Freedom Bound Read Online Free

pillow
next to hers.
    When Charlotte rose, being careful not to waken Mrs.
Knightly, she found her gown and cloak, well brushed, on a
clothes rack. Her undergarments, washed and ironed, lay
folded on a chair.

    â€œDid Posy take good care of you?” Mrs. Knightly asked while
they breakfasted in the dining room. For breakfast they ate
ham served with biscuits and a strange sort of porridge that
Mrs. Knightly called grits.
    â€œExcellent care. I’m not used to such attention.”
    â€œColonel Knightly bought Posy for me five years ago. Shewas newly arrived from West Africa. He paid fifteen pounds.
I thought it was too much. But Posy has proved to be worth
every penny. I have trained her to arrange my hair.” She
touched her fingers to the artfully twined tresses. “And to
look after my clothes. To my astonishment, I discovered that
she was already a skilled seamstress.”
    â€œDoesn’t it trouble you to keep a slave? In Africa, I suppose she was free.”
    Mrs. Knightly shook her head. “In Africa she was a slave
to idolatry. But now she is a Christian. And so, in the life to
come, she will be free.”
    â€œI was thinking of this present life.”
    â€œServitude in this present life is a small price to pay for
eternal happiness.”
    Charlotte gulped. It was hard to swallow the idea that
Africans should be grateful to those who carried them off to
a life of slavery. Even though Mrs. Knightly was more than
ten years her elder and also her superior in social rank,
Charlotte spoke up.
    â€œIt seems to me that you’re working mighty hard to persuade yourself that something wrong is really right.”
    Mrs. Knightly flushed. There was a flash of anger in her
eyes.
    I shouldn’t have said that, Charlotte thought. I’m her
guest, and she’s being very kind to me. But is it wrong to
speak the truth, even when it’s a truth she doesn’t want to
face?
    After a silence, Mrs. Knightly said, “I forgive your impertinence. It’s understandable that you share your husband’s
views. That being the case, you will be comfortable living in
a Quaker household. And I’m happy to tell you that arrangements have been made.”
    â€œHas Colonel Knightly found a place for me to stay?”
    â€œYes. You will lodge with the Quaker woman I spoke of.
Mrs. Doughty is a young widow with three small children to
support. She is willing to take in a lodger for the few shillings a week it will bring.”
    Charlotte hoped that Mrs. Knightly would say that the
colonel had arranged for the payment of those shillings.
When she did not, Charlotte tried to think of a tactful way
to raise the subject, but saw no way to do so without seeming to insult her hostess. Besides, she did not want Mrs.
Knightly to think her a pauper. After all, she still had three
pounds left in her purse. By being frugal, she hoped she
could make them last until Nick’s return.
    â€œWho will take me to this woman’s house?”
    â€œPosy knows the way. She can take your trunk in a handcart.” Mrs. Knightly pushed her chair back from the table.
     “I’ll summon her directly.”

    Charlotte was waiting in the entrance hall for slaves to bring
down her trunk when the front door opened and Captain
Braemar stepped inside. She smiled, glad to see a familiar
face.
    â€œGood morning,” he said with a bow. “I’m surprised to see
you ready to go out so early. It’s fortunate I haven’t missed
you.” He reached into the black leather pouch that was
attached to one of his white cross-belts. “I have a letter that
Nick asked me to give you if I succeeded in meeting your
ship. Rather than carry it around with me, I decided to keep
it safe in my closet until you arrived.”
    He handed her a folded sheet of paper, closed with a red
seal.
    â€œOh, thank you.” She clutched the letter.
    â€œI don’t wish to detain you,” he said,