Folly Park by Heidi Hackford

Author:Heidi Hackford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press

I have met Mr. Smith, and I must confess I am surprised. He was not cold and unkind as I had anticipated. In fact, quite the reverse. But perhaps tomorrow he will not be so easy and friendly as I have seen him tonight. Used as they are to power and indulgence, these slave masters doubtless have mercurial tempers!

As usual, I saw Carolina to bed and then went to the library. I was startled to see a man there and drew back to observe him from the doorway. Mr. Smith is very like his portrait—tall, even-featured, with dark curling hair and a swarthy complexion. He was standing over the books I had laid out on a little table. He took up this diary, and my heart caught in my throat, but he put it aside immediately and looked about, frowning. And all at once I saw the room anew. Saw how worn the spines of the books were and how they were organized according to a purpose. I saw the leather of the chairs rubbed smooth, the ink-marked blotter on the desk, the mending tools for the pens, the heavy ledgers close to hand. Feeling a fool, I understood for the first time that this was no neglected room but rather the beating heart of the plantation, the sanctuary of its Master!

Just then, Cousin Thomas saw me. Oddly, I felt as if I looked on the face of an old friend with whom I had just been reunited rather than a stranger I was meeting for the first time. He said, without introduction, “And how persuasive do you find Wollstonecraft’s claim for the rights of women—it is a passionate plea, though perhaps not as tightly reasoned as it might be, would you agree?” And he indicated one of the books on the table. Though later I marveled at his having read A Vindication of the Rights of Women, then I did not reply to his question as I came forward with apologies for intruding upon his privacy. He waved away my words and said, “Anyone who wishes to savor the pleasures of this room is welcome. We are few enough, indeed, under this roof.” I was dismayed by this slight of Carolina, but he invited me to sit, and I could not refuse. He lounged in his chair, quite at his ease, and asked me how I liked Folly Park.

I gathered my courage and prepared to have it out at once. But on that instant, I had to cough, which delay annoyed me. Finally, I said, all in a rush, “Sir, I feel I must tell you I am not in sympathy with the practice of slavery, and I intend, while I am here, to do what I can to educate your servants. You may put me out at once, of course, and indeed I have every expectation that you will.” He raised his brows at this speech, but his dark eyes were amused, I saw with astonishment, when he said, “Intellect is an inconvenient accoutrement for those who labor for life.

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