Free Legacy by James A. Michener Page A

tennis with the Wrightsons, and I appreciated the suggestion, because although I'm always too lazy to make such a decision myself, when Nancy arranges it, I accept. It helps keep the weight down, and on this tense day, the anxiety. Sam Wrightson was considerate, for although he is on the staff of the Washington Post, he did not pester me with questions about the rumours of my role in the Iran or Nicaragua affair. It was a lively game, interrupted most pleasantly at the end of the first set by the unexpected appear- ance of Zack McMaster, who apologized to the Wrightsons: 'I hoped I'd find these charac- ters here. Could I please speak to them for a momentT 'When legal eagles scream, we salute,' Wrightson said, and off they went to fetch some lemonade. 'Nothing important,' Zack told us. 'I'm afraid I've been a little uptight these last few days. May have made you nervous. No need. No need at all.' He accented these last two words quite heavily, then added: 'I'm meeting this afternoon with some
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    of the older men in our firm down. So you relax.' It was the kind of assurance I needed, and I remember our last set that day as some of the most enjoyable tennis we've had. Back home, after we'd showered, I told Nancy: 'We ought to do that more often,' and she exploded with laughter: 'Look who's talking more tennis, you lazy bum.' For lunch we had whole-wheat toast, a tangy cheddar cheese and big glasses of cold buttermilk, after which Nancy said she wanted to query me about one of my ancestors whom she did not care much for, because of his cavalier treatment of women, but whom I respected as one of the best. Whether she really wanted to know about the general or was merely trying to keep me dis- tracted, I'm not sure, but we did talk.
    . to nail things
    On no member of the Starr family did the Constitu- tion fall with a heavier hand than on Hugh Starr, for he found himself far ahead of its provisions and had to wait painfully till it caught up with ~im. It was in the summer of 1856, while serving as instructor at West Point, trim in appearance and sharp of mind, that he became personally aware that the Union was in real danger of flying apart. Two bodies of information reached him from two much different sources. First came a detailed let- ter from his older brother, who had remained at home in Virginia to operate the small holding known affectionately as the 'family plantation.' The brothers had inherited from their father, the Supreme Court judge, some eight hundred acres and thirteen slaves, and to tend the place effectively, they had acquired an additional six
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    slaves, and it was these nineteen that were caus- ing concern:
    Hugh, I'm perplexed by the damages the South suffers from its adherence to slavery. It brings us constant criticism from church groups and abolitionists, even though we can morally jus- tify our behaviour, because you and I know that we treat our slaves decently. But dispensing with the system would take a moral burden off our backs. More significant is the fact that some of the wisest men of northern Virginia and those who operate the best plantations and large farms have come to a striking conclusion. Counting the cost of everything we have to pro- vide a slave, clothing, medicine, food and a place to live, we would get a much better deal for ourselves by setting them free and hiring them back for a small cash wage. Think about this, I recommend it, and so do the others.
    When Hugh tried to reconcile such a, radical shift with his emotional support of his home state, he was always left with one stubborn idea: Slavery is the way we define the South. Virginia can't turn its back on slavery and remain Virginia, but my brother's right. Change is inescapable. Unable to resolve the dilemma, he could make no sensible reply to his brother's suggestion that the Starrs
    rid themselves of their burden: It may make sense economically but not in daily living. He would postpone his decision. But he was also required