This was the first sign of the trouble to come.

In 1891, trader Trevor Merchant flourished in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He flourished in intercolonial trade in the island’s abundant resources, including sugar, bananas, cacao, coffee, corn, potatoes, cassava, and rice. Fortune showered him with favors, including a vibrant and supportive wife, Maxine, and two beautiful young daughters, Catherine and Isabella.

At twenty, Catherine, with her striking beauty and her family’s wealth, was determined to make a strategic marriage. The most handsome young Creole gentlemen courted her, but ‘Catherine the Great,’ as Trevor called her, had grander plans for her future than to be the wife of a native farmer. Such a life might suit her younger sister, Isabella, who seemed content to roam the jungle like an uncivilized Carib, but Catherine, with her refinement and beauty, aspired to greater.

Despite her fair complexion, Catherine was still a native creole, a fact that kept her from admission into the British and French colonial societies. Trevor’s people had been on the island for more than a hundred years, having migrated from Grenada as free people of color during the 1783 Cedula. Maxine’s people had been enslaved from Mali. Trevor’s wealth and connections allowed the family to attend the colonizers’ balls, but it was clear they were not fully accepted. Catherine, with her beauty and fortune, was a desirable match for many, but the British Creole gentlemen only eyed her from a distance. Frustrated, she turned her attention to the mixed-race families, hoping to find a suitable match there. Recently, her father had brought home a new addition to the island, the ‘natural’ son of an earl and his Yoruba mistress. Rumors swirled that he was seeking a wealthy wife, as he would not inherit from his father’s estate.

Isabella, the younger, darker, and more spirited of the two sisters, showed little interest in the societal expectations that weighed on Catherine. At nineteen, despite her father’s wealth, she had yet to attract a suitable husband. But Isabella seemed to pay this no mind, finding joy in exploring the island’s tangled jungles. Maxine Maxine despaired of her younger daughter’s future.

And then the ship carrying Trevor’s goods to Southampton sank into the ocean. This was the first sign of the trouble to come.