Fare Thee Well, Part Two

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

Adam leaned up against the stone fireplace of the living room and allowed his eyes to rest on Charlotte and Little Joe. They were seated together on the settee. He smiled at Charlotte’s excitement as Joe began to unwrap the gift she had brought over for him.

Joe laughed as brown wrapping fell to the floor. "It’s a map of New Orleans!" he exclaimed. "Framed and everything. Look! It’s beautiful."

"Here," said Charlotte, "this is Rampart Street. That’s where both your mother and I were born. Your Aunt Thérèse still lives there. And Congo Square is right across from it. And this is where…"

She continued pointing out landmarks—some famous, some that had only familial significance.

Joe grew wistful. "I’ve got to go there," he sighed.

Pa raised his eyebrows at him. "Best wait till after the war," he advised.

Charlotte nodded. "Let’s just hope those wretched Yankees don’t ruin it by then."

Adam cringed as the room fell silent. Pa and Hoss were looking in shock at Charlotte. He should have told them in advance that New Orleans’s gens de couleur libres—the free people of color—were largely loyal to the Confederacy.

But Little Joe, he noticed, was delighted by Charlotte’s opinion. Well, that figured.

"Miss Charlotte, you—you don’t like the Yankees?" Hoss managed.

Charlotte glanced over at him, surprised by the question. But she gave him a charming smile. "Well, I make an exception for these two," she said, indicating Adam and his father, "but I’m not partial to the rest."

Hoss furrowed his brow. "But you’re—you’re—" he paused, too embarrassed to bring up her race. "I mean, you don’t approve of slavery, do you?"

"The war’s not about slavery," she said reasonably. "It’s about the right of a state to secede from the Union."

Little Joe laughed. "Amen," he said. "I keep trying to explain that to older brother here."

Adam sighed as Charlotte glanced his way. Her eyes were dancing at him, daring him to take up the gauntlet.

He smiled, unable to resist her bait.

"The war is over slavery," he said. "The South wouldn’t have a reason to secede without it. They want to keep their ‘peculiar institution’ for another hundred years."

"Lincoln said that he just wants to preserve the Union," Charlotte pointed out.

"I know," Adam replied. "I’m sure he’d prefer some form of gradual emancipation, but he’ll have to free the slaves outright—if only to keep England from siding with the Confederacy."

"And to satisfy the abolitionists in his own party," Pa added.

"Well, not to be selfish, but we gens de couleur are already free," Charlotte said. "I don’t see how the Yankees can help us. They’re more likely to destroy our way of life with their occupation."

Adam shook his head. "If the Union wins this war, even the free blacks will benefit."

"How?" she demanded.

"To begin with, they’ll gain the right to vote," he answered.

Charlotte folded her arms across her chest and inclined her head at him. "Is that so?" she asked.

He nodded. "The Federal troops aren’t going to keep fighting just to preserve the Union," he said. "Freedom—and subsequently, equal rights—is the only thing that will make this war worth while."

Charlotte’s eyes were sparkling now. "Tell me this, Adam. Is Mr. Lincoln going to give me the right to vote?"

Adam stared at her. He was well aware that his family was struggling to bite back their laughter. And he didn’t blame them—he should have seen this trap coming.

"No," he admitted with a reluctant grin. "The right for women to vote is another question entirely."

Charlotte sighed. "And one that no men would go to war for. Oh well," she said with a careless shrug. "C’est la vie."

Little Joe regarded her curiously. "Do you want the right to vote?"

She shook her head. "No. Only bad women want that—like that wicked Mary Wollstonecraft. I got hold of one of her books once, but my mother burned it after she found out what that woman said about marriage."

She paused and gave Adam a sly glance. "I mean to be a model wife and let all my opinions be guided by my husband."

Adam grinned. "Except for your opinion on the Confederacy."

"Except for that," she agreed with a wink.

Everyone laughed and all the tension in the room evaporated. Joe even leaned over and gave Charlotte a kiss on the cheek.

"I think you’ll find a few more exceptions once you marry him," he told her.

Adam watched as they turned back to the map. His little brother was right, of course—but he smiled anyway.

LINK TO PART THREE