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