Even members of the royal house, the Duc d'Orleans and his brother, the
Duc de Montpensier, came for a space in 1798.
"The city had always been more or less lawless and intolerant of
control. Like the New Englanders of the eighteenth century, many
respected merchants were also smugglers."
"And pirates," suggested Val.
"The king of smugglers was Jean Lafitte. His forge--where his slaves
shaped the wrought-iron which was one of the wonders of the city--was a
fashionable meeting-place for the young bloods. He was the height of wit
and fashion--daring openly to placard the walls of the town with his
notices of smugglers' sales.
"And Roderick Ralestone, the younger of the twins, became one of
Lafitte's men. In spite of the remonstrances of his brother Richard,
young Rick withdrew to Barataria with Dominque You and the rest of the
outlawed captains.
"In the winter of 1814 matters came to a head. Richard wanted to marry
an American girl, the daughter of one of Governor Claiborne's friends.
Her father told him very pointedly that since the owners of Pirate's
Haven seemed to be indulging in law breaking, such a marriage was out of
the question. Aroused, Richard made a secret inspection of certain
underground storehouses which had been built by his pirate
great-grandfather and discovered that Rick had put them in use again for
the very same purpose for which they had been first intended--the
storing of loot.
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