Read HF - 04 - Black Dawn for Free Online Page A

for one moment, what will happen when two million black people are presented with their freedom, suddenly, in the presence of twenty thousand whites? Do you remember St Domingue?'
    'Vaguely. As a nightmare. Mama, I know how you must feel about it, about Aunt Georgiana's death, but. . .'
    'I feel nothing about it, now. I am merely trying to be sure you understand that this is no sinecure you undertake. Nor will you even be able to stand to one side and watch events shape themselves. As Richard Hilton , as the Hilton of Hilltop, you will be expected to lead, not follow.'
    'And I will lead as my conscience directs me. I promise, Mama.'
    She withdrew her hands, leaned back in her chair. 'I have no doubt of that, Dick. Yet will even that not be easy. The whites will hate you as much as the blacks.'
    'As their leader?'
    'As their superior, certainly. Jealousy is always a cause for hate. But there is more. You will understand that almost every white man in the West Indies is violently opposed to any interference in his affairs, in the institution of slavery. As I said, it is the foundation of their wealth, if they are wealthy, of their claims to superiority over the blacks if they are poor. You are Matt Hilton's son. And Matt once had one of them hanged, for murdering a black.'
    'James Hodge,' Dick said. 'Father has told me.'
    'Aye. But not the whole truth, perhaps. You will have to know it. There was a great scandal. That house your father assaulted, was here in London. The young woman seemed to be white. But she had Negro blood. Worse, she was an absconded slave.'
    Dick stared at her in horror. 'But. . .'
    'Your father loved her, Dick. And Robert found out about it and had her returned to the West Indies. To her rightful owner, James Hodge.'
    'My God. But . . . Father says Uncle Robert assisted him in bringing the case against Hodge. In having him hanged.'
    'Aye. Perhaps Robert regretted his crime. I do not know for certain. I do know that Matt had no idea Gislane's arrest was due to Robert, at that time. It was after he found out the truth that they quarrelled.'
    'What happened to the woman? Gislane?'
    Suzanne Hilton shrugged. 'She was sold again. And again. Eventually to Louis Corbeau in St Domingue. She practised obeah, the Negro witchcraft, became a leader in the revolt there. Perhaps she still rattles her bones, I do not know. She saved my life and yours, at th e end. Because by then Matt had fallen in love with me.' 'Yet you hate her.'
    'Should I not? In any event, I have always felt that she saved us out of contempt, not pity. I'm sorry. I did not mean to cause you distress. But the events were well known, and could be thrown in your face.'
    'They happened a long time ago,' Dick said. 'Even Hodge was a long time ago.'
    'There was a widow.'
    'Will she spit in my face?'
    'I doubt that. She is probably dead. Anyway, she has disappeared. Robert offered her money, and she spat in his face.'
    Dick smiled. 'And this is the tyrant?'
    Suzanne sighed, and got up. 'He is a strange man. Circumstances made him strange. He inherited Hilltop when he was scarce older than you. He had that fall from a horse. You have heard of that.'
    'You have told me.'
    'So I have. It left him unable to have children.'
    'Thus I am in the position I now find myself.'
    'But you must try to understand, Dick, the feelings of a man, left solitary and alone, with omnipotent power as far as his eye could see, and yet without the power inside himself of commanding a decent woman into his bed, for fear of ridicule.'
    'I see what you mean.'
    'And then, one sister murdered by a mob, the other deserting husband and friends to marry her own cousin, who was an Abolitionist into the bargain . . .'
    'Do you regret your life, Mama?'
    'Not for an instant. I am attempting to think with Robert's brain. The wonder would be if he were not strange. And now . . .' She turned, violently, stood above him. 'He has made his feelings clear, Dick. He wishes you to inherit, presuming you