The Widow of Rose Hill (The Women of Rose Hill Book 2), стр. 63
Sickened, he leafed through the pages, noting names and dates until one caught his eye. After removing it from the stack, he carried it over to the window and held it up to the muted light.
The sum of eight hundred dollars was given to D.E. Boyd for the purchase of a Negro man named Moses, aged about thirty-five years and zero months, this day sold to Calvin Langford, the right and title to which slave I hereby warrant and defend against the claim or claims of all persons whatsoever. Given under my hand and seal this third day of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-two.
It was signed by an official in Galveston.
Moses. Bought and paid for by Natalie’s father.
Recalling what Moses said about Langford giving the slave to his daughter upon her marriage, Levi skimmed through the remaining papers until he came to the one he sought.
I do hereby certify that the Negro man named Moses does now belong to Natalie Langford Ellis.
Her father had signed and dated the handwritten note.
Levi stared at the paper, tangible proof that Natalie had owned a human being. While she could foist blame on her father and husband for her part in owning all the other slaves, the document in Levi’s hand told a different story. Her father had given Moses to her upon her asking, the way a child asks for a puppy at Christmastime. In her unquestionable selfishness, she had forced the man to leave his family behind and come to Rose Hill to serve her, never once considering his or Harriet’s wishes on the matter.
Levi read the date again. Six years ago. She had owned Moses for six long years. A question formed in his mind that would not be ignored.
Could a woman like that truly change?
A noise from the hall drew his head up.
Natalie stood in the doorway, Moses behind her, taking in the scene with unhappy eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The look of accusation in Levi’s eyes nearly took Natalie’s breath away.
“Mrs. Ellis.”
The warmth she’d grown accustomed to hearing in his voice was absent. She had hoped they would have an opportunity to talk and sort through the confusion Alexander’s declarations had left between them. When he didn’t return to Rose Hill, despite Corporal Banks’ assurances the colonel was well and in residence at Langford Manor, she decided she would go to him. She’d traveled to the plantation under the guise of retrieving an old toy for Samuel. It seemed ridiculous now in light of Levi’s cold welcome.
“Colonel. May I ask what you’re doing, going through my father’s things?”
He glanced at the mess on the desktop. “I was in need of ink and thought to see if I could locate some. Instead”—his cool gaze narrowed—“I discovered these.” He held up the paper in his hand.
Natalie looked at the faded document, but it was not recognizable. “I have no idea what that is, but I don’t see how anything in my father’s desk concerns you.”
“I admit it doesn’t, but when I found these … to see evidence of the ownership of another human being”—his eyes flicked to Moses then back—“especially a human being you say you care about … well, it is disturbing.”
She stepped to the desk and glanced over the jumble of papers. Though she couldn’t make out the smaller printed words, the bold letters on one of the sheets became clear in the dim light. She lifted it and read the information, a feeling of regret forming in her stomach. “These are the bills of sale for my father’s slaves.”
“Yes. And this one is for Moses. Your father paid eight hundred dollars for him. Not exactly worthy of the man standing behind you, wouldn’t you agree?”
They stared at each other for a long moment before she reached for the document. The words, although simple in their delivery of information, reduced Moses to little more than a possession.
“And this,” Levi said, handing her a second paper, “declares you as his owner.”
His hard tone told her exactly what he thought of that.
She recognized her father’s handwriting. She had a vague memory of him telling her he would deed Moses to her upon her marriage, but she had never seen the document. She looked at the papers on the desk and those in her hand. It seemed a lifetime ago when Papa had bought and sold slaves. Like most daughters, she hadn’t been aware of the business practices that were required to keep a plantation running. Only after George and Luther died did she begin to understand the magnitude of what had to happen each year in order to turn a profit. Slave labor was vital to the process, or so they’d believed.
The fact remained, however, that she and her family were party to owning people. The evidence, as Levi called it, was there on the desk. They couldn’t go back in time and make things right, but she would do her best to make certain Samuel grew into the kind of man who respected all individuals, no matter the color of their skin.
She turned to Moses, who had remained silent through the conversation. “I’m sorry, Moses. I … I know that doesn’t change the things that were done to you over the years, but …”
“You don’t need to ’pologize, Miz Natalie. Things was diff ’rent then. Now, we all workin’ to get on past it. Tomorrow be a new day, and the day after that. Lots’a good can come if we don’t keep lookin’ back.”
Tears welled in her eyes. How many times had the man offered his forgiveness, not only through words