(This is part of a series of historical fiction letters relating what life was like during the Civil War. For an explanation of this series, please click here.)
From a Lady of the Evening (South):
Dear Evangeline,
Having been displaced by the war and my dear William shot
dead by the Yankee soldiers, I have no recourse but to follow the confederate
army as they fight for land that is rightfully ours, but which has been taken
by the dirty Yankees.
I have no other means of surviving and I pray to God that he
will forgive me my sins on the day of judgment for what I am forced to live
with in order to survive. I have made the acquaintance of several handsome
officers and have captured the eye of a general. He dresses me in fine clothes
and has given me money to send my dear little Emily to you. I shall come when I
have the means to do so, but in the time remaining, I fear I must stay here and
live the life I have reconciled myself to.
The general is a kind, jealous man, for which I am eternally
grateful, since he does not allow any other man to share my favors. I get paid
handsomely for not turning to other men for sources of income and for that I am
thankful, for I cannot imagine how I should live with myself after my part in
this mutant beast is finished – though I fear I will have a hard enough time of
it as it is.
My only prayer is that Emily should not be tainted by this
horror to which I am degraded to. I pray she does not start to loathe me for
it, for it is for her I am doing such things.
I am shamed beyond all imagining at the fate to which I have
been put to and I can begin to understand the desperation that drives these
young women towards this fate. I pray you do not shun me for this decision,
dear sister.
Forever yours,
Georgia Buchanan
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