Without a single word, he buried his face
in his handkerchief, and burst into tears.
This made Gertrude still more unhappy, for she feared that he had
misunderstood her; and she immediately expressed her regret that
she had mentioned the subject. Becoming satisfied from this that
his wife sympathized with him in his unhappy situation, Henry told
her of the agony that filled his soul, and Gertrude agreed to
intercede for him with her mother for the removal of the child to
a boarding-school in one of the Free States.
In the afternoon, when Henry returned from his office, his wife met
him with tearful eyes, and informed him that her mother was filled
with rage at the mere mention of the removal of Clotelle from her
premises.
In the mean time, the slave-trader, Jennings, had started for the
South with his gang of human cattle, of whom Isabella was one.
Most quadroon women who are taken to the South are either sold to
gentlemen for their own use or disposed of as house-servants or
waiting-maids. Fortunately for Isabella, she was sold, for the
latter purpose. Jennings found a purchaser for her in the person
of Mr. James French.
Mrs. French was a severe mistress. All who lived with her, though
well-dressed, were scantily fed and over-worked. Isabella found
her new situation far different from her Virginia cottage-life.
She had frequently heard Vicksburg spoken of as a cruel place for
slaves, and now she was in a position to test the truthfulness of
the assertion.
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