Chapter 5
Hampshire, England, 1655 "I heard you have acquired land in the colonies."
"Yes, I bought it from a younger gentlemen who was arrested for murder and needed bail funds. Pour me another."
The bartender pours another drink for both of them and says, "How much land is it? A large amount from what I've heard."
"Yes, but I would not mind having more. I'd say it is about 400 acres. I plan to move my family there and prosper in the small town."
"Where is the land located?"
"The colony is called Maine. Said to be a cold place, but with the right house we will live comfortably."
"And you plan to move your whole family there?"
"Yes, if they wish to travel with me, I shall." He finished his small glass of whiskey and motioned for another.
"Isaac, have you consulted Constance and the three children about whether they wish to travel to the new world with you?" The tender poured him another.
"Constance will travel to the colonies with me whether she likes it or not. As for the children, they are of legal age and I cannot force Brutus to do anything he does not wish to. I am counting on Brutus to move with us for he shall be part of the shipping business I am planning to start. As for Olivia and Margaret, they will come as well. You know as well as I do that a man may do what he wishes but a woman must obey her father or her husbands orders."
"And you are not at all worried that it may make them unhappy to live in a new village where not a soul knows of them?"
"No, I am not, and you would be wise to stop planting doubts in my mind. I have made my decision and I shall not change my mind now."
"Your choices are your own to make and I wish not to place doubts in your mind but I simply wanted to be sure that you had taken all opinions into account before making your final decision. You will be greatly missed in these parts."
"As many have told me. I will be keeping the business running however, and I shall be making periodic trips in order to be sure that everything is going as well as it possibly can."
"But will that not displace you from your family for an extended period of time?"
"Yes, it will, but I have no choice have I? I have left my most trusted man in charge of things, but I must check over everything myself to put my mind at ease. I shall not make the trip but once every few years."
"And that is why you want your son to be instrumental in the business you plan to start in the colonies?"
"Yes. I trust him implicitly. I shall leave him in full charge of the business and of our family whilst I am away. I have no doubt that he shall perform his duties to the best of his abilities."
"When will you be leaving?"
"In about a week we shall set sail for the new world. I have already asked Brutus to come along, and he has agreed, however I do not think he is very pleased about it. In time he will come to like his living arrangements I am sure. I suppose I shall be off. I must set my final affairs in order before the event takes place."
"Yes, please do. I enjoyed our converse. Good evening."
"Good evening."
British Colony of Maine, 1656
"Constance! Constance come down here!" Isaac Collins called from the drawing room of his newly built mansion. It was rather large, but not as large as his descendant, Jeremiah Collins, would build over 100 years later on the hill just up the property from where this house stood. During that time, they would call the house Isaac is now living in, The Old House.
Constance Collins, Isaac's wife, descended the stairs after looking over the railing of the landing to locate her husband. She was a beautiful woman. Reddish-brown hair and sea green eyes, an odd combination, but an entrancing one nonetheless. She walked into the drawing room, where her rough, rugged and balding husband stood waiting for her, with a angered look upon his face.
"Yes, Isaac? You called for me?" she said, coming to a halt in front of him.
"What is it I am hearing about you telling Olivia and Margaret about their returning to England?" he asked, pouring himself a glass of amontillado and taking a seat in a chair in front of the fireplace.
"I haven't the slightest notion. What is it you are hearing, and from whom are you hearing it?" Constance was one of the very few lucky women who were allowed to speak freely in front of their husbands, nearly as an equal, which was a rarity.
"I shall tell you what I hear. I have heard that you have told both Olivia and Margaret they may return to the mother country if they wish, and I had to hear this from the servants. Do my ears deceive me?"
"They do not."
"I thought not. And what right have you to advise our daughters upon what they may or may not do, without first seeking my counsel!?"
"You have answered your own question. They are our daughters, and I have as much right as you have to advise them of their choices. They are of legal age, and you are not to keep them in this house against their wishes."
"You make a mistake Constance. While I permit you to speak freely in my presence, that does not mean you may further that into any other right you feel you should have. You should feel lucky of the rights you have now!"
