The red stone

William Head, Sr. and his wife Maria Louisa Le Poidevin, Guernsey Island

The roots with which this first American family came went back considerably, to the 15^th century. Grandfather's mother, my great-grandmother, presided on the isle of Guernsey as quite the grand dame. Christened Maria Louisa Ann Le Poidevin, she made it forever known that her forebears were nobility who were forced out of France during the revolution. Most important was the Le France families, who boasted a count or two and were somehow related to King Henry VIII.

When I was 15 years old my mother gave me a beautifully cut 'pigeon blood' ruby ring given to her by this grandmother, Maria Louisa. My mother said she was told that when the family fled France most of the so-called high born booked passage on small ships headed for the Channel Islands or England. As passage was obtained (reportedly at a great price) the servants wrapped the horse carriage wheels in cloth sacks and blankets so as not to be heard leaving during the night. They took only what clothing they needed and of course their jewels. The ring aforementioned was found by a servant in the dusty road one morning, obviously dropped during the night's exodus. She dutifully delivered it to the madame lest she be accused of theft.

It is with great sadness I relate that shortly after receiving the ring I was teaching my younger sister to cross the row of rings, then popular in playgrounds, and the ruby was wrenched from its setting and fell into the sawdust below. In spite of offering a dime each to a bevy of small boys to retrieve it, it was never found. Many years later a Gypsy fortune teller said “I see you still grieve for the red stone that was lost in the sawdust.”

And I guess I still do.