The Price of Freedom (4 page)

“Where are you off to?” Charles
called after him.

“To see Anise.
 
I haven’t seen her for nearly two weeks.”

“You’re incorrigible!”

“Women love incorrigible men,”
said Richard with a smile.

“Richard, I have missed you,
chéri
,” declared Anise with a pout, her French accent
distorting the English words in the way that Richard loved.

“Why have you not come to see me
recently?” she demanded with her hands on her hips. Her black hair was piled in
an elaborate style high on her head and her sparkling blue eyes challenged
him.  As beautiful as her face was, his eyes couldn’t help their downward
trek to her magnificent bosom that threatened to spill over the low neckline of
her satin gown.

“I was busy Anise.” He reluctantly
pulled his gaze back to hers. “I’ve been putting things in place so that I can
visit my uncle’s plantation in Barbados at the end of the month.”

“You’re going to Barbados? 
Take me with you.  I will keep you company on that long journey.” She
purred, drawing closer. 

“Tempting, my love, but I don’t
think my aunt would approve of me bringing my mistress to stay at her house,
especially when she knows that I’m engaged.”

“I can’t believe you are going to
marry that girl, Richard.  I have seen her in town and I don’t know what
you are thinking. She seems attractive enough but I can’t imagine she will
satisfy you.” She stepped back from him.

“Darling, that’s why I have you.
I’m thinking how profitable her father’s plantation will be when I convert it
to rice. She’s the older of two girls, you know, and her brother died in
childhood, so her daddy wants to make sure there will be someone to run the
plantation when he passes on.”

“That’s what I like about you,
Richard.  You don’t pretend to be anything other than what you are; an
opportunist.”

“It takes one to know one, my
love,” he returned, taking the pins from her hair so that it fell down her
back. He ran his fingers through the thick tresses, drawing her closer. “As
much as I love to converse with you, I didn’t come for conversation today. It’s
been almost two weeks since I saw you.”

“And whose fault is that,
chéri
?”  

“I confess that the fault is mine,
but I intend to make up for my absence,” he promised nibbling her neck.

“I look forward to that,” she
laughed throatily as she threw back her head to give him better access.

Pausing to unbutton her gown he
encountered her tightly laced up stays. “Why do you women wear these
contraptions?” he complained in frustration.

“If I had known you were coming
today I wouldn’t have bothered to put it on.”  He impatiently undid the
laces and was rewarded by Anise taking a deep breath as she was freed from the
instrument of torture.

“What a relief!  That feels
wonderful,” she sighed blissfully.

“That’s nothing compared to how
wonderful you’ll feel in a few minutes,” he promised pushing the gown to the
floor. Swinging her up into his arms he headed for her room in haste.

“How long will you be in
Barbados?” asked Anise much later as she lay with her head on his chest. 

“About three months.”

“Three months!  What will I
do without you?”

“I’m sure you have plenty of
admirers to keep you company while I am away.”  Richard was under no
illusions that Anise would spend the time pining for him. She was too
resourceful for that.

“What will you do in Barbados?”

“Learn how they use African slaves
to help produce the sugar on the plantation. I want to accompany my uncle to a
slave market to see how he selects slaves, what he looks for, how much he pays
for them and how he upkeeps them. Things like that.”

“You will be using Africans on the
plantation then?”

“Yes, everyone else is. Apparently
the ones from the West are very knowledgeable about cultivating rice.”

“You’re a good business man,
Richard. I have no doubt you will be very successful. But I will miss you,
chéri
,”

Richard absently played with her
hair as he replied “I’ll miss you too.”

“Will you be getting married when
you come back?”

“Yes. I’ll probably be married by
the end of the year if not before.”

“Will you continue to visit me
when you’re married?”

“Why would that change?”

“I don’t know, you may fall
passionately in love with your wife and become faithful.”

Richard laughed quietly at the
thought. “I don’t think I have it in me to fall passionately in love, darling.
I’m far too practical.  But you certainly arouse the passion in me.” 
With that he proceeded to show her just how much.

Richard pulled on his black
breeches, buttoned up his soft white linen shirt and sat on the side of his
massive bed to put on his stockings and buckle his black shoes which had been
polished to a high sheen by one of the servants. He donned a buff colored
waistcoat and shrugged into a black jacket before heading downstairs to pick up
his warm black coat from the coat hanger by the door.

He was escorting Ann to a party at
the Berkeley’s Charles Town house. The
Berkeleys
were
a prominent family who owned a large plantation along the Ashley River but like
so many of the elite, including the
Carlisles
, they
kept a second property in town which they resided in during the winter.  

