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My name is Margo Beychevelle. I come from a small town on the
outskirts of London. When I was 16 years old my father died and left
my mother and I with no money. We moved to Paris to be close to my
mother’s side of the family. I learned the language and the culture
and made the most of being young and in Paris.
I was gradually introduced to the more elite families in France. I
soon had many suitors but none as ardent as Lord Beychevelle. He was
the head of a prestigious vineyard in the Bordeaux region. He was
ten years my senior, but that did not matter. He was gracious and
mannered and was versed on a variety of subjects. He of course new
everything about wine. I loved to hear him talk about his “precious
vines”.
He asked me to marry him one starry summer night and at the age of
19 I was married. All was well at first. He gradually got it into
his head that he should move from France and start a new vineyard in
a new land. He wanted to move to the New World! I was not happy
about being uprooted again, but he was my husband and I had to do
what he said.
Lord Beychevelle hired a ship and a crew to take us to the New
World. He was going to take one of the old vines to the new land and
make a fresh beginning. Of all the cargo that was being carried on
the passage overseas, this was the most important. I am not certain,
but I believe that there was a mercenary hired to keep us safe. I
just got a strange feeling about the way the carpenter looked at us.
The carpenter was named Robert Jeremiah Riggs and he became an
important person in my life.
The ocean voyage was long and boring at first. My husband and I
passed the time making plans about our new life in a new world.
There were so many things to do when we got to the New World, I was
eager to begin. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant storm hit our
ship. The ship was smashed against the rocks. The carpenter threw me
into a life boat. I was adrift for some time before I saw any of the
people from my ship. The only other person alive was the carpenter.
He was clutching the vine and swimming to the lifeboat. I was
heartbroken at the loss of my dear husband.
Mr. Riggs found a small island to land the lifeboat on. The two of
us were found by a pirate ship. We negotiated safe passage with the
pirates to the New World, for a price of course. This is the
condition in which you find me.
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