*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/p>\r\nNot more than ten minutes had passed before they heard the sound of a galloping horse. It approached and halted before the book-keepers\u2019 quarters. Someone alighted, came up the steps; then there was a sharp rap on the door.\r\n\r\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d Robert called out sharply.\r\n\r\n\u201cI. Can I see you for a few minutes?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cMrs. Palmer!\u201d whispered Robert, startled and guiltily ill at ease. \u201cSlip into the next room, Millie, and be quick, for God\u2019s sake.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIn a moment!\u201d he said aloud.\r\n\r\nIn a couple of minutes he opened the door and stepped outside; but Annie Palmer did not choose to talk with him on the veranda. She passed into the room, he following. She glanced keenly around, noticed the door that led into the adjoining apartment and pointed to it. \u201cWho lives in there?\u201d she asked directly.\r\n\r\nRobert, glancing at her face, saw it dark with anger and suspicion. Another thing about her surprised him. She was dressed in man\u2019s clothing, in a black suit which had evidently been made for her. Millicent had told him that she was in the habit of riding about the estates at night, habited like a man, but he had thought that this was but one of the inventions of the slaves, who felt that their mistress\u2019s eyes were always upon them. Now he knew that it was but the sober truth. Annie, looking more diminutive than ever in her man\u2019s clothes, stood before him, a heavy riding whip in her hand. And her manner was imperative and stormy.\r\n\r\nHe was about to answer her question, saying that the apartment was occupied by the girl who looked after his meals and room, when she suddenly walked over to the door and gave it a push. It yielded, after a slight resistance; for Millicent realised that nothing was to be gained by her struggling against Mrs. Palmer\u2019s determined resolve to enter.\r\n\r\nMillicent was standing and breathing heavily. Annie Palmer looked her up and down with a wide-eyed contemptuous stare. \u201cSo you have Ashman\u2019s woman as your servant and \u201chousekeeper\u201d?\u201d was the question she flung at Robert.\r\n\r\n\u201cI am not Mr. Ashman\u2019s woman,\u201d volleyed back Millicent, stung to a spirited protest by Mrs. Palmer\u2019s assertion. She looked sharply at Robert to see how he took this remark.\r\n\r\n\u201cSpeak when you are spoken to!\u201d ordered Mrs. Palmer. She turned to Robert. \u201cI could not sleep; I thought I would go for a ride about the estate; I have to do that sometimes, to see that everything is in order. I fancied that perhaps you might like to come with me. You didn\u2019t tell me it was this woman who was looking after your room, Robert, or I would have told you she is the last person that I care to have on Rosehall. She is a well-known character about here. I suppose she is trying to get you to make her your \u201chousekeeper\u201d, isn\u2019t she? And has perhaps already succeeded?\u201d Annie spoke with an effort at composure, thinking no more about what Millicent might feel than she would have done had she been speaking about a dog. \u201cIf you want one of this type,\u201d she went on, \u201cyou might select a better specimen. This one is rather notorious. Anyhow, if I had known she was here I should have seen to it that she did not remain. I only hope she hasn\u2019t yet stolen anything from you. They all steal.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI am not a thief, Mrs. Palmer!\u201d cried Millicent, furious now beyond the restraint of fear. \u201cI am neither a thief or a murderer, an\u2019 that is more than everybody can say!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIndeed!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYes; an\u2019 the reason why you don\u2019t want the Squire to have me for his housekeeper is because you want him for you\u2019self an\u2019 you are jealous!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cJealous of you, of a creature like you\u2014you? Girl, are you mad? Do you want to be whipped within an inch of your life? Do you remember who you are talking to? Dirt that you are, how dare you! Leave Rosehall this minute, or\u2014\u2014\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI won\u2019t!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYou won\u2019t?\u201d shrilled Mrs. Palmer, and that shrilling voice was new to Robert and shocked him. \u201cYou won\u2019t! Surely you must be mad!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI am not one of your slaves. Dis place is yours, but the Squire is a free man an\u2019 a white man, an\u2019 if he say I am to stay here tonight I can stay. And you can\u2019t flog me. You can\u2019t!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ll test that now,\u201d said Annie softly, narrowing her eyes. She lifted her riding whip and brought it down sharply on the girl\u2019s shoulders. Swiftly she raised it again for another blow.\r\n\r\nRobert darted between them.\r\n\r\n\u201cAnnie, Annie,\u201d he implored, \u201cremember your position.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI am a mistress of slaves, that is my position,\u201d she retorted; \u201cand this woman is little better than a slave. Leave me to deal with her, Robert; I know her kind.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIf you touch me again I will dash your brain out,\u201d shrieked Millicent, seizing a chair. \u201cI am free like you are, and, so help me God, I rather die than let you beat me!