“I hope you’re right.”
“For her sake, I do, too.”
Dominic could see that the encounter had left her unsettled, and that alone made him want to maroon Sylvie. Clare’s time on the island was supposed to be a worry-free respite, not one filled with anxiety.
Still worried, Clare asked, “In the colonies there are slave catchers. Are there individuals like that here, too?”
“There are men who hunt escaped slaves for profit all over the Indies. Even some of the Jamaican maroons are now collecting British bounties on fugitives. But not in Liberté. We are all fugitives of one type or another, and any outsider foolish enough to hunt here will die here.”
Clare believed him.
“So, let’s go back to enjoying each other. Where were we?” But Dominic planned to have Sylvie watched. Pirates were ofttimes called wolves of the sea, so he knew how to hunt as well.
He was just about to ask if she wished to join him for siesta when the sound of drums rolled in from the beach. They both looked up.
“More celebrating?” Clare asked.
“No. That’s an alert.” He went silent, listening to the cadence. “There’s a ship approaching. Come, I need to get a spyglass.”
He hurried inside and returned a few moments later with the tubelike instrument in hand. She followed him out through the large gates that marked the entrance to the mansion and waited as he used the glass to survey the water. All work in the surrounding fields stopped as people watched and looked to him for an explanation. Richmond Spelling came to his side. Clare hadn’t seen him since last night’s feast.
“Friend or foe, Captain?”
“Looks like a French man-of-war. About fifty guns.” With its three masts and large bulk it was to him a beautiful sight, but he knew beautiful things could also be deadly.
“I wonder what they’re after?” Richmond asked.
Dominic shrugged and pulled down the glass. “Let’s go find out.” He turned to Clare. “Stay here with Anna and we’ll return shortly.”
She nodded and watched him run back inside the gate. A few moments later, he galloped past her on Louis. Richmond, astride a brown horse, rode hot on his heels.
Down on the beach, Dominic dismounted and pulled out his glass. The drummers were still sounding their coded warning. High up on the hills above the beach stood a small army made up of the men of the village. In their hands were machetes, clubs, and muskets. Closer to the beach, other men were hastily uncovering the cannons hidden by the brush and taking up their positions in case the intruders warranted firing upon. For now, everyone waited tensely.
Through his glass, Dominic watched a longboat being rowed to the beach by a crew of men wearing the blue uniforms of the French marines. Among them in captain’s attire was his cousin, Gabriel. Dominic grinned. He was the eldest son of his mother’s sister Margarite, and a proud member of the French fleet. “It’s Gabriel.”
“Should I tell the drummers to sound a stand down?”
“Yes.”
Richmond rode off, and Dominic waved both arms at the men on the hills and the ones behind the cannons. The two-handed signal denoted that all was well. The men relaxed and many drifted back to the fields and others towards home.
Soon the drummers were relaying the all-clear to the rest of the island, and Dominic walked to the edge of the beach to greet the members of the longboat. His cousin Gabriel got out and embraced him.
“I could hear the drums as soon as we got within sight of the island,” Gabriel said with a grin on his handsome face. He was not as tall as Dominic but held more muscle mass.
“First line of defense. How are you, and what the hell are you doing so far from Paris?”
“Just came from Haiti and am on my way to the colonies to be a part of the French fleet helping the upstart Americans. France has sided with them, you know?”
“I do, but I didn’t know Louis had authorized a fleet.”
“Yes. We’re to meet the admiral, Comte d’Estaing, off the coast of Delaware.”
“How many ships?”
“Twelve, with eight hundred and thirty guns combined, and four thousand marines.”
Dominic was impressed. “Louis is serious then.”
“He is, but anything to poke a finger in the eye of the British.”
“How long can you stay?”
“Nightfall, then we must push off.”
“Then come up to the house and get a meal, and you can bring me up to speed on what else you know.”
Gabriel nodded. He took a moment to coordinate the time when he wanted the longboat to return for him, and the oarsmen rowed back out to the waiting man-of-war. When Richmond returned a few moments later, Dominic borrowed his horse for Gabriel. The two cousins, pleased to see each other, rode slowly away from the beach.
