Blessed are the Merciful (2 page)

As they lifted their skirts a bit and mounted the steps, the front door opened. A petite woman in her early twenties appeared. “Good mo’nin’, ladies. I’m Cleora, Miz Burke’s maid. She’s upstairs at the moment. Please, come in.”

Cleora led them into the large foyer and turned to them with outstretched hand. “May I take yo’ parasols?” She placed the parasols in a small container holding a couple of umbrellas and gestured toward an antique padded loveseat. “Please be seated, ladies. I’ll let Miz Burke know you is here.”

Wanda and Geraldine watched Cleora ascend the grand winding staircase, then let their eyes roam the richly tapestried walls and glistening hardwood floors adorned with thick oriental rugs. A crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling in the foyer, and various paintings decorated the walls.

The sound of voices came from the second floor, and a moment later Cleora descended the stairs. She told the two women that Mrs. Burke would be joining them in a moment, then vanished down the hall toward the rear of the house.

Within moments, Elizabeth Burke appeared at the top of the stairs, accompanied by another woman. Wanda and Geraldine rose
from the loveseat and waited as their hostess made her way down the staircase toward the foyer.

Elizabeth smiled as she approached her guests. “Wanda! Geraldine! I’m so glad you could come.” As she spoke, she reached for their hands.

“The pleasure is ours, Elizabeth,” Geraldine said.

Elizabeth turned to the woman standing slightly behind her and said, “Wanda Perkins, Geraldine Winkler, this is my sister, Judith Baxter. She’s visiting from Philadelphia.”

When the women had greeted each other, Elizabeth said, “Ladies, please follow me.” As they moved down the hall, Elizabeth said, “I’m very proud of the parlor. It’s my favorite room of the whole house. I suppose that’s because it’s the only room in the house that I designed when Gordon and I had the house built.”

When they entered the parlor, Wanda and Geraldine gasped in delight. The room was large, with an elegantly decorated fireplace. Various paintings hung on the walls, and the warm wood paneling and soft flowered wallpaper gave the parlor a mellow, welcoming ambiance.

Cleora came into the room bearing a tray and silver tea service. She set the tea tray on an antique coffee table surrounded by overstuffed chairs and couches.

“Elizabeth,” Geraldine said, “why, this is beautiful!”

“That’s an understatement!” Wanda said.

“I designed it for me to fit my needs. And it does just that. Well, I think it’s teatime.” Elizabeth gave her nod to Cleora, who stood quietly by the coffee table. Sunshine streamed through the many-paned windows, sending shafts of light off the silver tea set.

When everyone was seated, Cleora poured the tea into dainty china cups and distributed them to the four women. Geraldine asked Judith about her husband and family in Philadelphia. She soon learned that the Baxters were among the elite in that city.

In turn, Judith said, “Now I’d like to hear about you ladies and your families.”

When Wanda and Geraldine had given sufficient information to satisfy the curiosity of their hostess and her sister, Geraldine said to Elizabeth, “Wanda and I are aware that the Burke family owns Boston Clothiers. We would love to hear about the Burkes, and how it all got started.”

Elizabeth’s face tinted slightly. “I don’t want to bore you.”

“You won’t bore us,” Wanda said. “We’re genuinely interested.”

“But before you give us the history of the Burkes,” Geraldine said, “tell us about your husband and children.”

“Well, Gordon is in the Union Army, and we have three children. Adam is twelve, Laura is ten, and Evelyn is eight. Gordon’s only living blood relative is his older brother. Sidney and his wife, Darlene, live over on the south side of Beacon Hill.”

Elizabeth went on to explain that Gordon’s parents, Mitchell and Anna Burke, had come to America from England in 1822, where Mitchell had been in the clothing business with his father since graduating from Oxford University. Mitchell’s dream had long been to move to America and establish a clothing business. He started Boston Clothiers in downtown Boston, and with his experience in the business and his ambition to do well, Boston Clothiers was soon a success.

While Cleora poured more tea around, Wanda asked, “So when did Mitchell start branching out?”

“Well, let’s see … he opened a Boston Clothiers in New York City—Manhattan—in 1829.”

“That soon?”

