Free The Last Killiney by J. Jay Kamp Page A

1791—’”
    “So this is about Killiney’s death?”
    “Just listen,” David said. “‘Vancouver planned to find the legendary Northwest Passage. No doubt James found this prospect attractive, given his interest in the Royal Society; participating in Vancouver’s voyage would virtually guarantee him fellowship. Indeed, James left behind title and privilege to pursue these interests, for his father died just prior to the expedition’s departure in what would become known as the Armistead Affair—’”
    “Right, Armistead,” Ravenna said impatiently, “but can’t you skip to the part where it talks about Killiney?”
    David shot her an irritated glance. “If you’re going to be that way,” he said, and turning the page in such a fashion she knew she’d upset him, he began again. “‘Lord Killiney of Swallowhill, Dublin, also accompanied Vancouver’s voyage. Although his seafaring experience was, like James’s, limited to touring…’”
    David paused, skimming ahead in the book, and Ravenna found herself asking again, “What about his death? Does it say anything about how he died?”
    “‘Like the sketches he’d made for Vancouver’s journals, Lord Killiney, too, did not survive. While Discovery awaited the return of the Chatham , Vancouver paid a visit to the local Indian village. As Vancouver’s hosts were in every appearance friendly, the captain observed no special precautions in sending Killiney on a hunting excursion following the course of a nearby river. There he and James were ambushed by an Indian group.’”
    “He was killed by Native Americans?”
    David shook his head. “Native Canadians. It says, ‘So it was that while Vancouver partook of the natives’ hospitality only a few miles away, Lord Killiney was shot dead. His body was taken into the forest, never to be recovered. And while James escaped to the Discovery with his life, he did not remain there. He set out on foot for the Spanish fort at Nootka Sound—’”
    “So they were on Vancouver Island?”
    “Somewhere,” David said, “but here’s where it talks about you. It reads, ‘James was accompanied on this journey to Nootka by his elder sister, and indeed, nothing about Lord Killiney would seem half so important without understanding his relationship to her. Elizabeth and Killiney were engaged to be married. It was widely known that James’s sister accompanied the voyage to be with her fiancé, and even conceived of a son shortly before Killiney’s demise.’”
    “ A son?” She couldn’t help interrupting him again. “We had a baby? Killiney and Elizabeth had a child?”
    “It’s more complicated than it sounds. It says, ‘A fourth character must be added at this point, for it was never made clear who had fathered this child, Killiney or the rakish Earl of Launceston, for he, too, took part in the expedition. Launceston was known to have escorted Elizabeth from Nootka Sound to the Leeward Islands where, in late 1792, he asked for her hand. She’d barely been Launceston’s wife for two months before bearing him an heir, a son named Elijah Paul.
    “‘This child was probably Killiney’s, or at least Launceston seemed to think as much if one should judge from his letters. And although Killiney’s seat at Swallowhill devolved upon a niece whose husband adopted the name of Henley, his viscountcy became extinct.
    “‘Lord Launceston was not to last much longer,’” David said, and Ravenna leaned over her plate intently. “‘Elizabeth’s son succeeded to the earldom at the tender age of two months when Launceston, having gained a reputation for debt and debauchery, was challenged to a duel and—’”
    “Killed, right?” Ravenna frowned dismally. “But the book doesn’t say who won the duel? Nobody knows?”
    “‘Local legend claims it was Killiney’s ghost. Other sources tell of Elizabeth cherishing the memory of Killiney far more than her roguish husband, driving Launceston mad with