"Should I? And what rights would those be?"
"Do not insult my intelligence, or yours for that matter! You know very well what rights you do and do not possess, and you shall be aware of them always, or I shall remind you!" His tone was strong and encompassing, letting Constance know that she was out of place. However, that would not quiet her frankness.
"Is there a point to this conversation, or shall I return to my duties."
"You will not speak out of turn, dear woman, or I will have no choice but to punish you. Now, as I was saying, you are not to advise Margaret or Olivia on what they have choices to. I have told the three of you that Margaret and Olivia may not leave this house until after they have been married to a man whom first asks for my approval of the marriage. I have not been known to change my mind before, and I will not start now!"
"You know as well as I do Isaac that the girls have the strong-will that I prize. They will not do away with that simply to obey your orders. If you do not wish them to leave, you will have to tell them that yourself for I stand by what I said to them earlier." Isaac rose from his chair and slapped Constance across the face.
"And there is the punishment I spoke of to you. Speak one word of the situation further to either Margaret or Olivia, and I shall take more drastic measures."
Constance held the left side of her face with a hand and said, "And you better watch your tongue or I shall help them escape this prison!"
Isaac slapped the other side of her face, causing her head to fly to the right and he grabbed her around her wrists. "You shall be the one to hold your tongue woman! I will not tolerate being spoke to like a simple servant in my own house!" Isaac pulled Constance through a pair of light red double doors to the left of the fireplace and down the hall behind them. He opened a heavy wood door and threw her into the room, slamming the door as soon as she was inside, and locked her in. "And you shall stay within these walls so long as I choose to keep you here!" Isaac stormed back down the hall and into the drawing room, where he picked up his amontillado off of an oak table, and walked over to the huge glass window letting sunlight through into the drawing room.
Back in the room she was locked in, Constance banged on the door and screamed for Isaac to let her out, but the door was thick and the hallway was long, so her cries went unheard. After a while, she stopped and went and sat on the window seat. She wouldn't dare to sit on the bed. It looked dingy, and she promised herself that when she got out of the room she would work on improving the servants quarters, because they had to be worse than this room. They had lived there for a year, and the room she was in was a ground floor guest room, but no one had used it since a business associate of Isaac's had stayed with them for a few days, and that was just after they had moved in.
Constance stood up and paced the room, thinking about what she had said. She knew that she wasn't wrong, Olivia and Margaret should be able to make their own choices, but neither Isaac nor Brutus would admit that fact. She did not want to disobey her husband, but she did not want to let her daughters down either. The decision was to tough to make.
Out in the drawing room, Brutus has entered and poured himself a glass of amontillado. He sat down in a chair by the fire and looked over to his father who was still staring out the window. "Father, is anything the matter?"
"No, nothing. Your mother has once again overstepped her boundaries."
"I see. And has that angered you?"
"It did at the time, but I am less angered now than I was when it happened. Have their been any developments?"
"Actually yes. The business is getting off the ground. I found quite a wealthy man from Jamestown, Virginia, who wished to invest, and he did so. And, the townspeople have named the town Collinsport, after us. Is that not humbling?"
"Yes, very humbling. When did the event take place?"
"It was made official this afternoon. I signed the paper showing that the family in good faith accepted and appreciated the honor."
"Very good. And what of the investor? What is his name?"
"An odd one. I had tried to figure his lineage but my mind was distracted by other things. William Crosic is his name. I happened upon him when I traveled to Baltimore, Maryland. I ran across him in a tavern, and told him about our business. For some reason he showed an enthusiastic interest, and we have been corresponding since that time."
"Will he be arriving in town anytime soon?" Isaac took a sip of his drink, and Brutus did the same.
"Not to my knowledge."
"I see. Well, should you receive a letter from him confirming any plans to visit, you will let me know so that I may have your mother make the appropriate accommodations."
"Yes, I will. But Father, how do you know Mr. Crosic may be planning to visit Collinsport?"
"Is it not common for any investor to wish to investigate the facilities of the company in which they are investing?"
"I suppose not."
