Stone That the Builder Refused - Madison Smartt Bell [254]
“None of this ruin is my doing!” Toussaint said hotly. “I did not tell the Captain-General Leclerc to force his way on shore with cannon and sword. No more did I order General Rochambeau to slaughter all my garrison at Fort Liberté—”
“It is not our doing either.” Isabelle unwound her scarf to reveal her face—her voice emerged sharp and clear. “We have lost much in this struggle ourselves, and seen our homes destroyed.”
“Yes,” said Toussaint with some impatience. “I know you, Madame Cigny—I am familiar with your losses.”
Isabelle stopped, one hand on her throat, where she wore the key to her gutted house in Le Cap, along with her other amulet.
“Leclerc’s men have burned my house as well,” said Toussaint shortly. “There is next to nothing left of Habitation Sancey.” His eyes shifted. “And you,” he said. “Xavier Tocquet. How will you judge between me and the Captain-General?”
“I won’t,” said Tocquet, his voice quiet. “I do not judge such questions. We have known each other for a long time, Governor, and you know me as well as that.”
“For the love of God!” Isabelle said. “We know you to have a compassionate heart, Governor—surely you mean no harm to this man, who is now our only protector.”
“For a weak and helpless woman like yourself?” Toussaint covered his mouth with his hand.
“And what of my brother?” Elise, too, unwrapped her head, and shook her blond hair down on her shoulders. The spark of amusement left Toussaint’s eyes, and it seemed to Tocquet that the black general sank more remotely into himself, as he turned his head rather stiffly toward her.
“He who has saved the lives and limbs of so many of your soldiers, Governor, and served you tirelessly for so many years. Where is he now, my brother?”
“Doctor Hébert was safe and well when I saw him last at Petite Rivière,” Toussaint said. “It is my heartfelt wish he may continue so.”
“Petite Rivière!” Isabelle hissed. “We have just heard that Leclerc and all his men were destroyed by your armies at Petite Rivière.”
“Did you indeed?” Toussaint smiled on her openly. “Well, that may be. But if it has already happened, I have not been told of it.”
He wiped away the smile, then glanced over his shoulder with a snap of his fingers. “Guiaou—Guerrier.”
The two rode up quickly.
“Escort these people to Habitation Thibodet.”
“Oui, mon général.” Guiaou saluted.
“You will be seen safe home,” Toussaint said, turning toward Tocquet.
“Accept our thanks,” Tocquet said. He was sweating a little, in spite of the breeze. “And can we safely remain there?”
“That has become a difficult question,” Toussaint said. “Though through no fault of mine. Recall: before the Captain-General landed, you might remain peacefully at home or travel wherever you would in the colony, without fear. But now . . . You might do better to go north.”
“To Le Cap?” Isabelle put in.
“Yes, to Le Cap,” Toussaint said, tightening his reins as Bel Argent began to sidestep. “But you must do it quickly.”
Descahaux had been set to rights by the time Toussaint returned there in the late afternoon. The French soldiers had not much disrupted the place; possibly they had not realized it was one of his personal properties. Suzanne and the family always preferred the more comfortable situation of Sancey. There was nothing so very grand about the grand’case of Descahaux, though the house was well placed to catch the breezes and offered splendidly wide views of the mountains ranging behind each other on all sides. Deyè mòn gegne mòn . . . Toussaint came here for solitude, or sometimes, admittedly, for trysts.
He’d instructed Guiaou and Guerrier to scout further on the ways from Ennery to Marmelade, once they’d deposited the blancs at Thibodet, and at sunset they’d come back with the news that the road was open. The French general Desfourneaux occupied Plaisance. But Toussaint would only have to knock in a few French pickets to reach Marmelade from Ennery, and that would be his movement for the following day. Though he was happy to have