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In
April of 1989, Steve and Kayla
Johnson stumbled upon an old diary in their new (but very old) home.
It told the story of Emily Matthews and Gideon Wyatt, star-scrossed
lovers who met during the American Civil War. As Steve and Kayla read
the diary, its story came to life and played out in the form of
flashbacks. This storyline began in April 1989 and culminated in May
of that year.
At
some point in 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War, a
Southern woman named Emily Matthews, who was living in the area that
later became known as Salem, began keeping a diary. It began with her
noticing Union troops advancing toward her estate. Emily was all
alone, but she was courageous enough to get her grandfather's pistol
and try to ward off the enemy. She was quickly overpowered. The
Northern men proceeded to trash her belongings. They would've done
God-knows-what to her if their captain hadn't arrived and put a stop
to it. Captain Gideon Wyatt showed Emily compassion; despite having
orders to burn down all houses in the area, he promised her that hers
would be spared. Meanwhile, he took the house to quarter his troops.
Gideon asked Emily to stay in her room for the time being in order to
remain safe from his rowdy men. Emily was instantly attracted by
Gideon even though he was her
enemy.
However,
Emily did no such thing. There was a secret passage leading from her
room to a space behind a bookcase in the living room. In an act of
nationalism, Emily crept into her passage and listened in on the
Union army's plan to intercept a Southern cargo of gold that would
seriously injure the already-weak Conferedate economy. While doing
so, she accidentally coughed. Gideon pretended not to hear her. Later
that night, Emily tried to leave the house to let the Conferedate
army know what the Northerners were planning. As she was stepping
out, Gideon appeared and politely told her to go back to her room.
Emily noticed that she felt more and more attracted to him each time
they met. During one of these encounters, they dropped their guard
and kissed. They apologized for it at first, but later on they
admitted that they had feelings for each other.
Emily
demonstrated just how much she cared for Gideon when they saw
Confederate troops approaching the estate. She knew that her fellow
countrymen would take Gideon prisoner and probably hang him, so she
hid him inside the house's secret passage. This wasn't just an act of
friendship; it was an act of love. After the troops left, they gave
into their feelings and made love. The event was bittersweet because
Gideon was leaving in the morning to go to battle. Before he left, he
promised Emily that they'd be together forever.
Unfortunately,
that was a promise he couldn't keep. Weeks later, Emily received word
that Gideon had been killed in battle. What made the news even worse
was the fact that Emily was pregnant with Gideon's child. Emily
begged the informing officer to take to Gideon's grave site. He
warned her that it'd be dangerous to go there because he'd been
buried near the battlefield, but Emily insisted on going there. When
she finally reached Gideon's grave, she mourned his death and swore
that their son would know what a courageous and honorable man his
father was.
A
year later, Emily was raising a beatiful baby boy. She'd named the
child Gideon after his father. One day, Emily received an unusual
visitor: a Union officer. She recognized the man from Gideon's troop.
The man told Emily that Gideon was alive and well! He'd been shot in
battle a year earlier, but he survived, was captured by the
Confederate army, and was now being held prisoner in Fort Moultrie in
Charleston, South Carolina. Elated at this revelation, Emily packed
her bags and went to her cousin Celia's in Charleston. Celia warned
her that it would be difficult to gain access to Gideon, but Emily
was determined to see him again. At the break of dawn, she mounted a
carriage headed to the fort. As she was leaving the estate, a
fugitive man came running out of the swamp and called out to Emily.
It was Gideon. Emily immediately got out of her carriage and ran to
him. He was muddy and tired -- he had just escaped from the fort.
Unfortunately, Emily and Gideon's reunion was short and bittersweet.
After a brief embrace, Confederate troops arrived on the scene and
shot Gideon.
Gideon
wasn't killed; he was recaptured and sent back to his dungeon cell
inside Fort Moultrie. Desperate, Emily managed to bribe the commander
of the fort and was allowed to visit him. In his cell, Emily took
care of his wounds and saw to it that Gideon recovered from them. She
pledged her love to him and promised, once again, that she'd never
leave him. When he finally began to feel better, she decided to try
to get him out. Gideon was sure that there was no way of escaping the
heavily guarded fort, but Emily was adamant. By this time, Emily had
yet to tell Gideon that he had a son, although this was the reason
she was so determined to save
him.
Soon,
Emily came up with a plan that Gideon agreed with. Emily pretended to
faint inside Gideon's cell while Gideon faked sleeping. While the
guard rushed to help her, Gideon hit him over the head and knocked
him out. He then put on his uniform. The plan was for him and Emily
to leave the fort as if she were being escorted out by a Confederate
officer. However, they didn't make it very far. As they were crossing
the courtyard, someone noticed that he was the Northerner being held
in the dungeon and arrested him. Because he was an enemy officer
wearing the Confederate uniform, Gideon was immediately sentenced to
death. 
Just
before he was to be shot, Emily told Gideon that he had a son, whom
she named after him. A shocked Gideon was moved by this new
knowledge. As he was being led to his execution, he told Emily one
last time that he loved her. He also promised that they would never
truly be apart. Emily stood in the pouring rain while Gideon was
prepared to be shot by a firing squad. But in the nick of time, a
messenger arrived at the fort with the news that the Confederacy had
surrendered to the Union at Appomattox Courthouse. The shooting was
halted, and the commander of Fort Moultrie surrendered his sword to
Gideon. Emily and Gideon celebrated their good fortune with a
kiss.
Not
too long after the end of the war, Emily and Gideon became husband
and wife. They decided to get married in the very place where they
had been reunited -- outside her cousin Celia's estate. The private
ceremony was held at midday in the estate's beautiful flowery garden.
Emily later expressed her feelings at that moment in her diary.
As I looked deep in Gideon's eyes, I knew that I could never have
loved another man. I thank God for giving him back to me, and for
allowing me to become his
wife.
Emily ended her diary as a
loving wife and mother. She and Gideon had settled into a pleasant
life in her family's home -- in the area that would later be called
Salem -- where, presumably, they happily lived out the rest of their
lives.
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The character of Emily Matthews
was played by Mary Beth Evans
The character of Gideon Wyatt was played by Stephen Nichols
The character of Baby Gideon Wyatt was played by Matthew
Alloway
This storyline written by Ken and originally part of Who's Who in
Salem
