Chapter 16: Searching for Jacqueline

Saint Pierre, Martinique, June 1830

Just as I predicted, I become an outcast the moment my adoption by Brigitte Thibert twentyone years ago becomes known among the snobby social circles of Fort Royal. Perhaps ‘outcast’ is an exaggeration, but unless I can prove that my birthmother, Jacqueline, was a woman worthy of respect, then I’ll remain relegated to the outer fringes of Martinique high society. Personally, nothing would please me more than to be rid of the strictures and mores of their elitist society. It’s all a pantomime anyway. Under the veneer of etiquette and propriety, there is an abundance of illicit affairs and sexual abandon.

However, Brigitte Thibert, the woman I’ve called Mama since my birth, deserves better. She and her ancestors have been members of the ruling class of Martinique for over a century. I owe it to her to do my best to fit into her social circles. Which means I need to find out more about my birth mother. All I know is that Jacqueline was pregnant with me when she was purchased as a slave for the Ladybird plantation. Jacqueline was granted her freedom as soon as she signed the adoption paper handing me over to Jules and Brigitte Thibert. Following Jules’ death a year later, my ‘uncle’ Henri inherited the Ladybird plantation.

That’s why I’ve travelled north to Saint Pierre, the administrative capital of Martinique. Hopefully I can find some record about Jacqueline in Saint Pierre. Failing that I can travel from there to the Ladybird plantation, where I was born. Perhaps Henri will allow me to read the plantation’s records to see what I can find.

It’s a sign of Mama’s eagerness for me to succeed that she’s allowed me to travel north with only Samantha and Charity for company. Samantha has only just returned from her visit to St. Lucia, so I feel honoured that she was willing to set off on another journey so soon. Her practical skills will be invaluable, and having her along has boosted my spirits.

There are numerous reasons why Charity Howe is a poor choice of travelling companion. She and I have spent the last decade at each other’s throats with no love lost between us. Charity and her family descend from the English settler society, while Mama and I are part of the rival French settler group. Theoretically that division ended fifteen years ago when the English handed Martinique back to the French. The two groups of settlers supposedly became a single Martinique group. It has taken nearly a generation for practise to catch up with theory. I suppose Charity and I have been on better terms in recent weeks, ever since I kissed her.

Charity is tentatively engaged to my ‘brother’ Randolph, who is currently working with Henri on the Ladybird plantation. Since Henri is getting old and has never married, Randolph is heir apparent to the Ladybird plantation. Charity is travelling north in order to visit Randolph in Saint Pierre. It’s a testimony to the double standards of Martinique high society that Randolph’s adoption is perfectly acceptable while mine is not. Randolph’s mother was a slave, like mine, but it doesn’t impact on his social standing.

We travel to Saint Pierre by ship. It’s both faster and safer than the winding overland route through tropical forest. If we need to go to the plantation, then we’ll have no option but to travel by road. Fortunately that’s a problem for another day.

“Where do you intend to start your search?” asks Charity as the two of us stand by the ship’s rail while the west coast of Martinique slips past us.

“Edward suggested I work back from the plantation’s slave register,” I reply. “But that would mean going to the plantation first. That’s not very convenient, so I think I’ll look at whatever records I can find in Saint Pierre.”