The Legacy of Hope House by Dilys Xavier Page B

that seemed the right thing to do. George looked delighted at her response, and guided her with pretentious sweeps of his arm to a chair. Her eyes settled back on this ancestral uncle who was casually dressed in a short sleeveless vest over a white long-sleeved shirt tightly gathered in at the wrist.
    Just as she was taking it all in there was a timid tap on the door. It opened a little way, and a pretty young face, crowned with a mass of tumbling blonde curls, peeped around the edge.
    ‘Ah, my little cherub, come inside,’ George said, arms outstretched and beaming at the sight of her. The door opened wide, and a pretty girl stepped shyly into the room, as light on her feet as any ballerina. He took her by the hand and brought her over to Anna. ‘This is Letitia, my sweet young bride. She has not long left her homeland of Wales.’
    Anna could hardly believe this girl was old enough to be a wife. She looked barely fourteen years; a mere child, so tiny, so slim, so very pretty, but dressed in the most elegant, adult fashion. The beautiful gown she wore rustled as she moved. It was made of pale rose-pink silk, and elaborately cut with a large vee shaped panel of deeper pink set into the centre front on the breast. This was edged with lace right down to the waist, and echoed on the hip-line where it was gathered together. The long fitting sleeves widened from the elbow to form a lace-edged fan shape around her wrists. The exquisite creation fell in generous folds right down to tiny feet clad in hand embroidered silk slippers.
    Anna knew she had seen a picture like it before, but she failed to recall exactly where. But what really caught her eye was the scintillating collar of brilliant gemstones the girl wore. It was made of several rows of faceted rubies, each row alternated with a circle of dazzling emeralds. A single, huge pear shaped diamond encased in gold dropped from the centre. It was awesome.
    Convinced she had seen a picture of a similar necklace somewhere, she racked her brain. Suddenly it came to her. Letitia. She wore the necklace, and the dress, in the portrait hanging in Hope House.
    Papa suddenly whispered in her ear. ‘That little girl is your seven-times great aunt.’ Then he took Anna’s hand. ‘Come along, we must move on,’ he said, bidding George farewell. Once they were outside and alone again, Papa said, ‘We have to be cautious now because of the Maroons.’
    ‘What are they?’
    ‘Slaves in revolt; wild bands of rebellious former slaves. They are not subdued and unintelligent as the British would like to think. They escaped long ago, took refuge in the hills, and from there they conduct dramatic and bloody attacks which cause mayhem down here.’ He shook his head and placed his hands together. ‘Their uprisings are an attempt to resist their enslavement. They have killed many of us, and they do a tremendous amount of damage to our property and crops.’
    The colonel grabbed Anna’s hand, and in a flash, or so it seemed to Anna, they were standing outside a huge white house set in an enormous area of grassland. For a moment, she thought she was outside Hope House, but then it dawned on her that this was the original mansion Papa had built in Jamaica, and the house she had inherited was an exact copy.
    ‘Are you ready?’ Papa asked, and squeezed her hand again. In another instant, they were inside. Anna gazed around with the odd feeling she was back in her own Hope House. The speed at which they moved from place to place and century to century was incredible, but she was becoming used to it by now. It was all so new and exciting.
    ‘I want you to meet two way-back uncles of yours, my brothers George the Younger, and Martyn.’ Papa gave Anna’s hand another squeeze.
    In an instant, in front of her was George, another who was particularly handsome. She felt convinced he reminded her of someone she knew, but although she racked her brain the identity of that person escaped her. Just then,