Mr. Lee

“ I'm going to enjoy, thoroughly enjoy, my music lessons.
Mr. Lee called for me after the lesson. I told him I could find the way back to the boarding-house alone, but he said he'd consider it a pleasure and privilege to call for me. He has the nicest manners! He never needs to flounder around for the right thing to say, it just slips from his tongue like butter. Aunt Maria always says, "look out for them smooth apple-sass talkers," but I'm sure Mr. Lee is a gentleman and just the right kind for a country girl to know.
When he called at the studio this morning I felt proud to walk away with him. ”

“ We have grown to be great friends in an amazingly short time. Our music, our appreciation of each other's ability, has strengthened the bond between us. Mrs. Lee sends me many invitations for dinner and week-ends in her beautiful home, so that Mr. Lee and I are already well acquainted. He has asked me to call him Royal and if he might call me Phœbe. I've told him all about my life on the farm, my friends up there, and the plans and dreams of my heart. He likes to tease me and call me a little Quakeress, but I don't enjoy that for he does it in a way I don't like. ”

“ And Mr Lee dropped his pen, and came quickly down. Taking up his hat, he went hurriedly from the house. Rover was still lying upon the mat, with his head upon his paws and his eyes shut.
"Rover!" said his master, in a quick, excited voice, "where is Harry? Has he gone to the river? Away and see! quick!"
The dog must have understood every word, for he sprang eagerly to his feet, and rushed toward the river. Mr Lee followed as fast as he could run. When he reached the river bank, he saw his little boy in the water, with Rover dragging him toward the shore. ”

“ It was not a position to be sought after since it had been filled for thirteen years by the senior bishop of the Church, but Mr. Lee was the choice of his official brethren and so was elected. President Lee is a native of New Jersey. He is about the medium height, well knit, of light complexion, dark hair and beard of the same color that covers a face handsomely moulded. He is plainly a man of excellent traits of character; he is somewhat bald and has a finely-cut head, broad and massive. He moves quickly, and impresses one as a man who is armed with a large amount of executive tact. ”

“ The portals of military glory were now opened to Mr. Lee. He was appointed to the command of the militia of his native county and proved as competent to wield the sword and lead his men to action as he was to command an audience by his powerful eloquence. Defeated in the north the British made a rush upon the Southern States. Whenever they approached the neighbourhood under the charge of Mr. Lee they found his arrangements a little too precise for their convenience and abandoned their visits entirely. In 1780-1-2 he served in the Virginia legislature. ”

“ He was always more uncomfortable and serpentine than usual in the presence of strangers.
'Not at all.'
Lee said to himself, 'This is a millionaire; and I am an adventurer—Fortune is a mistress of irony.'
A smile peculiar to him, and childish in its unconcealed expression of pleasure, passed over his face. Then he said brusquely, but with perfect good humour, 'Do you think much, Mr. Dempster?'
'Think!' exclaimed Mr. Dempster, throwing his head back in a convolution which a burlesque actor would have paid highly to learn the trick of.
'Yes, think,' repeated Lee, with his happy, innocent smile. ”

“ I am always asked to play at friends' houses, and once or twice I have even been clapped, and perhaps made to feel rather conceited. But of course Mr. Lee is a much better judge than the common run of people, and it must be such a good thing to find out one's real level in anything one does. ”

“ About five o'clock, as I was strolling among the red-brick round-gabled outhouses—each with its armorial oak—and the old-fashioned spalliered kitchen and fruit garden, I saw Mrs. Oke standing, her hands full of York and Lancaster roses, upon the steps facing the stables. A groom was currycombing a horse, and outside the coach-house was Mr. Oke's little high-wheeled cart.
"Let us have a drive!" suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Oke, on seeing me. "Look what a beautiful evening—and look at that dear little cart! It is so long since I have driven, and I feel as if I must drive again. Come with me. ”

“ He told him he was a great farmer now, and when he was away, his father, who had now taken to the land, showed uncommon signs of management. Good-bye, my dear son. May you enjoy every happiness prays your affectionate father,
“R. E. Lee.
“Robert E. Lee, Jr.”
The completion of the railroad from the “White House” to “West Point” made communication between Fitzhugh and myself very easy. On February 11th, my father had become the proud and happy possessor of a grandson, which event gave him great joy. Mr. West, an architect of Richmond, had drawn me up plans and estimates for a house. ”

