The Grapes of Wrath; A Tale of North and South

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1901. Excerpt: ... XXI. IF Hannah's life had been full of excitement and change since they parted in Mulholland, Virginia, as well, had met with several tumultuous experiences while in Washington, for she had extracted as much pleasure out of the various situations induced by her beauty and coquetry as a visit of a few weeks would allow. Mr. Jared Manners lived in a large house, and was in the habit of giving a weekly reception. As his guests represented the heterogeneous element in attendance at the official gatherings of a senator, Virginia was in her element in watching the crowds who came and went, in vaunting the Confederacy, and in having her fling as often as possible at the society of the capital as it was then constituted. The triumph of the Union was such a foregone conclusion among Northerners by this time that many listened with good-natured indulgence to her remarks on the lamentable social changes in Washington. "The aristocratic Washington of the past has entirely disappeared," she was exclaiming one night to a group of young people, some of whom listened with frowns, while a few smiled at the extravagance of her denunciations. She was so fluent, so absorbed in the conviction that her view was bound to be the interesting one, so sure that still in the North, as in the South, there was a lofty deference for the South, its customs, its sufferings, its general superiority, that she rattled on, little dreaming that the patience of her hearers was born of generosity instead of acquiescence. "I am homesick for the South! I would rather be a Lazarus in the South than a Dives in the North. There is nothing to be seen in Washington these days but soldiers and the funerals of Yankees. Even dear, beautiful Arlington is turned into a camping-ground for Union soldiers---the very home itself of Gener...