Summary

When Alexander was four, Rachel’s estranged husband Lavien had lost his plantation and fallen in love with another woman. He sent court summons to a location he knew Rachel did not live at so he could divorce her without an expensive, formal divorce. He ridiculed Rachel and called Alexander and his brother whore-children. Even though Lavien was living with another woman himself, similar to Rachel who lived with James, Lavien was granted the privilege to remarry, while Rachel could not. This also meant that Alexander and James were unable to receive any of her wealth upon her death. She, James, and the children moved to Christiansted, but her shameful public image drove them apart. James left to collect a debt and never returned. Rachel’s sister and her family helped until their own son...