Read Online Roanoke (The Keepers of the Ring) by Angela Hunt, Angela Elwell Hunt - Free Book Online
Authors: Angela Hunt, Angela Elwell Hunt
Ads: Link
her mistress.
“Audrey, have you met everyone aboard this vessel?”
Jocelyn and Audrey lay in semi-darkness on their straw mattresses in the women’s section of the second deck. The bright colors of sunrise had been muted by a gentle rain falling outside, and a soft, humid mist had dampened everything aboard the ship, including Jocelyn’s already depressed spirit. But one intriguing man had crossed her path . . .
Audrey ’s face wore a mask of innocent surprise as she turned to face her mistress. “My heavens, Miss Jocelyn, think you that I’m as forward as that? Of course not! I won’t talk to the seamen, for they’re too rough for me taste, or the married men, for obvious reasons, but of the unmarried men, surely ‘tis not a bad thing to acquaint oneself with one’s companions?”
“Don ’t become too— acquainted— with anyone. We’ll be leaving for London as soon as the ship returns to Portsmouth.”
“Welladay, then, when will I ever have this chance again? Don ’t take offense, Miss Jocelyn, but if ‘tis me fate to become an old spinster in London, why shouldn’t I have some fun with other gents before me time to settle down?”
“I was wondering, in particular—” Jocelyn hesitated. There seemed to be no subtle way to phrase her question. “There ’s an older man, with dark hair, an interesting face. He wears a black doublet and hose. He stood near us yesterday in the supper line, and spoke to me after eating.”
“Aye, I remember him.” Audrey frowned, but leaned closer. “Though I don ’t think he’s of your class, Miss Jocelyn, if ye have a yearning to know him better, I could put a word in among the men—”
“No!” Jocelyn whispered, horrified. She lowered her voice so the other women who still slept near them wouldn ’t hear. “I just wanted to know his name.”
“Well,” Audrey snuggled closer and smiled brightly, eager to share her news. “Naturally, I did see ye talking to him the other night, and I ’ve done some checking. They say he’s called Thomas Colman, and I hear he’s been made a gentleman with your uncle’s other assistants.” She paused. “On account of he’s a minister.”
A minister? So he had studied, that explained his familiarity with Marcus Aurelius. But why had her uncle elevated him to the level of his assistants?
“What else? What will be his role in the colony?”
Audrey shrugged. “Faith, Miss Jocelyn, I didn ’t think you’d care anything about that. I believe he’ll do what other ministers do.” She giggled. “Probably means to convert the Indians, if ye ask me.”
Jocelyn leaned back on her mattress and folded her hands behind her head. From his expeditions to Virginia, her uncle had brought back fascinating portraits of the Indians he met on Roanoke Island. Jocelyn ’s father had kept several sketches in his chamber where he could quietly envy his brother’s role in the exploration of a new world. Driven by the desire and need to show Christian love to the Indians in Virginia, he longed to go to Virginia himself. Did this same concern drive Thomas Colman?
Had he not been ill, Jocelyn knew missionary zeal would have propelled her father onto this ship. Like most people in England, he believed that God had reserved for England and Protestantism the area north of Florida and south of the French-owned St. Lawrence. Tales of Spanish cruelty committed upon American Indians in the name of the Catholic Church ran rampant in England. Like most of the English, Jocelyn and her father were convinced that the Spanish wanted nothing more than to crush England and bring English Protestants back under the iron rule of the pope.
But the Spanish had not yet made inroads into Virginia, and the English were eager to pave the way for Protestantism. “The Indians are truly capable of Christian love,” her uncle had once written her father, “for they naturally share all things in common and know neither jealousy, selfishness, or
“Audrey, have you met everyone aboard this vessel?”
Jocelyn and Audrey lay in semi-darkness on their straw mattresses in the women’s section of the second deck. The bright colors of sunrise had been muted by a gentle rain falling outside, and a soft, humid mist had dampened everything aboard the ship, including Jocelyn’s already depressed spirit. But one intriguing man had crossed her path . . .
Audrey ’s face wore a mask of innocent surprise as she turned to face her mistress. “My heavens, Miss Jocelyn, think you that I’m as forward as that? Of course not! I won’t talk to the seamen, for they’re too rough for me taste, or the married men, for obvious reasons, but of the unmarried men, surely ‘tis not a bad thing to acquaint oneself with one’s companions?”
“Don ’t become too— acquainted— with anyone. We’ll be leaving for London as soon as the ship returns to Portsmouth.”
“Welladay, then, when will I ever have this chance again? Don ’t take offense, Miss Jocelyn, but if ‘tis me fate to become an old spinster in London, why shouldn’t I have some fun with other gents before me time to settle down?”
“I was wondering, in particular—” Jocelyn hesitated. There seemed to be no subtle way to phrase her question. “There ’s an older man, with dark hair, an interesting face. He wears a black doublet and hose. He stood near us yesterday in the supper line, and spoke to me after eating.”
“Aye, I remember him.” Audrey frowned, but leaned closer. “Though I don ’t think he’s of your class, Miss Jocelyn, if ye have a yearning to know him better, I could put a word in among the men—”
“No!” Jocelyn whispered, horrified. She lowered her voice so the other women who still slept near them wouldn ’t hear. “I just wanted to know his name.”
“Well,” Audrey snuggled closer and smiled brightly, eager to share her news. “Naturally, I did see ye talking to him the other night, and I ’ve done some checking. They say he’s called Thomas Colman, and I hear he’s been made a gentleman with your uncle’s other assistants.” She paused. “On account of he’s a minister.”
A minister? So he had studied, that explained his familiarity with Marcus Aurelius. But why had her uncle elevated him to the level of his assistants?
“What else? What will be his role in the colony?”
Audrey shrugged. “Faith, Miss Jocelyn, I didn ’t think you’d care anything about that. I believe he’ll do what other ministers do.” She giggled. “Probably means to convert the Indians, if ye ask me.”
Jocelyn leaned back on her mattress and folded her hands behind her head. From his expeditions to Virginia, her uncle had brought back fascinating portraits of the Indians he met on Roanoke Island. Jocelyn ’s father had kept several sketches in his chamber where he could quietly envy his brother’s role in the exploration of a new world. Driven by the desire and need to show Christian love to the Indians in Virginia, he longed to go to Virginia himself. Did this same concern drive Thomas Colman?
Had he not been ill, Jocelyn knew missionary zeal would have propelled her father onto this ship. Like most people in England, he believed that God had reserved for England and Protestantism the area north of Florida and south of the French-owned St. Lawrence. Tales of Spanish cruelty committed upon American Indians in the name of the Catholic Church ran rampant in England. Like most of the English, Jocelyn and her father were convinced that the Spanish wanted nothing more than to crush England and bring English Protestants back under the iron rule of the pope.
But the Spanish had not yet made inroads into Virginia, and the English were eager to pave the way for Protestantism. “The Indians are truly capable of Christian love,” her uncle had once written her father, “for they naturally share all things in common and know neither jealousy, selfishness, or
Similar Books