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWe shall see,\u201d replied Annie, shaking off Robert\u2019s arm. Her face was set; there was a light in her eye which indicated an irrevocable determination to chastise and humiliate this girl in the young man\u2019s presence. Robert realised her resolve, and nerved himself to frustrate it. He felt sick, ashamed, loathing himself and the scene in which he played a part. Yet Annie seemed to have no reproaches for him. It was the girl alone upon whom she was bent upon exhausting all her fury.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou cannot help her, Robert,\u201d she said with icy finality. \u201cShe has to be flogged for her impertinence, and if not by me it will be by one of my drivers.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cAnnie be reasonable: she will do you hurt!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t dare. Stand aside. She won\u2019t lift a finger to me.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe whip was raised again. It was about to descend when it was suddenly seized.\r\n\r\nShe swung round, furious and astonished. A tall, gaunt, savage-looking black man, with grizzled hair and heavy features, held the whip. Deep-set eyes glowed as they answered the glare from Mrs. Palmer\u2019s eyes; a long, deeply-lined upper lip closed firmly over the projecting lower lip; old though he was there was nothing feeble about his appearance.\r\n\r\n\u201cTakoo!\u201d The name came in a gasp from Mrs. Palmer.\r\n\r\n\u201cGrandpa!\u201d cried Millicent, frantically joyous.\r\n\r\nRobert gazed at the man bewildered. To him it was a thing astonishing that a negro should thus have dared to stay the hand of Annie Palmer.\r\n\r\n\u201cPatience, missis,\u201d said the old man calmly. \u201cRemember Millie is my gran\u2019-child; I am begging you, for my sake to spare her.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe spoke very good English, but though his words were humble his demeanour was not particularly so. He still held the whip.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat are you doing here, Takoo?\u201d demanded Mrs. Palmer.\r\n\r\n\u201cI was about you\u2019 estate tonight, as you sometimes allow me to come, missis. I knew Millie was this new massa\u2019s housekeeper, an\u2019 I wanted to see how she was getting on. I was out there for some time; I see you ride up. We didn\u2019t know you would have any objection to Millie; but as you object I will take her away.\u201d\r\n\r\nBut Millicent, who was never a coward, would not stand silently by and hear her fate decided by others. \u201cGrandpa,\u201d she sobbed, \u201cMrs. Palmer say all sort of bad things about me. I never had anything to do wid Mr. Ashman. I love the young squire, an\u2019 the squire love me\u2014\u2014\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYou fool!\u201d Mrs. Palmer burst out. \u201cHow could a gentleman love you? Do you still forget yourself?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cPatience, missis, I beg you to have a little patience. She is my gran\u2019daughter,\u201d said Takoo. \u201cGet your clothes an\u2019 come, Millie.\u201d\r\n\r\nMillicent glanced at Robert, but knew in her heart that from the doom pronounced there could be no appeal. He could not help her. She was to go, and that immediately. Just when she had triumphed her cup of joy was dashed from her lips.\r\n\r\nShe went into her own room to gather her few articles of apparel, while the others waited silent. She returned within a couple of minutes, and looked with open-eyed malignancy at Annie Palmer. She passed out of the room, followed by her grandfather, but at the steps of the veranda she turned round and flung out her hand with a fierce gesture.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou will try to murder Marse Robert as you murder you\u2019 husbands,\u201d she hurled at the stern woman who stood tapping the table with her whip. \u201cI done tell him all about you, you bloody witch! Some day I will live to see them hang you in Montego Bay?\u201d\r\n\r\nOld Takoo uttered a cry of warning and anger, and literally pushed his granddaughter down the steps; Annie made no reply, but a rush of blood to her head showed itself in the sudden crimsoning of her complexion. The accusation, openly and defiantly thrown at her, was terrible: that it should have come from a native woman constituted the quintessence of an unbearable insult. This girl regarded her as a rival, had dared to struggle with her for the affection of her own book-keeper. She trembled with passion, held now in restraint by an almost superhuman effort of will. But she said never a word.\r\n\r\n\u201cFool,\u201d hissed old Takoo to his niece, \u201cyou want to dead? She will never forgive you!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI don\u2019t care!\u201d exclaimed Millicent. \u201cIf there is a God in heaven He will see that she is a beast. An\u2019 sooner or later she will kill him, Tata.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cShe may kill you first,\u201d muttered the old man, as they hurried away. \u201cYou must go far from here, Millie, an\u2019 you must go tonight. It is hell you have to face now.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cSo you say now, but wait.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cShe is a she-devil. She is a witch!\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYes; an\u2019 what that mean for you?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI have you, gran\u2019pa; you can protect me, and bring the young squire back to me.\u201d\r\n\r\nTakoo answered nothing; he was thinking of the blow with the whip which Annie Palmer had dealt to the one being on earth whom he cared for. He was thinking also of Annie\u2019s certain future vengeance for the words so daringly spoken by Millicent. He knew the mistress of Rosehall; she would strike at Millicent; such an affront could never be forgiven.\r\n\r\nHe had been Mrs. Palmer\u2019s tool more than once; they had been secret allies. Now he saw her as an enemy and an antagonist. And he feared her.\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"
