Varina Howell Book

Volume 1
	Foreword	xi
Chapter I.	Ancestry -- The Howells	1
Chapter II.	Ancestry -- The Kempes	12
Chapter III.	Birth and Childhood	18
Chapter IV.	Early Enivronment	26
Chapter V.	Girlhood	42
Chapter VI.	At 'The Hurricane'	51
Chapter VII.	In Closer Touch	59
Chapter VIII.	Holiday Pleasures	69
Chapter IX.	Lovers	78
Chapter X.	Engagement. Girlhood Confidences	82
Chapter XI.	Whig and Democrat	90
Chapter XII.	Marriage	97
Chapter XIII.	The Bridal Tour	102
Chapter XIV.	Brierfield	114
Chapter XV.	In Public Life. Visit of Calhoun	126
Chapter XVI.	Accompanies Her Husband to Washington	137
Chapter XVII.	First Glimpses of Washington	144
Chapter XVIII.	A Congressman's Wife	153
Chapter XIX.	Incidents of Washington Life	161
Chapter XX.	Day at the National Exhibition	169
Chapter XXI.	Faces Out of the Past	178
Chapter XXII.	War With Mexico	197
Chapter XXIII.	A Soldier's Wife	206
Chapter XXIV.	Monterey and Buena Vista	213
Chapter XXV.	Return of the Volunteers	222
Chapter XXVI.	Brierfield Reopened	229
Chapter XXVII.	From Brierfield to the Senate	234
Chapter XXVIII.	A Senator's Wife	242
Chapter XXIX.	Cuban Incident. Social Life of the Thirtieth Congress	251
Chapter XXX.	The First Crisis	260
Chapter XXXI.	From Brierfield to the Cabinet	267
Chapter XXXII.	Wife of a Cabinet Officer	281
Chapter XXXIII.	First Sorrow. Husband's Labors as War Minister	289
Chapter XXXIV.	Salon and Portrait Gallery	298
Chapter XXXV.	Thirty-sixth Congress. Old Issues Revived	324
Chapter XXXVI.	Secession Raises Its Head	331
Chapter XXXVII.	A Summer in New England	348
Chapter XXXVIII.	Political and Social	361
Chapter XXXIX.	Democratic Convention in Charleston, 1860	375
Chapter XL.	Secession of South Carolina	387
Chapter XLI.	South Carolina Invites the Other Southern States to Join Her in Secession	402
Chapter XLII.	The Return South	414
Chapter XLIII.	A President's Wife	430
Chapter XLIV.	Last Days at Brierfield	444