“ The 'brilliant coquette' with whom he could associate with safety has at least learned how to conceal her anguish. He shall yet find how fatal and poisonous is the hatred growing up like a upas-tree in the desert he has made. My acquaintance with Mr. Lee thrives. I [Pg 374] have become the intimate friend of his daughter, a tender nurse to his invalid wife. They are a singularly refined and intelligent family, so loving and true that I almost envy the simplicity which springs from so much goodness. In my friendship for his wife and daughter I find the surest means of interesting Mr. Lee. ”

“ I begin new man, Milwaukee. When they say, 'Have a drink,' I shake head. I go 'way off. My boy he stay school. My wife she have nice shawl!" He leaned forward with eager gaze. "I try hard!" he said simply.
Milly's gaze was non-committal.
"Why do you want to drink, Mr. Bergman?" she asked. "Why is it so hard for you to stop? Is it the taste of it you want?"
His eyes sought the corners of the room for answer, and his hand turned the old felt hat. ”

“ One day they saw a gentleman coming up the lawn, and wondered who he was. General Lee shook hands with him as though he knew him, and chatted for some time. He tried in vain to remember his name. In the meantime Rev. J. William Jones, whose month it was to lead the services in the chapel, came up and whispered to General Lee to introduce the strange clergyman to him, so that he might ask him to conduct the services in his place. But General Lee, with his own ready tact, said: “Mr. Jones, it is time for service; you had better go in the chapel.” ”

“ He was a very tall, very well-made, very good-looking young man, with a beautiful fair complexion, beautiful fair moustache, and beautifully fitting clothes; absolutely like a hundred other young men you can see any day in the Park, and absolutely uninteresting from the crown of his head to the tip of his boots. Mr. Oke, who had been a lieutenant in the Blues before his marriage, was evidently extremely uncomfortable on finding himself in a studio. ”

“ While overseeing the housecleaning Lee had obtained temporary surcease from her grief. She laughed softly at Phyllis’s remark, “Aren’t they big and crude and funny?”
“Helpless and clumsy as children. But just wait till I’ve had them a month.”
“Won’t it be a little difficult? They’re grown up; can’t be treated like babies.”
“Not a bit.” Lee laughed softly again. “If one of them misbehaves, I shall quietly draw the attention of another to it. Mr. Jake will correct Mr. Bull; and Mr. Sliver, Mr. Jake. If they were girls they’d see through it at once. Being men, they’ll feel quite perked up.” ”

“ Milly saw him passing through the rooms and up the stairs, and it came to her suddenly to question whether Mr. Mason was a much older man than she had supposed. The figure going up the stairs stooped a little, and moved uncertainly, as if with an effort. . . . And in the adjoining room, the wife, with the little look of contented abstraction that had come back to her face, sipped her coffee and trifled with the toast. She seemed a young woman—twenty years younger, at least, than the bent figure going up the stairs. ”

“ Lee’s last hours are approaching, and we are playing the comedy here in Richmond with an immense appearance of reality; dancing, and fiddling, and laughing on the surface of the volcano. I play my part among the rest. I risk my head more even, perhaps, than the military leaders. I take a philosophic view, however, of the present and future. If I am not hung, I will go to Canada; meanwhile, I smoke my cigar, colonel.”
And Mr. X——- lazily threw away his stump, and lit a fresh Havana. It is impossible to imagine any thing more careless than his attitude. ”

“ There is enough for us both. Do you suppose that I do not know?" She laughed a little bitterly. "You will see Mr. Adams to-day and make assignments. If you need to consult me, I shall be in my room."
Something in his face as she handed him back the check stayed her hand for a minute. It was like the look in the face of her oldest boy, Harold, once when she had misjudged him. She had never forgotten the look. The boy had worshipped her, and in trying to please her had blundered. ... She had never thought that the boy looked like his father. The children were not like him. ... ”