With\u00a0rapid stride and sinuous swinging of the hips Millicent took her way towards the book-keepers\u2019 quarters. She knew she would find Robert in his room tonight, for Burbridge would sit up in the still-house. Tomorrow night would be Robert\u2019s turn, if he wished to undertake the work. For it was no longer compulsory for him, and she had heard that another book-keeper would be about on the following day. Mr. Rutherford was being allowed to do much as he pleased.<\/p>\n
When she reached the little house she perceived a light shining through the crevices. She was going to the room which she had, without invitation or specific permission, made her own, when she changed her mind. She knocked at Robert\u2019s door.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome in,\u201d his voice bade her, and she entered to find him sitting by his table, a glass of rum and water by his hand. He had thrown off his jacket and was taking a \u201cnight-cap\u201d prior to going to bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Millicent, what\u2019s all the news?\u201d he asked her cordially; \u201cwhat brings you here at this time of night?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know I live here, in de next room,\u201d said Millicent, looking down at him, \u201can\u2019 I thought as I would ask how you are, an\u2019 tell you good night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very well, thank you, Millie, though I have had a pretty strenuous week of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not know what \u201cstrenuous\u201d meant, but guessed its meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou was up last night?\u201d The inquiry was really an affirmation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, mentor; I was up some part of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t come in till morning, an\u2019 you work all day today. That don\u2019t good for you, Marse Robert; don\u2019t you know you may get sick, an\u2019 die?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible. But I say, Millie, I never imagined when I left England that I should find here a brown lady to take such an interest in my welfare, and lecture me on the error of my ways. Is that customary with housekeepers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes; if they like you. Tell me something, Marse Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ever say anything to Mrs. Palmer about me? You ever tell her I am looking after you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t mentioned you, no,\u201d said Robert, conscious now that he had deliberately refrained from saying anything about Millicent to Annie. She of course had asked him who was attending to his creature comforts in his quarters, and he had assured her that Burbridge had made ample arrangements for him. Mrs. Palmer had come to the conclusion that Burbridge\u2019s servant was attending upon Robert also.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she might want to stop me. She can prevent me coming here, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. But frankly, Millie, why shouldn\u2019t she if she wants to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want her to?\u201d asked the girl plaintively.<\/p>\n
Robert looked at her. She was undeniably pretty, and though he guessed she could hold her own and did not lack for strength of character, she was very gentle in dealing with him. He felt he should be very sorry if Millicent were to leave his service. \u201cWell, no, I don\u2019t want her to,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n
The girl\u2019s face lightened in a flash. A happy smile showed her white, gleaming, even teeth and shone in her eyes. \u201cThen you like me, Marse Robert!\u201d she cried confidently. \u201cYou like me, or you wouldn\u2019t mind whether I go or stay. Don\u2019t I right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I have told you before that I do like you, Millie,\u201d he laughed, sipping his rum and water, \u201cthough you have been awfully cheeky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I tell you about Mrs. Palmer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Had you been a man, Millie, you would have been out of this place long ago. But I am afraid I am weak where a woman is concerned, especially a pretty woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
