by Bruce Murray
The next year, God granted us two blessings: the first was the birth of our daughter Marguerite on January 18, 1729, and the other was the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Armstrong, who left our colony in the spring. Plagued by discontent in the rank and file of the military and by what he considered the insubordination of his second-in-command, Major Cosby, he decided to return to England to lodge complaints and discuss his governorship with the Board of Trade at Westminster.
Mangeant sailed with him. This signalled the return of the long-absent Governor Philipps. A collective sigh of relief passed over the towns and villages of the colony when the news arrived. The king’s French-speaking subjects descended on Annapolis from every part of Acadia to greet the governor, who had not been in residence for nearly ten years. As his ship arrived in St. Mary’s Bay, a flotilla of schooners and chaloupes from all over Acadia was there to hail his return. This was the start of a much welcome period of peace for my people.
BENJAMIN
Chapter 13
Some lives burn more brightly than others, and their light shines on those who have been fortunate enough to bask in its illumination. My beloved cousin Benjamin possessed such a light. He exuded not only goodness but unfaltering determination, fearlessness, intelligence, and an uncompromising sense of justice. Such a person can inspire many things: admiration in some and resentment in others, courage in some and fear in others, understanding in some and skepticism in others, moral rectitude in some and guilt in others.
Despite all of Benjamin’s outstanding qualities, his father seemed little interested in the remarkable son that he had sired. Indeed, after René LeBlanc remarried and began his life with a new wife, Benjamin seemed to be largely forgotten by his father. René’s new children — one child seemed to be born every year for the next fifteen years — instead occupied his attention.
Given this situation, Benjamin decided it would be more to his liking to remain with his grandfather, my Uncle Pierre. Uncle Pierre was a widower, and although his mind was keen to the end, his old body began to seriously fail him. At twelve, Benjamin began to take on duties that were far beyond his years. His two younger sisters, the children of Isabelle, also remained in the great Manor House. The old mansion became a place for the very young and the very old. Madame Thibideau, the housekeeper, rounded out the occupants of Pierre’s home.
When Uncle Pierre died at Grand Pré some years later, he left his entire estate to Benjamin. Overnight, young Benjamin LeBlanc became one of the wealthiest landowners in Acadia. The estate was so well managed and the income so secure that Uncle Pierre’s property ran itself. Despite being put in the odd situation of now working for his son, René, the notary at Grand Pré, continued to manage Uncle’s business, as he had when the old man was alive. The estate continued to trade with New England merchant ships, French merchant ships, schooners from other communities in Acadia, and the garrison at Annapolis. With the arrival of Governor Philipps, Benjamin’s prosperity seemed to know no bounds. He was only nineteen years old.
In the early summer of 1729 I met up with Benjamin again. A group from Melanson Village was to join Charles and his wife on his newly built schooner sailing for Grand Pré. They were visiting her parents at Minas. Since Jeanne had never been to Grand Pré, and since I was anxious to return there after many years to visit Benjamin, whom I hadn’t seen since before my marriage, we decided to join them.
Little Isabelle, who was now ten, insisted on coming with us. She had been visiting with us and spending time with her new niece, who had been born to us the previous January. The baby was now five months old and Isabelle was absolutely enraptured with her. Her most important reason for wishing to sail with us was the wish to see Benjamin again. She was seven the last time she saw him, but her memory of him was still strong. Over time, her imagination had transformed Benjamin into a handsome prince.
Our journey to Grand Pré was a pleasant one. I was surprised, though, by a significant change that greeted us on our arrival in Annapolis Basin. The number of vessels at anchor there far exceeded what I had seen in any of my earlier visits; indeed, it seemed to be almost double. The explanation for that change lay with the arrival of Governor Philipps. He had endeavoured to establish peaceful relations with the neigbouring Natives and with the French and, as a result, prosperous trading now abounded.