"Brutus, you still have much to learn; be sure not to forget that. It is easy to lose money during these days, do not forget that."
"I shan't. Is there anything more you wish me to complete?"
"Nothing that comes to mind. Do you wish to go?"
"Actually, yes. I have arrangements with a friend in town."
"And what type of arrangements are these?"
"A lady friend and I will be having dinner in one of the more prominent restaurants."
"If you must. Be off then young lad, and do report to me before you retire in case I have further converse."
"Certainly Father. Good evening."
"Good evening." Isaac said, turning and watching as Brutus put his glass down and exited the room.
Twenty minutes later Brutus came downstairs, after bathing and putting on new clothes to go on his date. He bid goodbye to his father and left the house. Riding in his carriage to town, he looked out the window and thought he saw a figure in the woods. He told the driver to stop, and once the driver did so, Brutus stepped out of the carriage and looked around. The forest was dimly lit by the last light that was seeping over the horizon from the sunset. Everything cast a long shadow across the ground, and after seeing nothing, Brutus concluded that he must have seen a tree sway with the wind, and was on his way. As soon as the carriage started movement again, a man with sandy colored hair and deep, piercing eyes, stepped out from behind a tree.
He watched Brutus' carriage further itself down the drive and did not emerge completely from the shadows of the forest until he was sure the carriage would not change its course. Once convinced, he stepped out onto the road leading from the house to the main road, and walked up it, towards the mansion. As he walked he took in his surroundings, being sure that he was aware of every bend in the drive, every tree, every blade of grass, every insect. He would know this land better than his own.
Reaching the house, he approached slowly and cautiously, being sure that no one outside would see him, and that no one inside would see him either. He stepped lightly as he walked up to the huge window and peered in, watching those inside. Two women. One with blonde hair down to her shoulders, and a bow tied in the back of her head. She had big brown eyes that seemed as if they would pop out of her head at anytime. Her hands were folded in her lap, and as she was speaking, every minute or so, she would wring them together as if she were nervous. She was 19 years of age. And the other, a beautiful woman with brown hair pulled tightly in a bun on the back of her head and hazel colored eyes looked extremely calm and dignified, obviously the more wise of the two, who was 22 years old. The blonde was Olivia Collins, and the other Margaret Collins.
Olivia had been known ever since she was a young girl to be nervous and to act on a whim, whereas Margaret had always been calm, in any situation, and always thought things through. At this time they were talking about what their father had told their mother in their earlier conversation. Olivia and Margaret had listened from the landing at the peak of the staircase in the hall, Margaret's idea. He listened through the window as the two women talked.
"Olivia stop being so worrisome! It is quite annoying and I will not stand it one second longer!"
"But what if we are caught? Punished? I do not like the thought of father being angry with us."
"If you want this as bad as I do, you will be willing to do anything in order to get it. Father can only be mad at us for so long. His anger will pass with time."
"Still, I cannot release the feeling of being caught. I cannot even imagine what will happen to us if we were to be found out."
"Then do not try to imagine it. Dismiss these thoughts from your mind, and be open to the plan. If you are not, we will surely be caught."
"The best I can do is try. Ask no more of me than that."
"You know I do not. Will you leave with me then?"
Olivia took a long pause and a heavy sigh before answering "Yes."
"Good. I've had Elizabeth pack our things. They shall be waiting for us in a carriage just outside of the gate."
"When.....do we leave?"
"At sundown. It will only be an hour or so. Are you sure you're ready? That you've dismissed all doubts from your head?"
"Yes. I am ready."
"Excellent. Meet me here when the time comes. I shall go to my room to be sure everything is prepared." Margaret turned to exit but stopped suddenly. She grabbed her throat, and started coughing. Her body began convulsing, and she tore at the top of her gold dress to free herself from its grasp. When she had loosened it just a bit, she still coughed, her throat still constricted. She fell to the floor, on her hands and knees, and a few seconds later she collapsed completely.
Olivia ran over to Margaret and bent down beside her. "Margaret! Margaret wake up! Margaret please!" Olivia shook her. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth come quickly!" she called for their maid.