“So how’ve you been?” Dominic asked as they rode side by side.
“I’m well.”
“And Tante Margarite?” She was his late mother’s youngest sister.
“Still feisty.”
Dominic grinned.
“I come bearing news.”
“Good or bad?”
“I’m not sure, but it will be surprising if nothing else.” Gabe reached into his coat and withdrew a tied-up sheaf of papers and handed it over to Dominic.
“What is this?”
“A copy of your father’s true will.”
Dominic pulled Louis to an abrupt halt.
“Yes. His solicitors in London sent it to Mother because they had no way of knowing where in the world you might be.”
Dominic was so stunned he couldn’t move.
“They said they looked for you for over a year after his death but couldn’t locate you.”
“That’s because I was here. No one was supposed to know.”
“And you and Gaspar hid your trail very well. I didn’t even know you’d been to Martinique until the day Eduard showed up at my door demanding to know where you were, and accusing you of stealing his slaves. My ignorance only made him more furious. Had I not run into you on Gibraltar last year, Mother and I still wouldn’t know where you’d gone to ground. I heard that after you stole
his
slaves that he and Nancine sailed there to oversee the reestablishment of the plantation. He also screamed at me about you having burned down almost every building on the property, including the sugar mill.”
Dominic smiled, but the document in his hand was sobering.
“Will you open it please? I’m very curious.”
Dominic untied the string around the leather pouch and took out the document inside. He spent a silent few moments reading the accompanying two-page letter from the solicitor, and when he finished he grinned and looked over at Gabe. “Listen to this:
Dear Mr. LeVeq
…”
When he was done with the reading, it was Gabe’s turn to be stunned. “Eduard was not his son!”
“That is what is written here. Apparently Nancine came into the arranged marriage carrying another man’s child, but Father chose to give Eduard his name and claim him as his own in order to save her family and his the embarrassment of a scandal.”
“That’s unbelievable.”
“Considering it was Nancine, it’s not. According to this, Father changed his will after my mother’s death and instructed the solicitors not to reveal the truth until after his death.”
“So the will giving Eduard the estate was voided.”
“Apparently, but Nancine wasn’t told of its existence.”
“I wonder if they know now.”
“The solicitors say they have approached the French courts, and for me to correspond with them as soon as I’m able.”
The cousins stared at each other, and Gabe said, “You may come out of this an extremely wealthy man, cousin.”
“Maybe, but knowing Nancine and Eduard will not get to pick at Father’s estate like crows on a corpse will be enough for me.” And it was. They’d hated him and his mother, and he’d not cared one whit for them, either. Now his father was speaking from the grave to offer his true feeling as well. Nancine would probably never be brought to trial for his mother’s death, but for Dominic this would suffice. Still stunned by the implications, though, the cousins rode on.
“Why were you in Haiti?” Dominic asked as he offered Gabe a seat at one of the wrought-iron tables in the quiet, sheltered inner courtyard. He couldn’t wait for Gaspar’s return so he could tell him about the will. “Has there been another uprising?”
“No. There were rumors that some of the island’s
gens d’couleur
wished to fight alongside the French on behalf of the Americans. I was asked to investigate. Since Marquis de Lafayette’s arrival there has become so publicized, everyone in France seems to have come down with American fever. Droves of young Frenchmen are signing up to help. Some say the Haitians are volunteering to prove that they, too, are true sons of France.”
“So the rumors are true?”
“Yes. They have over two hundred volunteers on the rolls now and they assured me they could easily muster in another two hundred given a few more months.”
“Quite impressive, but will the Americans let them fight? General Washington and the Congress can’t quite seem to make up their minds whether they want Blacks bearing arms or not. One moment it is yes, next it is no.”
Gabe shrugged. As most followers of the conflict knew, during the early skirmishes at Boston, and the first true battles of the war waged at Lexington and Concord, many patriots of African ancestry fought proudly and bravely beside their White counterparts in nonsegregated units. Some men like Peter Salem and Salem Poor had played pivotal roles and were widely recognized for their bravery. However, when the Continental Army was officially commissioned in April 1775 under the command of Washington, Black soldiers, both slave and free, were banned from the ranks. Presently they were being welcomed back on a limited basis, but some factions in the Congress, mostly the slave owners, were still unhappy with the decision.
