Excerpt From The Pearl Letter To Me

She was not always a Northerner, but she had grown up on a plantation in Virginia with over 200 slaves. Her father farmed tobacco and cotton when she was little. When her mother died, she was raised by slaves and had always been particularly fond of them. Over the ten years in their company she had come to love and trust them, even more than she trusted her father. They had been honest and kind and gave freely what little they had. “Pearl,” she spoke after Mrs. Harper had gone, “I believe that I would like to prepare my wardrobe for Spring early this year. I’ll need six new dresses. I will pay you a lump sum after they are done. Now, that should take you a few months, so let’s take my measurements again as I have grown a bit over this dreadful winter.” Pearl took the mayor’s wife’s measurements and sketched out a few dress ideas before collecting the stack of books and paper that waited near the door. As she walked back across town and through the trail that led to her house she thought about what Sarah said about the

Pearl was reminded of Roosevelt, who had taught her to fish at an early age. She touched the letter in her pocket and blushed when her husband gazed upon her. How could she harbor feelings for another man, when her own husband was a kind and gentle soul? She felt a sense of guilt. She knew that Solomon had come to love her. She adored him for his honesty, strength and conviction; yet she loved Roosevelt for his hard-working and nurturing ways. She knew very well what trout, catfish and gasper were, these had been the many fish they grew up eating when they lived in the little doll house at Oak Haven Plantation. She thought of the late nights when she and Roosevelt would sneak out to the river and dive down to the bottom to check the traps Roosevelt had planted for them. Especially on days when Mrs. Washington refused to feed