A Place Called Freedom (1995)

“You refused to give him anything. You want him to fight for everything, as you did. Well, he’s fighting, and the first thing he’s got is Lizzie Hallim. You can hardly complain.”

“Has he got her—or have you done it for him?” Sir George said shrewdly.

“I didn’t take her down the coal mine,” Alicia said.

“Nor kiss her in the hall.” Sir George’s tone became resigned. “Oh, well. He’s over twenty-one, so I don’t suppose we can stop them.” A crafty look came over his face. “At any rate the coal in High Glen will come into our family.”

“Oh, no it won’t,” said Alicia.

Jay and Sir George both stared at her. Sir George said: “What the devil do you mean?”

“You’re not going to dig pits on Jay’s land—why should you?”

“Don’t be a damn fool, Alicia—there’s a fortune in coal under High Glen. It would be a sin to leave it there.”

“Jay may lease the mining rights to someone else. There are several joint stock companies keen to open new pits—I’ve heard you say so.”

“You wouldn’t do business with my rivals!” Sir George exclaimed.

Mother was so strong, Jay was filled with admiration. But she seemed to have forgotten Lizzie’s objections to coal mining. He said: “But Mother, remember that Lizzie—”

His mother threw him a warning look and cut him off, saying to Father: “Jay may prefer to do business with your rivals. After the way you insulted him on his twenty-first birthday, what does he owe you?”

“I’m his father, damn it!”

“Then start acting like his father. Congratulate him on his engagement. Welcome his fiancée like a daughter. Plan a lavish wedding celebration.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Is that what you want?”

“It’s not all.”

“I might have guessed. What else?”

“His wedding present.”

“What are you after, Alicia?”

“Barbados.”

Jay almost jumped out of his chair. He had not expected this. How crafty Mother was!

“Out of the question!” his father roared.

Mother stood up. “Think about it,” she said, almost as if she didn’t care one way or the other. “Sugar is a problem, you’ve always said. Profits are high but there are always difficulties: the rains fail, slaves get sick and die, the French undercut your prices, ships are lost at sea. Whereas coal is easy. You dig it out of the ground and sell it. It’s like finding money in the backyard, you told me once.”

Jay was thrilled. He might get what he wanted, after all. But what about Lizzie?

His father said: “Barbados is promised to Robert.”

“Let him down,” Mother said. “You’ve let Jay down, God knows.”

“The sugar plantation is Robert’s patrimony.”

Mother went to the door, and Jay followed her. “We’ve been through this before, George, and I know all your answers,” she said. “But now the situation is different. If you want Jay’s coal, you have to give him something for it. And what he wants is the plantation. If you don’t give it to him, you won’t have the coal. It’s a simple choice, and you have plenty of time to think about it.” She went out.

Jay went with her. In the hall he whispered: “You were marvelous! But Lizzie won’t allow mining in High Glen.”

“I know, I know,” Mother said impatiently. “That’s what she says now. She may change her mind.”

“And if she doesn’t?” Jay said worriedly.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Mother said.

12

LIZZIE CAME DOWN THE STAIRS WEARING A FUR CLOAK so big that it went around her twice and brushed the floor. She had to get outside for a while.

The house was full of tension: Robert and Jay hated one another, Mother was cross with her, Sir George was furious with Jay, and there was hostility between Alicia and Sir George too. Dinner had been nail-bitingly strained.

As she was crossing the hall, Robert stepped out of the shadows. She halted and looked at him.

“You bitch,” he said.

It was a gross insult to a lady, but Lizzie was not easily offended by mere words, and anyway he had reason to be angry. “You must be like a brother to me now,” she said in a conciliatory voice.

He grasped her arm, squeezing hard. “How could you prefer that smarmy little bastard to me?”

“I fell in love with him,” she said. “Let go of my arm.”

He squeezed harder, his face dark with fury. “I’ll tell you something,” he said. “Even if I can’t have you, I’ll still have High Glen.”

“You won’t,” she said. “When I marry, High Glen will become my husband’s property.”

“You just wait and see.”

He was hurting her. “Let go of my arm or I’ll scream,” she said in a dangerous voice.

He let go. “You’re going to regret this for the rest of your life,” he said, and he walked off.

Lizzie stepped out of the castle door and pulled her furs more tightly around her. The clouds had partly cleared, and there was a moon: she could see well enough to pick her way across the drive and down the sloping lawn toward the river.

She felt no remorse about letting Robert down. He had never loved her. If he had, he would be sad, but he was not. Instead of being distraught about losing her, he was furious that his brother had got the better of him.