The question about whether the Haitians would be allowed to fight on behalf of the American rebels was never answered because Clare appeared carrying a tray holding a platter of fruit and some bread. Both men rose to their feet and Gabriel turned to his cousin with delight and approval in his eyes.
Clare said, “I don’t mean to intrude, but Anna is gone to visit with a friend. When I heard the voices I thought you might want something to eat while you talk.”
Dominic did the introductions. “Clare Sullivan, my cousin, Captain Gabriel Tunis. Gabe, my guest, Clare Sullivan.”
Gabriel bowed gracefully. “
Enchanté, mademoiselle.
”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain,” she said, inclining her head. “I take it you were on the ship that just arrived?”
“Yes.”
“I will let you resume your visit,” she said, turning to leave.
But Dominic countered her words. “Stay and join us please. There’s nothing being discussed that you can’t be party to.”
“Are you certain?”
Gabriel nodded. “Please, no Frenchman ever turns down an opportunity to sit with a beautiful woman, especially when he’s been sailing with a ship of men for the past three months.”
“I see the blarney runs in the family.”
Both men chuckled.
She took a seat.
Dominic said to her, “We’re discussing the war between the rebels and the crown.”
“Do you know how things are faring?” she asked Gabe.
He told her about the French fleet.
“Any news from the southern colonies, Savannah in particular?”
“It’s rumored the British may try and recapture the city, but as far as I know nothing’s come of it as of yet.”
Rumor or not, Clare didn’t consider it good news. Although the rebels had their supporters and now controlled the city, loyalist sympathies were still strong. She didn’t want to return to a city under siege.
Gabe placed slices of mango on his plate. “By your speech, I take it you are from the southern colonies?”
“Yes. Savannah.”
“Are you planning to return after the war?”
“I’ll be returning as soon as Dominic can sail me there.”
“I am on my way there now. I don’t know what my cousin’s schedule is but I’d be honored to take you back to the colonies if you wish to leave this evening.”
Dominic shot his cousin a look. “I don’t think Clare—”
“And I think,” she responded quietly, cutting him off, “that Clare can speak for herself.”
Dominic’s lips tightened and he offered her a terse nod of acquiescence.
“You said you will be meeting the French fleet in Delaware?”
“Yes,” Gabriel replied while masking his amusement at the sour look on his cousin’s face.
“I doubt the British Navy will let a French man-of-war just sail into the Savannah River unchallenged, and I wouldn’t want to be the cause of you missing your rendezvous, so I will wait for Dominic.”
Dominic’s mood brightened.
“I understand,” Gabriel said to her.
Clare rose to her feet, and the cousins stood as well. Having men stand whenever she entered or prepared to exit was still taking some getting accustomed to. “I will leave you gentlemen now. Captain Tunis, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
He bowed.
“Dominic, I’ll be inside.”
“I’ll join you later.”
After her departure, Gabe cracked, “I must say, she seems much too ladylike to be with an old sea barnacle like you, Dominic, so tell me her story.”
Upstairs, Clare took a seat on the bedroom’s verandah and wondered if she’d made the right decision in turning down Captain Tunis’s offer. As she’d stated, the British Navy would certainly not allow a French ship to enter Georgia’s coastal waters, and the ship was far too large to do so secretly. The only other alternative would be to sail with them up to Delaware hundreds of miles north of home, then face the daunting task of making her way back south. With both the rebel and crown forces jockeying for control of the eastern coastline, and having no papers on her person to verify her ownership, she could end up captured and sold again. She longed to see her children, but journeying home with Dominic’s cousin was not a feasible solution, so she would stay on the island and go home with Dominic when the time came.
The afternoon lengthened into early evening. Anna returned, bringing Clare food and relaying an invitation from Odessa to visit her when Clare had time. Clare thanked Anna and made a mental note to ask Dominic if he could ride her over to wherever Odessa lived. In the meantime, she ate her dinner and settled into a seat out on the verandah to read
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare from the folio she’d found in Dominic’s library. In her opinion it was one of the Bard’s best comedic works.