In territorial extent, in the number of slaves employed, and in the
quantity of sugar annually produced, the plantation of Colonel Dumont
was one of the most important on the river. This fact, added to the
possession of immense estates in the city, rendered its owner a man of
no small consequence in the vicinity. But, more than this, Colonel
Dumont was beloved and respected for his many good qualities of mind and
heart. In the late war with England he had served in the army, and as an
officer had won an enviable distinction by his courage and his talents.
Coming unexpectedly into the possession of this estate by the death of
an uncle, he retired, at the close of the war, from a profession to
which a genuine patriotism alone had invited him, and devoted himself
entirely to the improvement of his lands.
Colonel Dumont had been married; but, after a single year of happiness
in the conjugal state, his wife died, leaving him an only daughter in
remembrance of her. This child, at the opening of the tale, was within
a few years of maturity,--the image of her father's only love,--not less
fair, not less pure and good.
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