It sounded like good advice, so she went up to her room, got out a notebook, and began to write. When she finished, she was amazed to see that the side with Sally’s offer had the most pros. She’d have to think about it another day or two, but she liked the idea better and better.

She was about to close the drop-down flap of the secretary when she noticed the journal again. Still feeling like she was reading a friend’s personal diary, she opened it and turned the first two pages. This entry was dated May 1863:

I have no heart left to break. It’s all shattered into a million pieces that will never be put back together. I hate being under my brother’s thumb, and hearing him curse my son every day, but we have no choice. My niece treats Matilda like her own chambermaid, and Matilda rebels. There is so much tension in this place that I wish the Union soldiers would have shot me instead of William. I’d do it myself if it wasn’t for the fact that Matilda needs me. I’ve started taking in sewing for extra money, but Walter requires nearly all of it for our room and board. The rest I’m saving to go home when this miserable war ends. Maybe we can reclaim our home there, if there’s anything left.

Part of Lily wanted to read more, but the desperation in Ophelia’s words broke her heart again. Now that she’d started reading the journal, she intended to read it all, but she’d have to do it in small doses. She flipped over to the last page and was surprised to see her own mother’s handwriting.

“Good Lord,” she gasped as she realized that this wasn’t just a journal Vera had picked up at an estate sale. By her mother’s writing, it must mean that this was a history of her own.

Lily closed the book and put it back in the secretary, vowing that she’d read it more slowly now that she realized what she had in her possession. She thought about her ancestor, Ophelia, and the circumstances she was living in during the Civil War.

Lily had a home that had been left to her by her parents. She’d never had to worry about coming back to nothing like Ophelia did. Lily had two kids who’d disappointed her, but like Ophelia, she still loved them both—even if both of them had pulled some crazy stunts. A mother might not like her children at times, but she always loved them.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six