In his opinion, the only good
thing about this party was that it would give him the chance to talk to some of
the planters who had already started to grow rice and find out how they were
faring. Based on the quantities that they were shipping out, they seemed to be
doing very well.

He met Charles at the bottom of
the stairs and they went out to the coach where their servant, Jackson was
sitting with the reins in hand.

"How was Anise?" Charles
asked sarcastically.

"Happy to see me,"
replied Richard with a contented smile.

"I don't know how you can
bed
your mistress at four and take your fiancée to a party
at seven without a twinge of conscience," Charles remarked.

"What has one to do with the
other?" Richard asked, totally unconcerned.

Charles made a noise of disgust.
"Ann deserves better than you.”

"I believe you made that
point today already," he agreed, "but our marriage will help the
fortunes of both families."

"There's more to life than
fortune, you know."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well... there's love."
Charles braced himself for Richard's scornful reply and he was not
disappointed.

"Love?"
Richard scoffed. "Spoken like a true romantic. Will love help to put food
on the table, shelter over your head, clothes on your back? Give you respect
among your peers?"

"There's no talking to
you." Charles ended the conversation by looking out the window. He
fervently hoped that one day Richard would be forced to eat his words.

"Here we are," announced
Richard as the carriage drew to a halt in front of the Carlisle's town house.
He alighted and disappeared into the house when the door was opened by a
servant.

He returned in a few minutes with
Ann who, in Charles's opinion, looked magnificent in a turquoise satin gown
that matched her eyes and was a perfect foil for her auburn hair, and a long,
warm looking cloak over her dress.

She was clinging to Richard's arm,
gazing adoringly up at him and chatting away, while he looked slightly bored as
he listened to her. Charles was once again angered by his brother's treatment
of Ann; he would never treat her so shabbily if she was his.

"Hello Charles," she
said and offered her hand for him to assist her into the carriage. She settled
herself across from him as Richard got in next to her.

Charles was struck by the
daintiness of her hand in his as he helped her up.

"Hello, Ann. You look
beautiful tonight."

"Thank you. I just got this
dress from France," she added. Richard almost rolled his eyes but caught
himself in time.

"I'm looking forward to this
party very much. The
Berkeleys
throw the best
parties," she gushed.

"I hope you will save a dance
for me," Charles said.

"If Richard consents,"
she said coyly, eyeing him as he gazed out the window.

"I'm sure Richard will be
fine with it, won't you Richard?" Charles challenged.

"Hmm, of course," he
said distractedly. He'd been listening to the conversation with one ear since
his thoughts were on the trip that he would take to Barbados. He supposed now
was as good time as any to break the news to Ann.

"By the way Ann, I’m going to
Barbados at the end of the month."

Charles was dumbfounded.  He
couldn’t believe that Richard would choose to break the news to Ann in this
fashion.

"What!" Ann exclaimed in
dismay. "Barbados? What are you going there for?"

"I'm going to visit my
uncle's plantation to learn from him."

"Why do you need to go to
Barbados for that? We have a plantation. How long will you be gone?"

"About three months." He
answered her last question.

"Three months?" She
whined. Richard was becoming impatient with her questions.

"We can talk about this
later, Ann," Richard said abruptly, closing the conversation. Ann hung her
head and Charles glimpsed tears on her lashes. He desperately wanted to comfort
her and smash Richard's face at the same time.

"Don’t let this ruin the
evening," Charles said trying to lighten the atmosphere and was rewarded
by a brave but tremulous smile from Ann.

“You’re right Charles. You always
cheer me up,” she added pointedly.

“It gives me pleasure to see you
happy, Ann.” 

“That’s very sweet,” Richard said
drily, “but I encourage you to find your own fiancé and make her happy.”

Ann’s smile widened, thinking that
Richard was being possessive but Charles knew exactly why Richard was warning
him off. His sights were set on running her daddy’s plantation.

Peter and Caroline Berkeley stood
in the hallway of their town house, to welcome their guests. It was not as
grand as their Ashley River property but was still fairly impressive.

“Good to see you, Richard,
Charles,” said Peter shaking their hands. “And Ann you look as beautiful as
ever.”

“Thank you Mr. Berkeley. My
parents send their apologies that they were unable to come since my mother is
feeling poorly.”

“I do hope she feels better soon,”
sympathized Caroline as she kissed Ann.

“Thank you.”

“Your parents and sister arrived a
little while ago,” she advised the brothers.

“Thank you, ma’am,” they said.
They had left in another carriage before them since they would not all have
been able to fit into one.

Richard offered his arm to Ann and
Charles was left to follow behind. 

The room was brightly lit by
massive chandeliers bearing scores of candles. Sheer white panels of cloth were
draped across the ceiling, a safe distance from the chandeliers, giving the
impression of clouds floating overhead.

