For long the
sisters lived estranged then, Mrs. Jackson and Mrs. Adcock were
reconciled for a moment, only to quarrel the more fiercely; the
name of Mrs. Adcock was proscribed, nor did it again pass her
sister's lips, until the morning when she announced: 'Mary Adcock
is dead; I saw her in her shroud last night.' Second sight was
hereditary in the house; and sure enough, as I have it reported, on
that very night Mrs. Adcock had passed away. Thus, of the four
daughters, two had, according to the idiotic notions of their
friends, disgraced themselves in marriage; the others supported the
honour of the family with a better grace, and married West Indian
magnates of whom, I believe, the world has never heard and would
not care to hear: So strange a thing is this hereditary pride. Of
Mr. Jackson, beyond the fact that he was Fleeming's grandfather, I
know naught. His wife, as I have said, was a woman of fierce
passions; she would tie her house slaves to the bed and lash them
with her own hand; and her conduct to her wild and down-going sons,
was a mixture of almost insane self-sacrifice and wholly insane
violence of temper.
Pages:
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44