Lincoln looked up at the clock and nodded. “Guess I better get down there. I want to keep peace in the world.”
“That you have done, Mr. President,” Nicolay said, suddenly serious. “Your first term began with a war — as has your second one. But peace rules now, and may it do so forever.”
“Amen to that, John. Amen.”
Peace at last, Sherman thought. The agreements signed and sealed. And now a separate peace agreement with Scotland. Great Britain had reluctantly been reduced in size. Still, it meant peace in his time. The victory was well worth the battle. But there had been too many stuffy rooms of late — and even stuffier politicians. He walked across to the windows and opened them wide, breathed deeply of the cool night air. Below him were the lights of Edinburgh, with the Royal Mile stretching away down the hill. He turned around when there was a quick knock on the door.
“Open it,” he called out. The sergeant of the guard looked in.
“General Grant is here, sir.”
“Fine. Show him in.”
Grant, smiling through his great black beard, crossed the room and took Sherman by the hand.
“Well, it is all over, Cumph. You really won this one.”
“We all did. Without you and Lee and Meagher — not to mention our new navy — I could have done nothing.”
“I admit, we surely all did our part — but we can’t forget that the strategy was yours, the combined arms and the lightning war. At times I feel sorry for the British soldiers; they must have felt like they were trampled by a stampeding herd of buffalo.”
“Perha
ps they were. Our American buffalo just stomped them down and kept on galloping.”
Grant, running his fingers through his beard, nodded agreement. “I doubt if they appreciate it — but it was the best thing that ever happened to them in battle. They took casualties, yes, but not nearly as many as they would have suffered had there been a long war of attrition. Now England, along with Ireland, is at peace and being dragged into being a democracy. And from what I have seen these last weeks, the Scotch seem to be tickled pink to have their own country again.”
“They are a fine people, and like the Irish they now feel indebted to the United States. I feel a certain pride in having people like them on our side. And something else they have — the best-tasting whiskey that I have ever drunk. I have one of their malts here if you would like to join me in a celebratory drink?”
“Just a single one will do me fine. I think of all those years of falling into bed dead drunk every night and feel no wish to return to that condition.”
“You won’t. You have changed too much during these years of war. That man who needed drink to get through the day is long gone. But you are right. One will surely be enough.”
There was a bottle of Glen Morangie and glasses on the sideboard; Sherman poured the drinks and raised his glass. “A toast, then. Something fitting.”
“All I can think of is peace in this world — and heaven in the next.”
“Amen to that.”
General Sherman sipped at the fine whiskey, then turned to the open window to look out at the land that had produced it. General Grant joined him, seeing the sparkling lights of the great city of Edinburgh, then beyond it the dark countryside. A peaceful vista, and their thoughts were at peace as well. But out there, beyond Scotland, was the English Channel. Traditional waterway and barrier that had kept the warring nations of Europe at bay for almost a thousand years. And beyond this barrier was a continent perpetually in turmoil, still wanting to settle its countries’ differences by force of arms.
“There is still a lot of trouble brewing up out there,” Grant said, his words echoing Sherman’s thoughts. “Do you think that those people, all those Europeans with their frictions and feuds and long memories of war and revolution — do you think that they can keep the lid on all their troubles?”
“I certainly hope that they can.”
“Haven’t done too well in the past, have they?”
“Indeed they haven’t. But perhaps they will do better in the future.” Sherman drained his glass, put it down on the table beside him. “Still, they will have to be watched. My appointment by the President was to keep America free. We have all traveled a long and bitter road to assure that freedom. Our country must not be threatened ever again. Nor will it ever be, not while I have a breath in my body.”
“I am with you there, Cumph, we all are. Peace is our aim — but war is our trade. We don’t want it. But if it comes we can lick it.”
“That we surely can. Good night, Ulysses. Sleep well.”
“We all shall sleep well. Now.”
SUMMER — 1865
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA