The General and the Widow

Working from before dawn to just past sunset on every job was required of a good commander of nearly 3,000 worn out, unruly soldiers and all the accompanying equipment and stock of an army cavalry command. Drills, instruction, inspections, medical attention, supplies and getting his troops and their 4,100 mounts, mules and horses taken care of had been a fourteen hour-a-day hands-on job. The job was not complete, but he'd accomplished much. He'd had found his second wind, cleaned himself up and his uniform was as neat and squared away as it had been at the Point.

Mrs. Daniella Ellen Jones Sherrod was a twenty-two year old widow. She'd buried her husband, Benjamin Sherrod, three years ago - he was 24, she 19 - and her month old daughter, Ella shortly after that. Her little boy, three-year-old, Richard Jones Sherrod, ruled the manor.

"Miss Daniella and General Joe were really a matched team," Major Stevenson had thought when he saw them together for the first time walking in Caladonia's garden a week ago. Watching them a few seconds, he noticed that they talked easily to one another, she doing most of the talking. They smiled a lot and were amazingly similar in stature and coloration. She was 5' 3" tall, he 5' 5". She weighed maybe 90 pounds. Both had fair complexions with dark hair. She had a few freckles and an easy smile which complimented her dark blue eyes. Her hair was a rich brown and his was prematurely thin and nearly black.