Hampshire, England, 1655 "I heard you have acquired land in the colonies."
"Yes, I bought it from a younger gentlemen who was arrested for murder and needed bail funds. Pour me another."
The bartender pours another drink for both of them and says, "How much land is it? A large amount from what I've heard."
"Yes, but I would not mind having more. I'd say it is about 400 acres. I plan to move my family there and prosper in the small town."
"Where is the land located?"
"The colony is called Maine. Said to be a cold place, but with the right house we will live comfortably."
"And you plan to move your whole family there?"
"Yes, if they wish to travel with me, I shall." He finished his small glass of whiskey and motioned for another.
"Isaac, have you consulted Constance and the three children about whether they wish to travel to the new world with you?" The tender poured him another.
"Constance will travel to the colonies with me whether she likes it or not. As for the children, they are of legal age and I cannot force Brutus to do anything he does not wish to. I am counting on Brutus to move with us for he shall be part of the shipping business I am planning to start. As for Olivia and Margaret, they will come as well. You know as well as I do that a man may do what he wishes but a woman must obey her father or her husbands orders."
"And you are not at all worried that it may make them unhappy to live in a new village where not a soul knows of them?"
"No, I am not, and you would be wise to stop planting doubts in my mind. I have made my decision and I shall not change my mind now."
"Your choices are your own to make and I wish not to place doubts in your mind but I simply wanted to be sure that you had taken all opinions into account before making your final decision. You will be greatly missed in these parts."
"As many have told me. I will be keeping the business running however, and I shall be making periodic trips in order to be sure that everything is going as well as it possibly can."
"But will that not displace you from your family for an extended period of time?"
"Yes, it will, but I have no choice have I? I have left my most trusted man in charge of things, but I must check over everything myself to put my mind at ease. I shall not make the trip but once every few years."
"And that is why you want your son to be instrumental in the business you plan to start in the colonies?"
"Yes. I trust him implicitly. I shall leave him in full charge of the business and of our family whilst I am away. I have no doubt that he shall perform his duties to the best of his abilities."
"When will you be leaving?"
"In about a week we shall set sail for the new world. I have already asked Brutus to come along, and he has agreed, however I do not think he is very pleased about it. In time he will come to like his living arrangements I am sure. I suppose I shall be off. I must set my final affairs in order before the event takes place."
"Yes, please do. I enjoyed our converse. Good evening."
"Good evening."
British Colony of Maine, 1656
"Constance! Constance come down here!" Isaac Collins called from the drawing room of his newly built mansion. It was rather large, but not as large as his descendant, Jeremiah Collins, would build over 100 years later on the hill just up the property from where this house stood. During that time, they would call the house Isaac is now living in, The Old House.
Constance Collins, Isaac's wife, descended the stairs after looking over the railing of the landing to locate her husband. She was a beautiful woman. Reddish-brown hair and sea green eyes, an odd combination, but an entrancing one nonetheless. She walked into the drawing room, where her rough, rugged and balding husband stood waiting for her, with a angered look upon his face.
"Yes, Isaac? You called for me?" she said, coming to a halt in front of him.
"What is it I am hearing about you telling Olivia and Margaret about their returning to England?" he asked, pouring himself a glass of amontillado and taking a seat in a chair in front of the fireplace.
"I haven't the slightest notion. What is it you are hearing, and from whom are you hearing it?" Constance was one of the very few lucky women who were allowed to speak freely in front of their husbands, nearly as an equal, which was a rarity.
"I shall tell you what I hear. I have heard that you have told both Olivia and Margaret they may return to the mother country if they wish, and I had to hear this from the servants. Do my ears deceive me?"
"They do not."
"I thought not. And what right have you to advise our daughters upon what they may or may not do, without first seeking my counsel!?"
"You have answered your own question. They are our daughters, and I have as much right as you have to advise them of their choices. They are of legal age, and you are not to keep them in this house against their wishes."
"You make a mistake Constance. While I permit you to speak freely in my presence, that does not mean you may further that into any other right you feel you should have. You should feel lucky of the rights you have now!"
