Chapter IX, Loyalties Summary

Colonel Persifier Cobb decides to leave the army after the Mexican War. He returns to his Louisiana cotton plantation on Edisto Island. He and his brother, Somerset, sail their boat to Charleston where they visit their father. Their father tells them that Persifier will inherit all of his property and he hopes Somerset will stay and help him with the plantation. However, Persifier's wife, Tessa Mae, wants Sett and his wife Millicent, known as Lissa, to leave.

Sett and Lissa explore their options. Lissa tries to find out how much money they will have from Sett's father but he refuses to answer. They have his uncle, Reuben Cobb and his wife, Petty Prue, come to Charleston from Georgia. The uncle advises the brothers to move to Texas where the yield per acre is much better. Persifier and Tessa Mae...