[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Better it should be spent on our follies than the Yanks', Jase said.
Amusement tilted the corners of Melia's mouth. Have you any particular follies in mind, Captain
Miller?"
He bowed. I am open to suggestions, miss."
The old man's blind eyes favored them each with a savage glare. You have no time for follies, either of
you. I imagine the captain will want to steam upriver tonight, and you should make yourself ready for the
journey."
Melia gave Jase an inquiring look. Yes, he said. Tonight, if that is possible. The less time spent
waiting on the river, the less time in which we can be detected by a Yankee patrol."
Make yourself ready, then, the governor said. Tell the servants to prepare dinner. He gave a sniff.
And change your clothes, girl! I'm sure you look as if you just walked out of a swamp."
18.
Blind Phineus doth prophesy
Absurdity! Governor Thackeray said over dinner. Madness! To put all your money on slavery! The
governor snorted. Utter foolishness a nation of slaves in the modern world."
Jase and Melia looked at each other. The custom at dinner, it seemed, was that guests listened while the
governor declaimed. Melia gave Jase a wry, apologetic smile and looked down at her plate.
She did not wear her smoked spectacles indoors. Her eyes were brown, with pupils wide as saucers.
She had changed into an elegant silk princess gown, with puffed sleeves that showed off her tiny hands.
Small and quick and elegantly dressed, she hardly seemed the uncivilized creature of the woods that her
father had described.
Like good sailors, Faren Smith and Put-Up-Your-Dukes were paying attention mainly to their dinners.
But the boxer, Jase noted, chewed carefully, and only on one side of his mouth.
I should have anticipated it, the governor continued. Slavery is the way to wealth for the mediocre
man. A genius will make a success of himself no matter what his situation, but for a man of modest talents
there is no more certain way to wealth than through exploiting the labor of his fellow men. The mediocre
need slavery to prosper, and because they need it, they will fight for it. And, sighing heavily, the
mediocre, by definition, outnumber the rest of us."
A periwigged servant offered asparagus from a Sevres platter. Jase waved him away, and turned to the
governor.
You talk as if you weren't a planter yourself."
I started as a planter, sir, the old man said. I took eighty niggers over the passes from Virginia,
marched them down the Natchez Trace, and carved out my first plantation when the Louisiana Purchase
was young. And I've built other plantations since, up and down the river. But I knew the future wasn't in
it once I'd made my fortune I sold all but one of my first plantations and put my money into shipping,
banking, and manufacturing. I currently own seven plantations, but four of those are outfits to which I
made loans and on which I subsequently had to foreclose. The war will destroy all seven, I expect, and
the houses in Vicksburg and Natchez. Good riddance. He gave a dreamy smile. I will miss the gardens,
though."
Faren Miller signed to one of the servants to bring him more sliced duck. Melia turned to Jase. Do you
have slaves yourself?"
No, Jase said, but I'm no abolitionist. I've met any number of men who deserve to be enslaved."
She nodded. So have I."
He wondered if he could shock Miss Melia, if it were possible to shock anyone in this family.
I did not mean Africans only, Jase said.
She looked at him sidelong through her narrow eyes. Neither did I, she said.
The governor laughed at this, and his amusement rang down the table.
19.
Medea's history is related
Governor Thackeray offered Jase and his men guest rooms in which to rest for the evening's voyage, but
Jase said he'd rather rest in one of the garden's viney arbors, a sentiment of which the governor seemed
to approve. Jase found a couch in a garden pavilion covered with white gingerbread, fancy as a river
steamer, and took a few hours sleep. The sound of boot-heels on the walkway woke him, and he
looked up to see Miss Melia moving along the walk with a basket in her hand. She had taken off her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
Better it should be spent on our follies than the Yanks', Jase said.
Amusement tilted the corners of Melia's mouth. Have you any particular follies in mind, Captain
Miller?"
He bowed. I am open to suggestions, miss."
The old man's blind eyes favored them each with a savage glare. You have no time for follies, either of
you. I imagine the captain will want to steam upriver tonight, and you should make yourself ready for the
journey."
Melia gave Jase an inquiring look. Yes, he said. Tonight, if that is possible. The less time spent
waiting on the river, the less time in which we can be detected by a Yankee patrol."
Make yourself ready, then, the governor said. Tell the servants to prepare dinner. He gave a sniff.
And change your clothes, girl! I'm sure you look as if you just walked out of a swamp."
18.
Blind Phineus doth prophesy
Absurdity! Governor Thackeray said over dinner. Madness! To put all your money on slavery! The
governor snorted. Utter foolishness a nation of slaves in the modern world."
Jase and Melia looked at each other. The custom at dinner, it seemed, was that guests listened while the
governor declaimed. Melia gave Jase a wry, apologetic smile and looked down at her plate.
She did not wear her smoked spectacles indoors. Her eyes were brown, with pupils wide as saucers.
She had changed into an elegant silk princess gown, with puffed sleeves that showed off her tiny hands.
Small and quick and elegantly dressed, she hardly seemed the uncivilized creature of the woods that her
father had described.
Like good sailors, Faren Smith and Put-Up-Your-Dukes were paying attention mainly to their dinners.
But the boxer, Jase noted, chewed carefully, and only on one side of his mouth.
I should have anticipated it, the governor continued. Slavery is the way to wealth for the mediocre
man. A genius will make a success of himself no matter what his situation, but for a man of modest talents
there is no more certain way to wealth than through exploiting the labor of his fellow men. The mediocre
need slavery to prosper, and because they need it, they will fight for it. And, sighing heavily, the
mediocre, by definition, outnumber the rest of us."
A periwigged servant offered asparagus from a Sevres platter. Jase waved him away, and turned to the
governor.
You talk as if you weren't a planter yourself."
I started as a planter, sir, the old man said. I took eighty niggers over the passes from Virginia,
marched them down the Natchez Trace, and carved out my first plantation when the Louisiana Purchase
was young. And I've built other plantations since, up and down the river. But I knew the future wasn't in
it once I'd made my fortune I sold all but one of my first plantations and put my money into shipping,
banking, and manufacturing. I currently own seven plantations, but four of those are outfits to which I
made loans and on which I subsequently had to foreclose. The war will destroy all seven, I expect, and
the houses in Vicksburg and Natchez. Good riddance. He gave a dreamy smile. I will miss the gardens,
though."
Faren Miller signed to one of the servants to bring him more sliced duck. Melia turned to Jase. Do you
have slaves yourself?"
No, Jase said, but I'm no abolitionist. I've met any number of men who deserve to be enslaved."
She nodded. So have I."
He wondered if he could shock Miss Melia, if it were possible to shock anyone in this family.
I did not mean Africans only, Jase said.
She looked at him sidelong through her narrow eyes. Neither did I, she said.
The governor laughed at this, and his amusement rang down the table.
19.
Medea's history is related
Governor Thackeray offered Jase and his men guest rooms in which to rest for the evening's voyage, but
Jase said he'd rather rest in one of the garden's viney arbors, a sentiment of which the governor seemed
to approve. Jase found a couch in a garden pavilion covered with white gingerbread, fancy as a river
steamer, and took a few hours sleep. The sound of boot-heels on the walkway woke him, and he
looked up to see Miss Melia moving along the walk with a basket in her hand. She had taken off her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]