She came nearer to him. \u201cYou think I am pretty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I know I are; but I want to know if you think so too. You think so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure you are, Millie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYet you like the mistress better than me. Because she is white an\u2019 you are white? But she don\u2019t love you better than I do, and she is wicked, I tell you, wicked\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMillicent!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care! It is true. An\u2019 I tell you so because I love you an\u2019 I am afraid about what might happen to you. You don\u2019t know everything. You running a big risk; it may kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert thought that it was treason to Annie for him to allow this coloured damsel to run on in the way she was doing, to permit her to traduce the woman to whom he had sworn eternal devotion; and yet, he asked himself, how could he prevent it? She was retailing lies, of course, but she believed them; and if she repeated them it was because of her sincere affection for him. He could not be a brute and order her away! He loved Annie\u2014(an uneasy questioning in his mind made him wonder whether he loved Annie as much as he said he did and as he clearly ought, but again, as on previous occasions, he tried to dismiss this question from his mind). But he liked this girl also; with something like comic dismay he had discovered that, in spite of all he had believed to the contrary, a man could care for more than one woman at the same time, even if not with the same degree of intensity. He did not realise that Annie Palmer fascinated him but that he did not love her with such devotion that no other woman mattered to him; he was not sophisticated. He had faced for a few moments the question of marrying Annie. He had hurriedly dismissed it. He had accepted the existing situation, had noticed too that Annie herself never once mentioned marriage, but seemed content with their present irregular relations. His father would not approve of them? No; but his father was thousands of miles away, in a different land, in a different world. Why should he bother to think of what was so distant? This was Jamaica, and why would he not do in Jamaica as others did? To be a model of virtue here would be merely to make oneself ridiculous. In the meantime here was Millicent, and her society was not unpleasant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not afraid of being killed,\u201d he said with a laugh. He finished his drink of rum and water, and mixed himself another. He rather liked the flavour of Jamaica rum.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t believe what I tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course not! I am not going to believe every lie that you have heard, Millie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome day she will know that I looking after you, an\u2019 she will order me not to come back to dis place. What you will say then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSufficient to the day is the evil thereof, Millie. Meantime you are still here, and, as you want to be here, that should content you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well, Marse Robert.\u201d She looked at him in silence for a few moments, then added, in a low voice, \u201cgood night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo soon?\u201d he asked and drained his glass. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you stay a little longer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean it? You want me to stay?\u201d Millicent asked eagerly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I do. Take a chair. Better still\u2014\u2014\u201d He drew her down to him and sat her on his knee, laughing the while. Then he kissed her. She threw her arms wildly about his neck and kissed him in passionate return.<\/p>\n
Millicent\u2019s eyes were shining now. Her grandfather had told her, only the day before, that she would become the young book-keeper\u2019s \u201creal\u201d housekeeper, and it seemed as though this prediction were in the way of being fulfilled.<\/p>\n
Robert stroked her cheek gently. Then he slipped his left arm round the girl\u2019s waist. \u201cYou want to know if I think you pretty, eh?\u201d he asked. \u201cI think you very sweet and lovable, Millie, and I am glad that you care for me. Do you like to hear that?\u201d<\/p>\n
For answer she kissed him; then:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will leave here, Marse Robert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave here; but why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you love me more than you love she, you will. But I wouldn\u2019t mind so much if she was different. The two of us could have you. It is because I am afraid that I want you to leave. Don\u2019t you understand? She may kill you an\u2019 me together\u2014she will hate me, and if she think you don\u2019t love her as you should\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk about Mrs. Palmer, Millie!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right\u201d (with a sigh). \u201cBut you like me all the same?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes; I do, and I am going to keep you with me always, do you hear? You are going to stay with me and I am going to care for you.\u201d (\u201cWhy not?\u201d he muttered to himself. \u201cOther men do the same. Why should I be a prude?\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want me to\u2014to go into my own room tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo; you are going to stay with me. You don\u2019t mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to,\u201d she said simply, and her arm stole round his neck once more.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0*<\/p>\n
Not more than ten minutes had passed before they heard the sound of a galloping horse. It approached and halted before the book-keepers\u2019 quarters. Someone alighted, came up the steps; then there was a sharp rap on the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d Robert called out sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI. Can I see you for a few minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Palmer!\u201d whispered Robert, startled and guiltily ill at ease. \u201cSlip into the next room, Millie, and be quick, for God\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a moment!\u201d he said aloud.<\/p>\n
