North and South: The North and South Trilogy by John Jakes

Author:John Jakes [Jakes, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781453263143
Amazon: B008DMUQVK
Publisher: Open Road
Published: 2012-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

30

THAT WINTER BRETT ACQUIRED another beau, though not entirely by her own choice.

Some sportive strain in Francis LaMotte’s family had produced a son much taller than his father and much better-looking than either parent. Forbes LaMotte had grown into a strapping six-footer with fair hair, a swaggering walk, and a disposition that inclined to indolence except when there were drinks to be downed, horses to be raced, or pretty girls to be pursued. Francis had hoped to see his son graduate from The Citadel, the state’s own version of West Point that had been established in 1842. But after one term at the Charleston military school, Forbes had been dismissed for academic deficiency.

Weary of low-class sluts too easily bedded, and not interested in Ashton Main, who secretly frightened him, Forbes took notice of Brett. In 1852 Brett would reach her fourteenth birthday. She was continuing to mature rapidly, filling out and gaining the poise that frequently accompanied young womanhood. With that poise went an awareness of her own powers of attraction.

Forbes rode to Mont Royal to ask permission to call on her. Normally he would have made the request of Tillet, but the health of the patriarch of the Main family had lately begun to suffer. He had trouble breathing and was bedridden much of the time. Orry had taken over virtually all family responsibilities.

Neighborhood gossip had revealed to Forbes that Brett received an occasional letter from that Pennsylvania boy who had visited the plantation last fall. Forbes didn’t consider Billy Hazard a threat. He was far away, and in the long run his temperament would never blend with that of a girl bred in the South. If Billy ever did turn into a serious rival, Forbes, who was bigger, would just bash him and scare him off.

Orry found Forbes less objectionable than some of the LaMottes but still didn’t like him very much. Nevertheless, he said yes to Forbes’s request. Permission to call was a far cry from permission to marry. Besides, he didn’t expect his sister to pay a great deal of attention to the courtship gifts Forbes immediately began to send or to be cordial when Forbes visited in person.

Brett surprised her brother. She had her reasons.

Even if she hadn’t known Billy, she would never have considered Forbes a serious suitor. Like most of the other LaMottes, he thought his own opinions were holy writ, and he angered easily when someone disagreed with any of them. When sober and in a good mood, however, he could be charming.

Brett couldn’t judge the seriousness of Billy’s intentions. There was always a long interval between his brief, awkwardly phrased letters, and she recognized the possibility that he might all at once take up with some Northern girl. By seeing Forbes now and then she hoped to cushion herself against possible disappointment; she liked Billy more than she cared to admit.

Forbes was five years older than Brett and three years younger than that pale toad Huntoon. There was no resemblance between

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