“ Her companion nodded. "It will be almost like old times!" she said softly. "A party on the terrace. . . . And there will be another guest—a friend of Stephen's who is coming out from town—a Mr. Sargent—Alan Sargent!"
She did not see the little start of surprise the other gave at the name. She was absorbed in her own emotion and thought and was moving toward her impulsively, her hands outstretched.
"I cannot tell you what your being here does for me!" she said quickly. "Even if we never find anything—even if we never know, you have helped me!"
"Oh, but we shall know!" said Milly confidently. ”

“ Lee is a great favorite with the men, deservedly so, and there are probably few persons to whose preaching they would have listened with so much complaisance. I have often been amused and pleased by Mr. L.'s manner of reproving them for the coarseness and profanity of expression which is so universal amongst them. The reproof, although decided, clear, and strong, is always [229] characterized by the mildness and affectionate manner peculiar to the man; and although the good effect of the advice may not be discernible, yet it is always treated with respect, and its utility acknowledged. ”

“ I don't like being worshipped," she said.
There was a sound outside. The old man turned his head.
"Mr. Martin—?" It was Ellen's voice, high and clear, in the hall. She appeared in the doorway, her elbows alert. "Fred Fitchly wants to see you—about the meadow," she said, shortly.
He smiled a tolerant, elderly smile and left the room. The girl did not look up from her flowers. "Ellen," she said, softly.
The woman half paused in the doorway, looking back. "Yes . . . m?"
"If Mr. Sedgwick should ask for me, I shall be in the upper room." ”

“ The distant figures hoeing against the plain were lost to sight. “Hallo!” said the service man quickly, “we must get on—” He looked again, shrewdly, toward the old man in the dusk. “You couldn’t find a drop of anything, handy—to give away—Jimmie?” he suggested.
The old man tottered a slow smile at him and moved toward the house. He came back with a long-necked bottle grasped tight, and a couple of glasses that he filled in the dimness.
The service man held up his glass with quick gesture—“Here’s to you, Jimmie!” he said, throwing back his head. “May you live long, and prosper!” ”

“ Lee, pacing the parlor alone, imagined to himself all sorts of arguments to satisfy his conscience that he was in the right. Yet, thought he, my little darling must be made happy; all young girls love trinkets and finery; I will take her out with me this morning, and she shall indulge every caprice of her pretty fancy; pretty in every thing else but fixing itself on that Mr. Lillburgh. ‘Pshaw! he shall not have her ”

“ The girls are always busy at something, but never ready. The Stuarts have arrived. Mrs. Julia is improving perceptibly. Love to all.
“R. E. Lee.”
The “Markie” referred to in each of the above letters was Martha Custis Williams, a great-niece of my grandfather, Mr. Custis, who had for many years lived at Arlington with her uncle. The “little children” were her motherless nieces, whom she had brought that summer to the mountains for their health. General Lee had been engaged for some time in bringing out a third edition of his father’s “Memoirs of the War of ‘76 in the Southern States.” ”

“ Old soldiers, citizens, men and women, all came without parade or ceremony. During this time he rode on Traveller daily, taking sometimes long trips—once I recall, going to his brother’s, Mr. Carter Lee’s, about twenty miles, and at another time to Bremo, about thirty miles. During the month of August he was visited by Judge Brockenborough, of Lexington, who, as Rector of the Board of Trustees of Washington College, tendered him, on behalf of the Board, the presidency of the college. ”

“ I hope they will come to good.
“With great affection,
“R. E. Lee.
“Mrs. R. E. Lee.”
From the following letters—all that I can find relating to this part of the journey—it appears that the travellers started for Virginia, stopping at Charleston, Wilmington, and Norfolk. Of their visit to Charleston I can find no record. He and Agnes stayed at the beautiful home of Mr. Bennet, who had two sons at the college, and a lovely daughter, Mary Bennet. I remember Agnes telling me of the beautiful flowers and other attentions lavished upon them. ”

“ But is a charm to melt a woman's eyes.
His Tragedy of Theodosius, or the Force of Love, is the only play of Lee's that at present keeps possession of the stage, an argument, in my opinion, not much in favour of our taste, that a Genius should be so neglected.
It is said, that Lee died in the night, in the streets, upon a frolic, and that his father never assisted him in his frequent and pressing necessity, which he was able to do. It appears that tho' Lee was a player, yet, for want of execution, he did not much succeed, though Mr. ”