第 79 节
作者:
蝴蝶的出走 更新:2022-08-21 16:41 字数:1571
year before; and her brother had also escaped。 After the wedding
they returned to their farm in Tennessee; and Mrs。 Wingfield;
Annie; Vincent; and Lucy went back to the Orangery。
For the next three or four years times were very bard in Virginia;
and Mrs。 Wingfleld had to draw upon her savings to keep up the
house in its former state; while the great majority of the planters
were utterly ruined。
The negroes; however; for the most part remained steadily working
en the estate。 A few wandered away; but their places were easily
filled; for the majority of the freed slaves very soon discovered
that their lot was a far harder one than it had been before; and that
freedom so suddenly given was a curse rather than a blessing to
them。
Thus; while so many went down; the Wingfields weathered the
storm; and the step that had been taken in preparing their hands for
the general abolition of slavery was a complete success。
With the gradual return of prosperity to the South the prices of
produce improved; and ten years after the conclusion of the
rebellion the income of the Orangery。was nearly as large as it had
been previous to its outbreak。 Vincent; two years after the
conclusion of the struggle; took his wife over to visit his relations
in England; and; since the death of his mother in 1879; has every
year spent three or four months at home; and will not improbably
ere long sell his estates in Virginia and settle in England
altogether。
End