Ships arrived from all parts of the continent, the West Indies, and Western Europe, prepared to trade their goods. Although the Mi’kmaqs in Acadia had not been friendly with the English, the presence of the new governor relaxed their antipathy and trade in furs increased. Beaver pelts were highly prized by the Europeans, and the felt hat business was thriving amongst the gentry across the ocean.
The day we sailed through the gut into the great bay, the water was unusually calm. Our schooner caught the incoming tide and rode a wave all the way along the coastline. We passed the North Mountain, which was covered with the fresh green of summer. As we passed Cape Blomidon, I regaled Jeanne and Isabelle with Mi’kmaq stories of the Great Spirit Glooscap.
“The Mi’kmaq say that Glooscap was the first human being on earth and that he had magical powers. His home is said to be on top of that mountain.” I pointed in the direction of Blomidon. “There is a story that two men came to the mighty Glooscap and asked him for the use of his canoe so they could travel on the Great Sea. Glooscap agreed to their request and told them to go to the shore of the bay where they would find his canoe. When they arrived at the shore, they could not find his canoe. They returned to Glooscap, told him they had not found his canoe, and asked him where they could find it. He returned with them to the shore and pointed to an island off the coast.
“‘There is my canoe,’ he said, referring to the island. ‘Go there and sail away as you please.’
“The men were startled by his answer but they followed his instructions. Once on the island, they realized that this was indeed Glooscap’s canoe and they sailed magically away, experiencing many wondrous adventures on the Great Sea. Can you imagine that, Isabelle?”
Isabelle stared at Blomidon for a moment and looked quizzically at me. “Did the canoe ever return?” she asked. She wore a mischievous smile.
Confounded, I hardly knew what to answer. “You will have to climb the mountain some day and ask Glooscap in person!”
“Piau, it is only a legend. Legends exist to teach us lessons.”
“Aren’t you a clever girl! And what lesson do you think is being taught here?”
She paused momentarily. “Do not loan your canoe to strangers. They may not return it!”
Isabelle’s reply made us all laugh. Her bold and saucy answer was a perfect reflection of her personality — forthright, with no nonsense but with a good sense of fun.
Amused and entertained, Jeanne sat quietly with the baby while Isabelle continued to pepper me with questions.
“Madame Belliveau says Benjamin lives in the grandest house in all Acadia. Is that true, Piau?”
“I have not seen all the houses in Acadia, but Benjamin’s certainly must be one of the most magnificent!”
“Does he live there alone?”
“No, he has two younger sisters who live with him.”
“Do you think Benjamin will remember me, Piau?”
“Of course he will. You are unforgettable,” I assured her.
“I believe when I become a woman I will marry Benjamin. I certainly do not want any other woman to marry him. Perhaps I will have to tell him, so he can wait for me to grow up. If he did marry someone else, my life would be ruined!”
She spoke with such earnestness that I was forced to contain my urge to laugh. I knew from experience that one does not trifle with a young girl’s fantasy.
It was time to change the subject. We were entering the basin at Minas and the summer sun was beginning to slowly sink in the western sky. The light it cast upon the valley was a deep orange — the fiel
ds of grain and corn were bathing in its warmth.
“We are nearing Grand Pré.” I could feel the excitement rising in me as we approached the community I knew so well from my youth. This was the first time I had seen it in summer. I marvelled at its beauty and at the abundance I saw everywhere. “As you can see, it is a paradise here. It is like the Garden of Eden. Is it not beautiful?”
A light breeze from the northeast filled the sails of our schooner as we tacked into the harbour at Grand Pré. A lone figure strolled hurriedly along the length of the wharf. I could tell by the familiar movements it was Benjamin. Tears welled up in me and it was at that point I realized how much I had missed him and how many memories were caught up in this place. As he grabbed the rope to tie the vessel to its mooring, he smiled and greeted us with such magnanimity that we immediately felt welcome.