In a couple of minutes he opened the door and stepped outside; but Annie Palmer did not choose to talk with him on the veranda. She passed into the room, he following. She glanced keenly around, noticed the door that led into the adjoining apartment and pointed to it. \u201cWho lives in there?\u201d she asked directly.<\/p>\n
Robert, glancing at her face, saw it dark with anger and suspicion. Another thing about her surprised him. She was dressed in man\u2019s clothing, in a black suit which had evidently been made for her. Millicent had told him that she was in the habit of riding about the estates at night, habited like a man, but he had thought that this was but one of the inventions of the slaves, who felt that their mistress\u2019s eyes were always upon them. Now he knew that it was but the sober truth. Annie, looking more diminutive than ever in her man\u2019s clothes, stood before him, a heavy riding whip in her hand. And her manner was imperative and stormy.<\/p>\n
He was about to answer her question, saying that the apartment was occupied by the girl who looked after his meals and room, when she suddenly walked over to the door and gave it a push. It yielded, after a slight resistance; for Millicent realised that nothing was to be gained by her struggling against Mrs. Palmer\u2019s determined resolve to enter.<\/p>\n
Millicent was standing and breathing heavily. Annie Palmer looked her up and down with a wide-eyed contemptuous stare. \u201cSo you have Ashman\u2019s woman as your servant and \u201chousekeeper\u201d?\u201d was the question she flung at Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not Mr. Ashman\u2019s woman,\u201d volleyed back Millicent, stung to a spirited protest by Mrs. Palmer\u2019s assertion. She looked sharply at Robert to see how he took this remark.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeak when you are spoken to!\u201d ordered Mrs. Palmer. She turned to Robert. \u201cI could not sleep; I thought I would go for a ride about the estate; I have to do that sometimes, to see that everything is in order. I fancied that perhaps you might like to come with me. You didn\u2019t tell me it was this woman who was looking after your room, Robert, or I would have told you she is the last person that I care to have on Rosehall. She is a well-known character about here. I suppose she is trying to get you to make her your \u201chousekeeper\u201d, isn\u2019t she? And has perhaps already succeeded?\u201d Annie spoke with an effort at composure, thinking no more about what Millicent might feel than she would have done had she been speaking about a dog. \u201cIf you want one of this type,\u201d she went on, \u201cyou might select a better specimen. This one is rather notorious. Anyhow, if I had known she was here I should have seen to it that she did not remain. I only hope she hasn\u2019t yet stolen anything from you. They all steal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not a thief, Mrs. Palmer!\u201d cried Millicent, furious now beyond the restraint of fear. \u201cI am neither a thief or a murderer, an\u2019 that is more than everybody can say!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes; an\u2019 the reason why you don\u2019t want the Squire to have me for his housekeeper is because you want him for you\u2019self an\u2019 you are jealous!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJealous of you, of a creature like you\u2014you? Girl, are you mad? Do you want to be whipped within an inch of your life? Do you remember who you are talking to? Dirt that you are, how dare you! Leave Rosehall this minute, or\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t?\u201d shrilled Mrs. Palmer, and that shrilling voice was new to Robert and shocked him. \u201cYou won\u2019t! Surely you must be mad!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not one of your slaves. Dis place is yours, but the Squire is a free man an\u2019 a white man, an\u2019 if he say I am to stay here tonight I can stay. And you can\u2019t flog me. You can\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll test that now,\u201d said Annie softly, narrowing her eyes. She lifted her riding whip and brought it down sharply on the girl\u2019s shoulders. Swiftly she raised it again for another blow.<\/p>\n
Robert darted between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnnie, Annie,\u201d he implored, \u201cremember your position.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a mistress of slaves, that is my position,\u201d she retorted; \u201cand this woman is little better than a slave. Leave me to deal with her, Robert; I know her kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you touch me again I will dash your brain out,\u201d shrieked Millicent, seizing a chair. \u201cI am free like you are, and, so help me God, I rather die than let you beat me!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shall see,\u201d replied Annie, shaking off Robert\u2019s arm. Her face was set; there was a light in her eye which indicated an irrevocable determination to chastise and humiliate this girl in the young man\u2019s presence. Robert realised her resolve, and nerved himself to frustrate it. He felt sick, ashamed, loathing himself and the scene in which he played a part. Yet Annie seemed to have no reproaches for him. It was the girl alone upon whom she was bent upon exhausting all her fury.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot help her, Robert,\u201d she said with icy finality. \u201cShe has to be flogged for her impertinence, and if not by me it will be by one of my drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnnie be reasonable: she will do you hurt!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t dare. Stand aside. She won\u2019t lift a finger to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The whip was raised again. It was about to descend when it was suddenly seized.<\/p>\n