“My husband’s father was one of those men who put himself into his business lock, stock, and barrel. He worked about seventy hours a week, Monday through Saturday. Within a year after opening the store in Manhattan, he opened one in Jersey City. Next was Cleveland; then Baltimore. By 1856, there were stores in Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco. Mitchell died a couple of years later, and since Sidney and Gordon were his only partners, the business became theirs. Thankfully, all eight stores are doing well.”

“So I’ve heard,” Geraldine said. “Are there plans to open more stores in other cities?”

“Yes, but Sidney wants to wait till the war is over and Gordon is home to shoulder the load with him.”

“Why is Sidney not with the Union Army?” Wanda asked. “Did he decide not to volunteer because of the business?”

“Not really. If Sidney could have joined up he would have found someone to run the business. But when the war came, Sidney couldn’t answer the call to duty because he lost a leg as a child, and the Union Army couldn’t use a man with a wooden leg.” Elizabeth smiled ruefully. “But with my Gordon, it was a different story. He’s always been somewhat of a rakish man. Don’t misunderstand me. He loves the children and me as much as it is in him to do so, but there was always a devil-may-care attitude about him. When the war started, he wanted to join up and do his part. But even more, his sense of adventure came to life inside him. According to Union politicians, the war would only last two or three months.

“I pleaded with Gordon not to go, but when I saw how much it meant to him to do his part, I finally gave in. I love my husband dearly and feel that the children and I have been blessed to have him as husband and father. Of course, bless his heart, he set it up with Sidney before he left that if anything happened to him, his half of the company would be mine. Sidney agreed wholeheartedly and even had it set up by the company’s lawyers.” Elizabeth let out a sigh. “The last time I laid eyes on Gordon was on May 31, 1861, when I stood with many other wives and watched the train pull out.”

“Why, that’s been almost four years!” Wanda said. “That would mean that your little Evelyn would’ve been …”

“She was only four.”

“Does she remember him?”

“Not much. But she’s heard so much about him from me and the other children that she talks about him as if she remembers him. Gordon was always kind and patient with the children, and the two older ones adore him. He wasn’t always able to spend a great deal of
time with them when he was involved in the business, so sometimes they had to love and admire him from afar.”

“Well, let’s hope this horrible war will be over soon,” Judith said. “Those precious children need their father.”

Elizabeth’s eyes misted over as she said softly, “And so do I.”

“You’ve had letters from him, I assume?” Wanda asked.

“Not many. It’s hard to get letters through the lines. I’m so proud of him. In two years, Gordon worked himself up from private to captain. And since making captain, he’s been serving under General William T. Sherman.”

Geraldine’s eyes got round. “Then he was in on Sherman’s march on Atlanta last year!”

“He was. Of course we read about Sherman’s army burning Atlanta, but I didn’t hear from Gordon until it was over, and he was back in Washington for a few days before heading back to the field.”

“Too bad he couldn’t have come home for a few days at that time, since he was as close as Washington,” Judith said.

“He wanted to. He said so in the next letter that came, but General Sherman received direct orders from President Lincoln to head back into another campaign, and they left Washington right away. I guess he won’t get home until—”

Elizabeth’s words were cut off by loud, jubilant shouts from the street. The women left their chairs and hurried to the window, parting the lace curtains.

“Can you tell what’s going on?” Judith asked, trying to get a glimpse out the window. Wanda and Geraldine crowded close behind her.

“They’re waving newspapers, and they seem awfully happy about something,” Elizabeth said. “Let’s go out and see.”

The women hurried through the parlor, and Cleora went ahead of them to open the door. The family gardener hurried toward Elizabeth, waving a newspaper. “Miss Elizabeth! Miss Elizabeth! It’s the morning edition of the
Boston Globe
! The war is over!”

“Let me see, Jason!”

The gardener handed her the paper, and the other women crowded close.

“Oh, this is wonderful!” Elizabeth cried, running a forefinger over the headlines and the article just beneath. “General Lee surrendered to General Grant in the town of Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, yesterday afternoon at three o’clock! There is no longer a Confederate Army! The Union soldiers are coming home!”

Elizabeth felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and embraced her sister. “Oh, Judith,” she said, breaking into tears, “he’s coming home! My Gordon’s coming home!”