"Should I? And what rights would those be?"
"Do not insult my intelligence, or yours for that matter! You know very well what rights you do and do not possess, and you shall be aware of them always, or I shall remind you!" His tone was strong and encompassing, letting Constance know that she was out of place. However, that would not quiet her frankness.
"Is there a point to this conversation, or shall I return to my duties."
"You will not speak out of turn, dear woman, or I will have no choice but to punish you. Now, as I was saying, you are not to advise Margaret or Olivia on what they have choices to. I have told the three of you that Margaret and Olivia may not leave this house until after they have been married to a man whom first asks for my approval of the marriage. I have not been known to change my mind before, and I will not start now!"
"You know as well as I do Isaac that the girls have the strong-will that I prize. They will not do away with that simply to obey your orders. If you do not wish them to leave, you will have to tell them that yourself for I stand by what I said to them earlier." Isaac rose from his chair and slapped Constance across the face.
"And there is the punishment I spoke of to you. Speak one word of the situation further to either Margaret or Olivia, and I shall take more drastic measures."
Constance held the left side of her face with a hand and said, "And you better watch your tongue or I shall help them escape this prison!"
Isaac slapped the other side of her face, causing her head to fly to the right and he grabbed her around her wrists. "You shall be the one to hold your tongue woman! I will not tolerate being spoke to like a simple servant in my own house!" Isaac pulled Constance through a pair of light red double doors to the left of the fireplace and down the hall behind them. He opened a heavy wood door and threw her into the room, slamming the door as soon as she was inside, and locked her in. "And you shall stay within these walls so long as I choose to keep you here!" Isaac stormed back down the hall and into the drawing room, where he picked up his amontillado off of an oak table, and walked over to the huge glass window letting sunlight through into the drawing room.
Back in the room she was locked in, Constance banged on the door and screamed for Isaac to let her out, but the door was thick and the hallway was long, so her cries went unheard. After a while, she stopped and went and sat on the window seat. She wouldn't dare to sit on the bed. It looked dingy, and she promised herself that when she got out of the room she would work on improving the servants quarters, because they had to be worse than this room. They had lived there for a year, and the room she was in was a ground floor guest room, but no one had used it since a business associate of Isaac's had stayed with them for a few days, and that was just after they had moved in.
Constance stood up and paced the room, thinking about what she had said. She knew that she wasn't wrong, Olivia and Margaret should be able to make their own choices, but neither Isaac nor Brutus would admit that fact. She did not want to disobey her husband, but she did not want to let her daughters down either. The decision was to tough to make.
Out in the drawing room, Brutus has entered and poured himself a glass of amontillado. He sat down in a chair by the fire and looked over to his father who was still staring out the window. "Father, is anything the matter?"
"No, nothing. Your mother has once again overstepped her boundaries."
"I see. And has that angered you?"
"It did at the time, but I am less angered now than I was when it happened. Have their been any developments?"
"Actually yes. The business is getting off the ground. I found quite a wealthy man from Jamestown, Virginia, who wished to invest, and he did so. And, the townspeople have named the town Collinsport, after us. Is that not humbling?"
"Yes, very humbling. When did the event take place?"
"It was made official this afternoon. I signed the paper showing that the family in good faith accepted and appreciated the honor."
"Very good. And what of the investor? What is his name?"
"An odd one. I had tried to figure his lineage but my mind was distracted by other things. William Crosic is his name. I happened upon him when I traveled to Baltimore, Maryland. I ran across him in a tavern, and told him about our business. For some reason he showed an enthusiastic interest, and we have been corresponding since that time."
"Will he be arriving in town anytime soon?" Isaac took a sip of his drink, and Brutus did the same.
"Not to my knowledge."
"I see. Well, should you receive a letter from him confirming any plans to visit, you will let me know so that I may have your mother make the appropriate accommodations."
"Yes, I will. But Father, how do you know Mr. Crosic may be planning to visit Collinsport?"
"Is it not common for any investor to wish to investigate the facilities of the company in which they are investing?"
"I suppose not."
