Sarah's Roses, Book I: Roses of Blue

Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVI

“He’s just got to sign the papers, hand over the money and it will be all settled,” I heard Uncle Andrew’s voice coming from his study and I slid up closer to the door, wondering what he was talking about. Through the crack I could see Uncle Andrew speaking to Barton. “Sam should be ready for transport the day after tomorrow! Make sure he’s in good shape and well fed, I don’t like selling sickly slaves; after all, the man is paying for him.”

I felt as though my heart had stopped. Was Uncle selling Sammy?

“Yes sir,” Barton gave a frank nod of his head.

“That will be all, you can go.”

Burton gave another nod of his head and walked toward the door. I took a quick leap back, to make it look as though I was casually passing by. He noticed me, gave a nod of recognition and went on his way. I knocked on my uncle’s study and walked in. Uncle Andrew looked up and a shadow appearing on his face when he saw it was me.

“You’re selling Sam?” I asked, placing my hands on his desk and looking straight into his eyes.

“To Mr. Hartbert, yes,” he replied with a cool indifference and he grabbed some papers and began looking over them.

“Not to Mr. Hartbert. Uncle, you can’t do that. The man is a slave trader, heaven knows how he’ll treat Sam and what sort of a rotten master he’ll sell him too. You.just.can’t.do.that!”

“Can’t I?” He lifted an eyebrow, still glancing at his papers. “Sarah, I just did.”

“But why to Mr. Hartbert of all people? That man is a monster.”

“No one else is willing to buy him at the moment.”

“Why sell him at all?”

Uncle Andrew lifted his head. “Because, you, Sarah, have left me with no other choice. I can’t have you running off and carrying on some romance with a slave. You have more important duties before you, can’t you even understand that?”

“More important duties?” I sat down in the chair facing him.

“Yes, duties that do not involve getting involved with a slave. I trusted you, Sarah, I trusted you because you gave me your word that you would end it all! Is that your way of ending it? How could you have lied to me like that? Tell me, is he the reason you have been refusing suitors? Lucky for you, Henry Earl and Albert Thompson were both young men I did not approve of! But what happens when other men enter your life, men of good standing and good breeding, men like Mr. Browne for example. Are you going to refuse them too simply because you a carrying an affair with a slave?”

I looked down.

“I am giving you freedom, Sarah, when it came to choosing a future husband, but that freedom is within certain boundaries and Sam Climb simply does not fit into them. I could just lay down the law and dictate to you who you can see and who you can’t, I could just find the husband myself and force you to marry him. I am not going to do that, but that doesn’t mean you can go running around doing whatever you please with whomever you please. You behavior has angered and saddened me. And it’s not just the fact that you began and carried a romance with a slave, but because you lied to me about it. And you still have the nerve to ask why I am selling him? I do not approve of your romance, and I am putting it to an end, once and for all. If love is what you wish for, Sarah, then I suggest you look for it in your social class."

"If that is the case, perhaps I should seek out a fellow bastard for myself to marry then," I spoke in a haunting tone. It was the first time I had dared to be so sassy with Uncle Andrew. He glanced up at me sharply. For an instant, a look of pain appeared in his eyes, then he masked it with cool indifference.