6
RECOLLECTIONS OF A CONFEDERATE GENERAL BY JUBAL DE BROOKE
East Lancashire and Liverpool, England, October, 1863.
There was a satisfying click of wood on wood as my long-handled mallet struck the croquet ball and sent it bowling through the first steel hoop. I’d never played this game, but the rules were simple and the prospect of some uncomplicated activity before luncheon was appealing. So I’d left my room and come out to practise on the smooth lawn in front of the house.
The setting was quite magnificent and I paused awhile to gaze from the tame parkland to the Pennine scarps where bare fists of rock punched through the bleak fell-sides.
“Good afternoon, General.”
Sarah McConville strode toward me wearing an emerald green promenade skirt with the hemline raised to display a pair