Up and down the street neighbors joined together in their yards to celebrate the Union’s victory over the Confederacy.

Jason pointed out a paragraph near the bottom of the front page. President Lincoln was quoted as saying it would be many weeks, even as long as two months before all the Union soldiers would be back to their homes. Their families should be patient as they waited for their return.

Elizabeth thumbed tears from her cheeks. “Oh, Jason, it won’t be easy to wait for him to come home, but I can be patient!”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ll all be glad to have him back.”

Someone in the street shouted, “Hey, they must’ve let out school!” A group of children were running from the direction of the school, and they dashed inside their homes to join elated relatives and neighbors.

Little Evelyn Burke was left behind by her siblings when they turned into the yard and ran to their mother. Elizabeth folded them in her arms, holding them tight as Adam and Laura cried, “Mama, Papa’s coming home! Papa’s coming home!”

Little Evelyn bounded up the steps, rushed past Jason, and threw herself between her brother and sister, shouting that the war was over and Papa was coming home. Elizabeth made room for her and hugged all three children as they wept for joy.

A buggy turned up the street, its occupants waving joyfully at the people they passed.

“Oh, look, children!” Elizabeth said. “It’s Uncle Sidney and Aunt Darlene!”

The buggy turned into the wide circle drive, and Adam, Laura, and Evelyn ran to it. The five came back to the porch arm-in-arm, then Sidney and Darlene broke from the children and embraced Elizabeth in jubilation.

When emotions had settled some, Darlene said, “Liz, we’re going to have a big celebration dinner this evening. Before we left the house I told Maggie to cook up a banquet. Sid and I went to the office and invited our top executives and their families. Everybody’s so excited that Gordon is coming home! We’ll have to give Maggie till eight o’clock to have it ready. Is that all right with you?”

“Wh-why yes,” Elizabeth said.

Evelyn jumped up and down. “Oh, goody! We get to have a party at Aunt Darlene’s house tonight ’cause Papa’s coming home!”

It had been a long time since there had been an occasion for a celebration this big. The massive dining room table was resplendent with snowy white tablecloths and napkins. The silver was polished to a high sheen, and glowing candles cast a gleam over it all.

The table fairly groaned from the abundance of food. Succulent ham, golden-brown fried chicken, and tender roast beef were the main items, with sweet and creamy mashed potatoes, gravy, stewed tomatoes, corn, applesauce, biscuits, and fresh-baked savory bread.

There was much talk and laughter around the table that night. Even the smallest child had caught the feeling of elation, and spirits were high. Gordon Burke was coming home, and once again Boston Clothiers would have both of its top executives to lead the company.

When everybody at the table was filled almost to bursting, Sidney called toward the kitchen, and Maggie appeared. “Yessir, Mr. Sidney?”

Burke rose from his chair. “Maggie, dear, that was the most delicious meal I have ever eaten. Thank you for doing such a wonderful
job to make this celebration even more special!”

There was sudden applause all around the table.

A smile split Maggie’s dark face, and she gave a slight curtsy. “I hopes all of you saved some room fo’ dessert.” With that, she hurried back to the kitchen, and the guests laughed and agreed they would find room.

Moments later, Maggie reappeared, pushing a small cart that bore a four-layer chocolate cake with white frosting, a favorite of her “family.”

When everyone had been served their slice of cake, Sidney looked across the table at young Adam and said, “I can imagine how excited you must be, my boy. I know you and your papa used to do things together when he had time.”

“Yes, sir. I’m hoping that when Papa comes back he won’t be as busy with the company as he was before. I’d like to have more time for us to do ‘man’ things together.”

Sidney smiled. “Well, we’ve got a larger staff now, Adam. When your papa gets home and is ready to go back to work, I’ll talk to him about scheduling time for his son.”

Laura leaned toward her uncle. “How about making Papa schedule some ‘daughter’ time too, Uncle Sidney?”

“I’ll have to work on that too, honey,” said Sidney, reaching across the table and squeezing her hand.

“Me too, Uncle Sidney?” Evelyn asked.

“You too, darlin’,” he said, winking at her. “I’ll see that your papa has time for each of you.”