Secret History; or, the Horrors of St. Domingo: In a Series of Letters, Written by a Lady at Cape Francois, to Colonel Burr, Late Vice-President of the United States, Principally During the Command of General RochambeuSansay, Leonora
History
Secret History; or, the Horrors of St. Domingo: In a Series of Letters, Written by a Lady at Cape Francois, to Colonel Burr, Late Vice-President of the United States, Principally During the Command of General Rochambeu
Sansay, Leonora
Haiti -- History -- Revolution, 1791-1804; Haiti -- Social life and customs
The husband of Donna Maria, the Spanish lady whom I mentioned to you
before, had gone to St. Jago, some days previous to my arrival here.
Having, as is the universal custom, visited a gaming house, he had a
dispute with a gambler of bad reputation, and on leaving the house
received a blow with a poinard, which proved mortal.
Such occurrences are too frequent to create much public interest, and
it is considered useless to seek the assassin.
When the senora Maria expected the return of her husband, she heard
that he existed no longer. The news was brought by her brother. Her
house joins the one I live in. Hearing the most lamentable cries from
her chamber I ran in. Judge of my surprise at seeing Don Alonzo. His,
I believe, was not less, for abandoning his sister, he approached me;
but I was too much terrified at her situation, to attend to him. When
informed of the cause, I felt that in that moment she could not be
consoled, and I saw also that the violence of her sorrow would soon
exhaust itself.
Don Alonzo sought an opportunity of speaking to me, which I avoided.
Learning afterwards where I lived, he so ingratiated himself with
madame St. Clair, that he received an invitation to her house, and in
that house he now passes all his time. He has been the innocent cause
of much of my suffering, yet I cannot find fault with his conduct; and
madame St. Clair, devoting much of her time to his widowed sister, I
have no means of escaping from him. He has informed me of many of the
follies of St. Louis, of the obstinacy with which he affirmed that
Don Alonzo had aided my flight, and of the means he had employed to
discover me. And why, he sometimes asks, did you not suffer me to aid
you? why did you not repose confidence in me?
You know my dear Mary, how eloquent are his eyes! you know the
insinuating softness of his voice! Sometimes, when listening to him, I
forget for a moment all I have suffered, and almost persuade myself
that a man can be sincere.
The governor of Bayam is an Irish Spaniard, at least he is of an Irish
family, and was born in Spain. I have become acquainted with him since
the arrival of Don Alonzo, and felt, the instant I beheld him, as if
I was in the society of an old acquaintance. His Irish vivacity is a
little tempered by Spanish gravity. He speaks English as if he had
been raised in his own country, and his mind is stored with literary
treasures. He has a handsome collection of books, which he offered me.
Judge of my delight at meeting with Shakspeare in the wilds of Cuba.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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