Queen Read Online Free Page B

linen, and James could not
        sell his except on the local market, where the prices were meaningless.
        All because of his foolish children.
        He was hurt and angry. He had tried to give his offspring every
        advantage, and, one by one, they had rejected him, and all he had done
        for them.
        "All this could be yours," he shouted at Jamie, waving his hand at the
        estate, pointing to the mill. "But only if you have the good sense to
        protect it!"
        Obviously, the boy had no sense, and was in sore need of discipline. For
        reasons that were as much political as practical, James did what he had
        done for each of his other children. He enrolled Jamie in a school in
        Dublin, and wrote to his brother Henry asking if Jamie might board with
        him there.
        BLOODLINES 17
     
        All the Jackson children had boarded with Uncle Henry when they went to
        school in Dublin. He was all the things their father was not-a
        warmhearted and generous man, and dedicated to Ireland. He had a fine
        house in the best part of the city, but was living on yesterday's income.
        He owned an ironworks that had been successful, but the more he announced
        his sentiments against the British, the more his business declined. He
        still had loyal clients, but none of the large orders from the British
        Commissioner or the military came his way anymore. His financial fate was
        exactly what James Jackson was trying so desperately to avoid.
        The prospect of Dublin thrilled Jamie. He had never been there, but knew
        from his sisters, when they came home to visit, that it was a vibrant and
        exciting city, full of adventure and teeming life. He was sad to leave
        Washington and Jugs and old Quinn, and said many fond farewells to them,
        and assured Jugs he would change his linen frequently, and eat well, and
        not get into trouble. On his last day in Ballybay, he walked to Maureen's
        cottage, and said his good-byes to her and to Patrick, and thanked them
        for their many kindnesses to him.
        Then he turned to Scan, whom he had hardly seen since their argument. To
        his surprise, Sean had tears in his eyes, and embraced Jamie, and wished
        him well, and Jamie clung to his friend, and felt, for the first time,
        that he was leaving home.
        The following morning, when Jamie set off in the trap with Quinn, on his
        new adventure, Sean was waiting at the gate, and rode with them to
        Carrickmacross. He told Jamie it was as well he was leaving. The country
        was in turmoil, and the long-promised battle was looming. It was better
        that Jamie be out of it, comparatively safe, in the big city. At
        Carrickmacross, Sean jumped out of the trap, shook hands with Jamie, said
        a gruff good-bye, and wandered away into the crowd.
        Sean's cautionary farewell distressed Jamie, for he realized that his
        friend did not think him brave. But he was brave, and he would prove it,
        and make Sean proud of him.
     
    He loved Dublin. It was everything his sisters, especially Eleanor, had
    promised him it would be. He loved the elegance and graciousness of
    Merrion Square, where his uncle Henry lived, and he was shocked by The
    Liberties, where the tattered
    18 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN
     
    poor squatted in mansions that had once been the homes of the fich. He
    strolled on the banks of the meandering fiver, the Liffey, and stood in
    awe before the imposing Dublin Castle, the grandest he had ever seen. He
    thrilled to ride with his uncle through the grinding slums of Whitechapel,
    and wept at the poverty he saw there, and did not know that his uncle was
    carefully appraising his reactions. His ears were enchanted by the strange
    music of the city, the perpetual noise, out of which