“This is so beautiful!” exclaimed
Ann excitedly.

“Yes, it is,” agreed Charles
coming to stand next to them.

Richard surveyed the room from his
considerable height and spotted his father speaking to a group of planters
close to the bar.  The room was full of the crème de la crème of the
Charles Town society and its environs.

“Ann, so wonderful to see you,”
his mother greeted her with a hug. “How are you, dear?  You look lovely.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Fairfax,” she
responded with a smile. “I am well.”

“Charles, darling we really have
to find you a nice girl like Ann, although they are in such short supply,” said
his mother to his embarrassment.

“Mother, I can find my own
girl.  I’m in no hurry to settle down.”

“My dear I know you are only
twenty-two, but it doesn’t hurt to keep your eyes open.  Look, there’s
Charlotte and Albert with Julia Drayton and some other young people.  Ann,
be a dear and take Charles over there.  I’d like to have a word with
Richard.”

“I’d be happy to,” said Ann and
practically dragged the reluctant Charles to accompany her to visit with the
group.

She waited until Ann and Charles
were well away before she turned back to Richard and demanded, “What is this
I’m hearing about you and a French mistress?”

“Depends on what you’re hearing,
mother.”

“Don’t be difficult, Richard.”

“Sorry mother, I wasn’t trying to
be difficult. I was simply trying to ascertain what you were referring to
specifically.”

“So you don’t deny that you are
seeing a French woman?”

“Mother, I don’t think this is
something I should be discussing with you. And could we not have discussed this
at home?”

“Don’t patronize me Richard; I am
not innocent of these things.  However since I arrived, more than one of
my friends has mentioned that they have seen you leaving the house of a French
woman in town, although you are now engaged to Ann and it is of great concern
to me.”

Richard sighed.  He really
wasn’t in the mood to have this discussion with his mother and he would not
allow her to dictate his life.

“Anise is merely a diversion, mother,
nothing more. Besides I knew her before I became engaged to Ann.”

“Well I hope you plan to put an
end to that diversion immediately,” she said. “It is shameful! And as your
fiancée, Ann deserves your respect.”

“Yes, mother,” he agreed in a
conciliatory tone. “I see father talking to some planters, would you excuse me
while I go and join him?”

“Certainly,” his mother said
tight-lipped.  She knew that Richard had totally disregarded what she said
and would do exactly as he pleased.

“Good night gentlemen.  Good
to see you.” He was greeted warmly by the older men, who liked him and had
great respect for his business acumen.

“Your father tells us that you’re
planning to visit Barbados,” said one of the planters.

“Yes, I sent a letter to my uncle
only today advising him of my visit. I’m going to observe how he runs his
plantation.”

“Their plantation system has done
the island well and Carolina too.  Barbados exports more than twice all
the other islands put together.”

“Yes, that
Muscovado
sugar isn’t called white gold for nothing,” remarked another planter.

“You will surely enjoy Barbados,
my boy. I visited the island a few years ago,” reminisced a neighboring
planter, “and I found the plantation owners to be very hospitable.  So
hospitable in fact that I was offered the use of a beautiful mulatto house
slave for the duration of my visit.”

“I’m sure my uncle would never do
such a thing,” assured Richard. “Besides, I’m an engaged man.”

“Speaking of which, where is your
lovely fiancée?” asked his father.

“She is here somewhere.  I’m
sure that Charles is taking care of her.”

“Well, don’t you think that you
should be the one doing that?” his father asked pointedly.

“Most assuredly,” agreed
Richard.  “Please excuse me gentlemen.” He would have to speak to them
about cultivating rice later, after he had done his duty.

Richard looked around the room and
saw Ann and Charles speaking with a group of young men and women.

“Good evening,” greeted Richard,
“I’ve come to claim my fiancée for a dance. Please excuse us.”

Ann was delighted that Richard had
come for a dance. She hoped that it would be a slow dance but when they reached
the dance floor, the musicians were playing some lively songs. Richard was a
surprisingly good dancer, having been formally taught when he was in England.
They danced several rounds until Richard led her off the dance floor, satisfied
that he had done his duty.

“Thank you, miss,” he flirted,
bringing her hand to his lips. Ann shivered as his lips touched the back of her
bare hand

“You’re welcome, sir” she flirted
in return.

“Allow me to get you a drink, my
dear.”  Richard was at his most charming and Ann beamed happily. He
escorted her to the table where the drinks were being served and got her some
punch and some French brandy for himself.

“May I borrow your fiancée for the
next dance?” Charles asked joining them.

“Be my guest, as long as you
return her.”  Ann smiled at his possessiveness as Charles led her to the
dance floor.