"Brutus, you still have much to learn; be sure not to forget that. It is easy to lose money during these days, do not forget that."
"I shan't. Is there anything more you wish me to complete?"
"Nothing that comes to mind. Do you wish to go?"
"Actually, yes. I have arrangements with a friend in town."
"And what type of arrangements are these?"
"A lady friend and I will be having dinner in one of the more prominent restaurants."
"If you must. Be off then young lad, and do report to me before you retire in case I have further converse."
"Certainly Father. Good evening."
"Good evening." Isaac said, turning and watching as Brutus put his glass down and exited the room.
Twenty minutes later Brutus came downstairs, after bathing and putting on new clothes to go on his date. He bid goodbye to his father and left the house. Riding in his carriage to town, he looked out the window and thought he saw a figure in the woods. He told the driver to stop, and once the driver did so, Brutus stepped out of the carriage and looked around. The forest was dimly lit by the last light that was seeping over the horizon from the sunset. Everything cast a long shadow across the ground, and after seeing nothing, Brutus concluded that he must have seen a tree sway with the wind, and was on his way. As soon as the carriage started movement again, a man with sandy colored hair and deep, piercing eyes, stepped out from behind a tree.
He watched Brutus' carriage further itself down the drive and did not emerge completely from the shadows of the forest until he was sure the carriage would not change its course. Once convinced, he stepped out onto the road leading from the house to the main road, and walked up it, towards the mansion. As he walked he took in his surroundings, being sure that he was aware of every bend in the drive, every tree, every blade of grass, every insect. He would know this land better than his own.
Reaching the house, he approached slowly and cautiously, being sure that no one outside would see him, and that no one inside would see him either. He stepped lightly as he walked up to the huge window and peered in, watching those inside. Two women. One with blonde hair down to her shoulders, and a bow tied in the back of her head. She had big brown eyes that seemed as if they would pop out of her head at anytime. Her hands were folded in her lap, and as she was speaking, every minute or so, she would wring them together as if she were nervous. She was 19 years of age. And the other, a beautiful woman with brown hair pulled tightly in a bun on the back of her head and hazel colored eyes looked extremely calm and dignified, obviously the more wise of the two, who was 22 years old. The blonde was Olivia Collins, and the other Margaret Collins.
Olivia had been known ever since she was a young girl to be nervous and to act on a whim, whereas Margaret had always been calm, in any situation, and always thought things through. At this time they were talking about what their father had told their mother in their earlier conversation. Olivia and Margaret had listened from the landing at the peak of the staircase in the hall, Margaret's idea. He listened through the window as the two women talked.
"Olivia stop being so worrisome! It is quite annoying and I will not stand it one second longer!"
"But what if we are caught? Punished? I do not like the thought of father being angry with us."
"If you want this as bad as I do, you will be willing to do anything in order to get it. Father can only be mad at us for so long. His anger will pass with time."
"Still, I cannot release the feeling of being caught. I cannot even imagine what will happen to us if we were to be found out."
"Then do not try to imagine it. Dismiss these thoughts from your mind, and be open to the plan. If you are not, we will surely be caught."
"The best I can do is try. Ask no more of me than that."
"You know I do not. Will you leave with me then?"
Olivia took a long pause and a heavy sigh before answering "Yes."
"Good. I've had Elizabeth pack our things. They shall be waiting for us in a carriage just outside of the gate."
"When.....do we leave?"
"At sundown. It will only be an hour or so. Are you sure you're ready? That you've dismissed all doubts from your head?"
"Yes. I am ready."
"Excellent. Meet me here when the time comes. I shall go to my room to be sure everything is prepared." Margaret turned to exit but stopped suddenly. She grabbed her throat, and started coughing. Her body began convulsing, and she tore at the top of her gold dress to free herself from its grasp. When she had loosened it just a bit, she still coughed, her throat still constricted. She fell to the floor, on her hands and knees, and a few seconds later she collapsed completely.
Olivia ran over to Margaret and bent down beside her. "Margaret! Margaret wake up! Margaret please!" Olivia shook her. "Elizabeth! Elizabeth come quickly!" she called for their maid.