What
will you do with Miss Georgia?"
"You mean Mrs. Mohun, Surry!" he said, smiling.
"Yes."
"Well, she will be sent off--her father will take the whole family to
Petersburg in the morning, to avoid the battle which will probably take
place in this vicinity to-morrow."
"You are right. I predict a thundering fight here, in the morning."
"Which I hope I shall not balk in, my dear Surry," said Mohun, smiling.
"Is there any danger of that?"
"I really don't know. It is not good for a soldier to be too happy. It
makes him shrink from bullets, and raises visions of a young widow, in
mourning, bending over a tomb."
"Pshaw! stop that folly!" I said. "Is it possible that a stout-hearted
cavalier like General Mohun can indulge in such apprehensions--and at a
moment as happy as this?"
I saw him smile sadly, in the dim starlight. "I am much changed," he
said, gently; "I no longer risk my life recklessly--trying to throw it
away. Once, as you know, Surry, I was a poor outcast, and my conscience
was burdened with a terrible crime. Life was little to me, then, and I
would not have cared if a bullet cut it short. I was reckless,
desperate, and had no hope. Now, I have hope--and a great deal more
than all--I have happiness. My hands are not stained with the blood of
that man and woman--I have the love of a pure girl who is going to give
her life to me--and I have prayed to God for pardon, and been pardoned,
I feel--else that All-merciful Being would not make my poor life bright
again! But let me stop this talk! A strange conversation for a wedding
night! Let me say again, however, my dear Surry, that I have no
enmities now.
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