“Bienvenue à Grand Pré!” he cried. “I have been looking forward to your visit for weeks. Piau, Charles, Marguerite, Jeanne, and — oh my goodness, can this be Isabelle? You have grown into a beautiful young lady.” Isabelle began to blush.
Once on the dock I embraced Benjamin, and we held one another for a delayed moment. He, too, had tears in his eyes. We began to laugh as he greeted the others with hugs and kisses.
Isabelle’s boldness disappeared once she saw Benjamin. He had changed in his looks. He was a young man now, and he was even more handsome; she felt the distance in their ages more than she had two years before. So, as we gathered our things from the boat, she occupied herself by carrying the baby to the wagon to ease her awkwardness.
Two girls stood at the stone gate as we rode up to the Manor House. One girl appeared to be close to adulthood, the other Isabelle’s age. These I knew to be Benjamin’s sisters, Marie Josephe and Elizabeth.
Both I had known since birth. In fact, little Elizabeth was the child for which Isabelle LeBlanc gave her life. She resembled her mother in every detail. Memories of Isabelle’s death came flooding back to me. Then, as quickly as they had materialized, they disappeared.
We had left Charles and Marguerite at the pier where her father was to pick them up. Four of us, including the baby, greeted Benjamin’s sisters and made certain Isabelle was comfortable meeting the young ladies. Isabelle relaxed once she had found someone her own age.
Jeanne allowed the two younger girls to play with the baby. Jeanne was in awe of the Great Room in the Manor House. She had never seen a library of books before. She walked up to the bookcases and felt the leather bindings on the volumes with her fingertips. I shared with her the feelings I had when I first glimpsed this haven of literature. Benjamin had continued the collection since Uncle’s death, and the library was more impressive than it had been when I was a boy. I recognized this as an opportunity to entertain the household in the evenings with stories from these shelves.
Seeing Jeanne’s wonderment, Benjamin pointed to his new acquisitions. “I acquired these twelve volumes from a friend in Louisbourg. These are the Fables of La Fontaine. Grandfather had one volume when we were young, but when my friend Denys Bouchard visited me recently on his annual trading trip, he delivered this set of volumes as a gift. I can’t tell you how pleased and grateful I was to receive them. Each time he visits Grand Pré he stays here for several days. He is a most congenial companion and a lover of literature. They are written in French and I believe they would be entertaining listening for us all. I hope, Piau, you accept the challenge of reading them to us.”
Of course I was more than happy to do so. Reading aloud gave me great pleasure, a warm reminder of those winter nights in this very house when I had read for Uncle, Aunt Marie-Marguerite, Isabelle, and Benjamin.
Each evening I read several of La Fontaine’s fables. I began with the first, “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” With each fable read, we tried to guess the moral of the story. Once we had agreed on the moral, we would write it down. The ones we wrote down on that visit I have memorized and can recall to this day. My favourite and most poignant is “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.”
And so it has been for me.
Chapter 14
Not only had the number of ships in the basin increased, so, too, had the number of people living on its shore. What had changed most about Grand Pré, I noticed, was the size of its population. When I was a boy living with Uncle during those cold winters, the community amounted to no more than a couple hundred inhabitants. Our ride to the Manor House, however, revealed that the surrounding districts now held triple that number. I understood why people came to the Minas area. It offered not only fertile soil and a warmer climate than most of the rest of Acadia but also independence and peace. These benefits would, over time, cause a certain amount of complacency in its population. Indeed, taking these precious circumstances for granted was to make the people particularly vulnerable at Grand Pré when they experienced times of hardship in the 1740s and ’50s.
The Acadian summer of 1729, however, was blissful. Benjamin gave us daily tours of his growing domain with walks through his massive orchards of pear and apple trees and through miles of wheat fields dancing in the sea breezes. We strolled nearby sandy shorelines where we could walk barefoot on the hot sand and cool our feet in the chilly basin. And for the first time in a very long time, no one uttered a word about the English at Annapolis. Not having to give them a second thought was a rare blessing.
