Chapter Twenty-Nine #3
“‘Kapok.’ I pointed to him. ‘Ger-ald,’ I said, thumping my chest. He grinned and gestured to the mountains looming in the distance. I gathered that he wanted me to follow them.
“It took two days to reach our destination, and I saw no other human inhabitants along the way, white or dark. Of my life when I reached their village, there is little to tell. The tribe welcomed me. Food was plentiful; the women gathered fruit or plants while the men hunted. I lived their simple ways for nearly a year, guessing by the change of seasons.”
“Athair, how did you manage to return home from such a remote place?” His answer was interrupted by the appearance of a housemaid with the tea service.
“A remarkable story indeed, Mr. Rafferty,” Richard said, stoking the fire. “You have not disappointed in your promise.”
“You also have a story to tell, Lord Seldon. I am curious to discover how you are engaged to my daughter. But I’ll finish my tale first, then hear yours.”
More trays arrived with an assortment of small cakes and biscuits. Gerald Rafferty drank heartily of the tea but declined food. Richard remained at the fireplace, refusing both.
“Finally, I saw another white face. A Dutch trader came into the village with a bag of European clothing and another full of trinkets and toys.
It was not his first visit. The natives slapped him on the back and snatched up the items as fast as he laid them out.
As they admired their gifts, I questioned the fellow.
His name was Nils Hoenig. He spoke enough English to tell me I was with the Macuxi Indian tribe and had followed the Paru River inland to the Pacaraima Mountains deep in South America.
“I wondered why another European would come to such a remote area. He said he followed a rumor from the first explorers of the region that the Macuxi had great treasure. He traveled far inland and quickly befriended the peaceful tribe. But there were no signs of wealth in the village; the natives lived simply and wore no ornamentation. I asked him what profit lay in trading knick-knacks and clothing to the natives? Hoenig smiled and told me to accompany him in the morning, and I would find out.”
“Ah.” Richard nodded. “The diamond mine.”
Gerald Rafferty flashed a wolfish grin at his audience. Fiona sighed inwardly; her father was an adventurer at heart and that would never change.
“Yes, Lord Seldon, the diamond mine. Nils Hoenig had discovered the deposit by pure chance. One day, as he explored the north side of the Pacaraimas, he saw strange reflections of light in the distance and climbed the crags to discover a shallow cave in the cliffs. Strange, but the diamonds held no value in the Macuxi culture.”
“So, you have been in South America this entire time?” Fiona interrupted frostily. “Couldn’t you have sent word at some point?”
“Now, lass, we speak of unexplored territory deep in Brazil.”
How well she remembered that cajoling tone. It was the way he coaxed their forgiveness for the habitual disappointments she and her mother had suffered in the wake of his adventures and poor decisions.
“The Pacaraimas are harsh and difficult to excavate. It took over a year to dig out enough diamonds to leave. We might have stayed longer, but some dispute arose between Kapok and the Dutchman, and we fled, lucky to escape alive. We traveled northeast through Guyana to Georgetown. It was a long, grueling journey.”
“What happened to Hoenig?” Richard asked.
“The trek home got the better of my Dutch partner. As we hiked through the jungle, he was bitten by a serpent and died within the day. I managed to reach the coast, but I dared not stop to send a message while carrying the diamonds. Men’s throats have been cut for a ha’ penny on that brutal continent.
I caught the very first packet, which traveled to Spain. The journey home took nearly a month.”
She was silent, trying to grasp that her father had chased diamonds for a year rather than return home.
“Acushla, your censure breaks my heart. Aren’t you glad to see me home? And with enough wealth for your children’s children, too.”
Fiona looked over at Richard, hoping that he might remind her father that she would not need anything as his countess. He was silent, his mouth compressed into a grim line.
“I reached out to O’Cleary the instant I landed in Dublin, Fiona, and he wrote back that you lived in London now.
The business to reestablish myself took weeks, but I swore I would not come to you without the legacy you deserved.
We have a fine estate in Dublin, and the bulk of the diamonds are safely in the bank. ”
Incredulously, Richard still said nothing. Didn’t he care if her father took her away? Did this mean he no longer wanted to marry her? Her stomach was in knots.
Gerald Rafferty straightened. “Well, my tale is done. Now, Lord Seldon, ’tis your turn. Please tell me how you and my daughter became engaged.”
“Mother,” Richard asked, “will you summon Miss Ernest? I think it is time for Octavia to return to her studies. Mr. Rafferty and I have much to discuss.”