CHAPTER X

THE QUADROON'S HOME


A FEW miles out of Richmond is a pleasant place, with here and there
a beautiful cottage surrounded by trees so as scarcely to be seen.
Among these was one far retired from the public roads,
and almost hidden among the trees. This was the spot that Henry
Linwood had selected for Isabella, the eldest daughter of Agnes.
The young man hired the house, furnished it, and placed his
mistress there, and for many months no one in his father's family
knew where he spent his leisure hours.

When Henry was not with her, Isabella employed herself in looking after
her little garden and the flowers that grew in front of her cottage.
The passion-flower, peony, dahlia, laburnum, and other plants,
so abundant in warm climates, under the tasteful hand of Isabella,
lavished their beauty upon this retired spot, and miniature paradise.

Although Isabella had been assured by Henry that she should be free
and that he would always consider her as his wife, she nevertheless
felt that she ought to be married and acknowledged by him.
But this was an impossibility under the State laws, even had
the young man been disposed to do what was right in the matter.
Related as he was, however, to one of the first families in Virginia,