During the second week of our stay at Grand Pré, Benjamin held a family gathering at the Manor House. Besides his two sisters, Benjamin had a younger brother, Désiré, who had always lived with his father, René, and eight half-brothers and -sisters, children of his father and his second wife, Marguerite Thebeau. The day was filled with games for the young children, plenty of fresh vegetables and sweets to eat, and singing and dancing for all.
I sang as many ancient songs as I could remember — the children were both a willing audience and receptive learners of those they did not already know. Benjamin and his family praised my singing and remarked on its full-bodied and rich sound.
“Your singing voice, Piau, is miraculous,” Benjamin opined enthusiastically. “The sweetness of your singing is enough to make the angels weep!” I basked in the praise and laughed.
René was pleased to preside over the proceedings as patriarch, observing his numerous offspring as they played and entertained one another. He sat in the yard like a monarch on a throne. We had carried out one of Uncle Pierre’s large tapestry armchairs so he could enjoy his family in comfort.
I now had the opportunity to spend time with René. In the past six years we had no more than a passing relationship — in fact, we rarely saw one another. My connection with René was more in the past than the present.
“It pleases me, Piau, to see you grown up and starting a family. Jeanne is lovely, and the baby is an angel. I should know about angels, I have many!” René laughed his familiar laugh.
Observing his eldest son amusing himself with his younger siblings, he continued, “It has been my son Benjamin’s good fortune to have inherited your Uncle Pierre’s estate. He may be young but he is a brilliant manager of this land. Already the people of this community look on him with the greatest respect, and they rely on him to help solve their problems. Benjamin and I work side by side to ensure Grand Pré prospers for the benefit of all.”
“It is true what you say, René,” I remarked. “The prosperity of your community is evident everywhere you look. I have never in my life seen such abundance. The people of Minas are truly blessed in their independence and peaceful existence.”
René pondered my response momentarily and then asked, “Piau, have you ever considered moving to Grand Pré or perhaps Gaudet Village? The valley around our village is very fertile and you would have more opportunity to expand your holdings there. Melanson Village is a very special place, don’t get me wrong. But it is situated in the most perilous position on Annapolis Basin. Through the years,
the first attacks by our enemies have been at Melanson Village. It may be one of the ancient sites of Acadia, but who knows what the future may bring? The only reason it is safe at all is our enemies’ fear of your grandmother, Madame Marie!”
We both began to laugh uproariously. René had impeccable timing. He tempered every serious discussion with humour. In the end, though, his infinite desire to strike a balance and to conciliate in all situations was to lead to his ultimate disillusionment and ruin.
I responded to his question. “We have given it some thought. If Lieutenant-Governor Armstrong returns, I believe we will be forced to move to Gaudet Village. He has his eye on me.” Then I proceeded to relate the full details of Armstrong’s unwelcome attendance at our wedding.
I could see the rage welling up in René as I spoke. As I completed my story, he began to rant. “That man is vile! Can you imagine him using those bullying tactics on such a solemn occasion? Men like Armstrong rule by instilling fear. I only wish I had been there to witness your grandmother putting him in his place. That would have been rich. She is indeed a human juggernaut! A force of nature! Brava, Madame Marie.”
His rage disappeared as quickly as it had arisen. Neither of us wished to give Armstrong any further thought. Should he enter our lives again, we would deal with him at that time.
On the first day of July Charles informed us that we would be sailing with the tide the next day. The winds were favourable. The following day we reached the schooner, having said our goodbyes to Benjamin’s family. His sisters were genuinely sad to see Isabelle leave. They had enjoyed her company. Isabelle brought a good deal of vivacity to their normally settled existence. With regard to Benjamin, Isabelle had contented herself with treating him as an older brother, realizing this was the appropriate relationship to pursue for the time being. However, when Benjamin kissed her goodbye at the pier, her heart skipped a beat, I am certain.