฀inconspicuous,฀I฀had฀sat฀on฀a฀back฀pew฀during฀the฀service฀ in฀ St.฀ Paul’s฀ Church฀ and฀ stood฀ well฀ apart฀ from฀ the฀ graveside฀ gathering.฀I฀would฀have฀liked฀to฀speak฀to฀Winnie’s฀sister,฀Mrs.฀ ฀ Addison฀Hayes,฀whom฀Winnie฀had฀referred฀to฀often฀and฀lovingly฀ ฀ as฀Maggie,฀but฀that฀lady฀stayed฀close฀to฀her฀mother,฀the฀person฀I฀ wished฀most฀to฀avoid.฀Over฀the฀next฀days,฀I฀debated฀with฀myself฀ about฀writing฀a฀note฀of฀condolence฀to฀Mrs.฀Hayes฀and฀finally฀decided ฀not฀to;฀since฀I฀had฀not฀really฀known฀her,฀and฀considering฀ the฀way฀my฀relationship฀with฀the฀family฀ended,฀the฀communication ฀might฀seem฀to฀her฀inappropriate.฀It฀occurred฀to฀me฀later฀that,฀ had฀I฀approached฀Maggie฀Hayes฀or฀observed฀her฀at฀closer฀range฀ that฀day,฀I฀likely฀would฀have฀noted฀mannerisms฀that฀reminded฀me฀ of฀Winnie.฀In฀photographs,฀they฀did฀not฀resemble฀each฀other;฀ alfred฀wilkinson฀ 177 the฀older฀daughter฀seemed฀to฀me฀to฀favor฀their฀mother,฀and฀Winnie ฀their฀father.฀When฀I฀received฀an฀engraved฀acknowledgment฀ for฀the฀floral฀wreath฀I฀had฀sent,฀I฀thought฀perhaps฀the฀envelope฀ had฀been฀addressed฀by฀Winnie’s฀sister,฀as฀the฀handwriting฀did฀not฀ appear฀to฀be฀that฀of฀their฀mother.฀Although฀I฀have฀long฀since฀ destroyed฀Mrs.฀Davis’s฀letters—which฀toward฀the฀end฀of฀our฀association ฀became฀quite฀infuriating,฀even฀insulting—I฀would฀still฀ recognize฀that฀bold,฀arrogant฀script. Those฀I฀recognized฀in฀the฀large฀gathering฀either฀pretended฀ not฀to฀see฀me฀or฀nodded฀in฀my฀direction฀and฀quickly฀averted฀ their฀attention,฀except฀for฀Kate฀Pulitzer,฀who,฀after฀the฀crowd฀ began฀to฀disperse,฀came฀straight฀to฀me฀and฀pressed฀her฀cheek฀ to฀mine.฀“Dearest฀Fred,”฀she฀murmured.฀“I฀am฀sure฀our฀darling฀ girl฀knows฀you฀are฀here.”฀I฀did฀not฀admit฀it฀then,฀but฀I฀concurred฀ with฀that฀conjecture;฀at฀one฀particular฀moment฀during฀the฀burial฀ service,฀I฀had฀such฀a฀strong฀sense฀of฀Winnie’s฀presence฀I฀wanted฀ to฀search฀for฀her. Kate฀had฀sent฀the฀message฀informing฀me฀of฀Winnie’s฀death฀ before฀it฀became฀general฀knowledge.฀Reading฀her฀gently฀worded฀ revelation,฀I฀had฀experienced฀a฀sense฀of฀release,฀which฀did฀not฀ last,฀of฀course.฀I฀will฀never฀be฀cut฀loose฀from฀Winnie.฀But฀over฀the฀ years,฀I฀have฀managed฀to฀rise฀above฀my฀hatred฀for฀the฀contentious ฀person฀who฀drove฀the฀wedge฀between฀us. ฀ As฀is฀her฀custom,฀Marion,฀the฀eldest฀of฀my฀three฀sisters฀who฀live฀ with฀me,฀arose฀early฀and฀perused฀the฀morning฀paper฀before฀putting ฀it฀neatly฀refolded฀at฀my฀place.฀She฀waited฀until฀I฀had฀served฀ myself฀from฀the฀sideboard฀before฀asking,฀“Do฀you฀plan฀to฀attend฀ this฀funeral฀too?” I฀knew฀what฀she฀meant฀by฀that฀“too.” 178 devotion฀ “No,”฀I฀replied. Josephine฀and฀Catherine,฀having฀already฀murmured฀“Good฀ morning,฀ Brother,”฀ in฀ tandem฀ according฀ to฀ their฀ birth฀ rank,฀ gazed฀at฀their฀congealing฀porridge,฀waiting฀for฀me฀to฀say฀grace฀ over฀it. “Good.”฀Marion฀would฀have฀said฀more,฀had฀I฀not฀silenced฀her฀ with฀a฀glance฀and฀proceeded฀with฀the฀blessing. ฀ I฀have฀been฀back฀to฀Hollywood฀Cemetery฀only฀once฀since฀Winnie ’s฀rites,฀and฀that฀was฀to฀see฀her฀monument,฀which฀had฀been฀ erected฀by฀an฀organization฀of฀Southern฀women฀who฀call฀themselves ฀the฀Daughters฀of฀the฀Confederacy.฀Presumably,฀they฀appropriated ฀the฀title฀from฀the฀singular฀version,฀which฀was฀conferred ฀on฀Winnie฀when฀she฀first฀began฀traveling฀with฀her฀father฀ to฀those฀Lost฀Cause฀circuses.฀Thus฀laureled,฀she฀became฀famous฀ not฀only฀in฀the฀formerly฀Confederate฀states฀but฀throughout฀the฀ country฀and฀abroad.฀My฀mother฀said,฀when฀I฀returned฀from฀Mississippi ฀and฀informed฀her฀that฀the฀engagement฀had฀been฀broken,฀ “Perhaps฀it’s฀for฀the฀best.฀You฀would฀not฀have฀liked฀living฀in฀that฀ garish฀sort฀of฀limelight.฀It฀borders฀on฀the฀notorious฀for฀a฀young฀ lady฀to฀be฀referred฀to฀familiarly฀by฀her฀first฀name—and฀a฀nickname ,฀at฀that—by฀masses฀of฀people฀she฀doesn’t฀know฀personally.฀ How฀could฀Mrs.฀Davis฀have฀allowed฀her฀daughter฀to฀assume฀such฀ a฀public฀role?”฀After฀a฀moment’s฀further฀reflection,฀she...