Duchess of Mine by Red L. Jameson Read Free Book Online Page B

hands. “I’m so sorry.” Fleur had known loss, but the loss
of one’s own child...that had to be the hardest death to deal with.
Not remembering her mother, because she’d died hours after Fleur
had been born, she’d been raised by Na. And dealing with her
grandmother’s death had been difficult—not only had Fleur lost her
grandma but the only mother figure in her life too. Yet to lose a
child...God, that must have hurt. And Helen had lost her others to
the war. Were they prisoners?
    “What did Cromwell do with your other boys?”
Fleur found herself asking.
    Helen looked up. “Shipped ‘em off to America.
Duncan found out they were sent to Virginia, then he heard news how
they were indentured servants, being sold to the rice kings down
there. Do ye ken the rice kings?”
    Before Fleur could shake her head, Duncan
said, “Ma, I told ye, they aren’ real kings. They just have a lo’
o’ money, so they’re called kings.”
    “Right, right,” Helen nodded. Then she looked
up at Fleur, her hazel eyes grown misty. “Do ye happen to ken one
of them?”
    Fleur shook her head. “I’m sorry, no.”
    Helen shrugged. “Just as well.” She smiled
then in a wholly mischievous way. “My boys ran away from their
plantation master, they did. They ran into” —she turned toward
Duncan slightly— “tell her their name again.”
    Fleur glanced up at Duncan. All the planes of
his face were tense, the look in his eyes was hard and distant. His
shoulders seemed to hunch powerfully, as if he were ready to
strike. He shook his head. “Not sure how to say it. Something akin
to Yama—er, Yamasay, mayhap.”
    “Yamasee?” Fleur asked.
    Duncan’s eyes widened. He didn’t nod, but he
seemed as though he wanted to.
    Well, that was a coincidence. She’d studied
the Yamasee, a tribe mainly in South Carolina, but in 1653 it
wouldn’t be called that. It was still considered the Virginia
colony. South Carolina was a special colony in that many slaves and
indentured servants ran away to the tribes there. The result was
fascinating to research as a genealogist. Yes, genealogy held the
promise of answers that historians begged for and had proof of
people who loved and lived together, instead of the long-thought of
feuding. Both might be historically accurate, but it was thanks to
genealogy that finally the fighting was no longer the focus.
    Fleur looked at Helen who smiled at her,
seeming to silently beg for good news.
    “I think your boys will be fine in Virginia.”
Fleur tried to grin herself.
    She looked up and over at Duncan who finally
moved the last few inches to place the thick brown cups on a nearby
small table that held tallow and beeswax candles.
    “If ye ladies will excuse me,” he said and
then hurriedly left through a part of the house that Fleur couldn’t
see from where she was sitting.
    After hearing a door slam shut, Fleur glanced
back at Helen.
    “He blames himself for the loss of my younger
sons, carries too much guilt for any one man.”
    “Why? He was in Sweden? Why was he in
Sweden?”
    Helen glanced up with a proud smile. “Makin’
money for me. Can ye believe a grown son like that would keep
sendin’ me his money? But he did. I think he sent me near every
cent too. He’s such a good lad.”
    Fleur smiled.
    Then Helen leaned closer. “Ye’re the answer
to my prayers, aren’t ye?”
    Fleur blinked. “Excuse me?’
    Helen leaned away, but had a small
all-too-clever grin on her beautiful face. “’Tis my Duncan. He
keeps blamin’ himself for all of this. He wanted to go to America
and find my sons and get them back here. But to what, I says? To
Scotland torn apart from war and this supposed revolution? Nay, as
much as I miss my lads, they need to be in a land where they can
prosper.”
    “And Duncan?” Fleur asked before she could
properly censor the question.
    Helen smiled ruefully. “Duncan, if he will
ever let go of this blame, will prosper no matter where he lands.
But I asked him to