She swung round, furious and astonished. A tall, gaunt, savage-looking black man, with grizzled hair and heavy features, held the whip. Deep-set eyes glowed as they answered the glare from Mrs. Palmer\u2019s eyes; a long, deeply-lined upper lip closed firmly over the projecting lower lip; old though he was there was nothing feeble about his appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cTakoo!\u201d The name came in a gasp from Mrs. Palmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa!\u201d cried Millicent, frantically joyous.<\/p>\n
Robert gazed at the man bewildered. To him it was a thing astonishing that a negro should thus have dared to stay the hand of Annie Palmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatience, missis,\u201d said the old man calmly. \u201cRemember Millie is my gran\u2019-child; I am begging you, for my sake to spare her.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke very good English, but though his words were humble his demeanour was not particularly so. He still held the whip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here, Takoo?\u201d demanded Mrs. Palmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was about you\u2019 estate tonight, as you sometimes allow me to come, missis. I knew Millie was this new massa\u2019s housekeeper, an\u2019 I wanted to see how she was getting on. I was out there for some time; I see you ride up. We didn\u2019t know you would have any objection to Millie; but as you object I will take her away.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Millicent, who was never a coward, would not stand silently by and hear her fate decided by others. \u201cGrandpa,\u201d she sobbed, \u201cMrs. Palmer say all sort of bad things about me. I never had anything to do wid Mr. Ashman. I love the young squire, an\u2019 the squire love me\u2014\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou fool!\u201d Mrs. Palmer burst out. \u201cHow could a gentleman love you? Do you still forget yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPatience, missis, I beg you to have a little patience. She is my gran\u2019daughter,\u201d said Takoo. \u201cGet your clothes an\u2019 come, Millie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Millicent glanced at Robert, but knew in her heart that from the doom pronounced there could be no appeal. He could not help her. She was to go, and that immediately. Just when she had triumphed her cup of joy was dashed from her lips.<\/p>\n
She went into her own room to gather her few articles of apparel, while the others waited silent. She returned within a couple of minutes, and looked with open-eyed malignancy at Annie Palmer. She passed out of the room, followed by her grandfather, but at the steps of the veranda she turned round and flung out her hand with a fierce gesture.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will try to murder Marse Robert as you murder you\u2019 husbands,\u201d she hurled at the stern woman who stood tapping the table with her whip. \u201cI done tell him all about you, you bloody witch! Some day I will live to see them hang you in Montego Bay?\u201d<\/p>\n
Old Takoo uttered a cry of warning and anger, and literally pushed his granddaughter down the steps; Annie made no reply, but a rush of blood to her head showed itself in the sudden crimsoning of her complexion. The accusation, openly and defiantly thrown at her, was terrible: that it should have come from a native woman constituted the quintessence of an unbearable insult. This girl regarded her as a rival, had dared to struggle with her for the affection of her own book-keeper. She trembled with passion, held now in restraint by an almost superhuman effort of will. But she said never a word.<\/p>\n
\u201cFool,\u201d hissed old Takoo to his niece, \u201cyou want to dead? She will never forgive you!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care!\u201d exclaimed Millicent. \u201cIf there is a God in heaven He will see that she is a beast. An\u2019 sooner or later she will kill him, Tata.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may kill you first,\u201d muttered the old man, as they hurried away. \u201cYou must go far from here, Millie, an\u2019 you must go tonight. It is hell you have to face now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you say now, but wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is a she-devil. She is a witch!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes; an\u2019 what that mean for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have you, gran\u2019pa; you can protect me, and bring the young squire back to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Takoo answered nothing; he was thinking of the blow with the whip which Annie Palmer had dealt to the one being on earth whom he cared for. He was thinking also of Annie\u2019s certain future vengeance for the words so daringly spoken by Millicent. He knew the mistress of Rosehall; she would strike at Millicent; such an affront could never be forgiven.<\/p>\n
He had been Mrs. Palmer\u2019s tool more than once; they had been secret allies. Now he saw her as an enemy and an antagonist. And he feared her.<\/p>\n
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