Cathy Maxwell - The Price of Indiscretion

No, I absolutely will not do it, Miranda Cameron told

Alex Haddon, captain of the sloop Warrior, wasso angry

A bead of sweat trickled down Mirandas spine,brought on

Miranda hated the flash of guilt that wentthrough

Senhor Estevess house was a sprawling buildingsurrounded by the

The dark room opened onto a deserted area ofthe

Alex couldnt believe Miranda was kissing him.It was a

Alex reasoned that if he could get his handaround

Alex moved swiftly. It had helped to find Mirandaon

Miranda lay rigid beneath him. She needed amoment to

Miranda awoke in stages. She could heareverything, and yet

Lady Overstreet was giddy with relief when shearrived at

It was close to eleven by the time Alex presented

Miranda was a success. She was the talk of the

Alex hadnt expected to walk into the morningroom and

Alex returned to the Warrior feeling very muchadrift in

Alex could have gladly wished his friend to hellfor

Why yes, Sir William said in answer toCharlotte. Do

Miranda almost took a step toward Alex. A handclamped

Alex and I are married. We said out vows in

1805

N o, I absolutely will not do it , Miranda Cameron told her sisters, Charlotte and Constance. I dont want to marry. She attempted to yank her arm away from her oldest sisters hold and hurry out the door, but Charlotte held fast.

They stood in the entrance hallway of Beardsleys, a popular but respectable inn located close to the New York docks, where Charlotte had caught Miranda before she could bolt out the door. A group of men had to squeeze by them on their way to the taproom. Aware of the curious glances, Charlotte pulled Miranda into a corner, so as to shield their conversation from prying ears, and replied, You must go. If you dont, we shall never amount to anything. We are the granddaughters of an earl

One who drank and gambled his fortune away, Miranda shot back.

As if the rest of them dont? Charlotte said.

How would you know? Miranda challenged. Weve lived our lives in the Ohio Valley, not London. This is the farthest either of us has ever traveled.

I listen to everything I can about the nobility, her sister answered. I ask questions and remember everything Mother told us

I remember, too, Miranda said, stung by the implied accusation that she could have forgotten their mother in any way.

Then you know what she wanted for us, Charlotte said. Constance was too young when she died, but you know .

Miranda did know. Their mother, who had died in an Indian raid fifteen years earlier, had never wanted them to forget they had the blood of the Conqueror flowing through their veins.

Shed have wanted us to return to London, to find proper husbands, Charlotte said.

But I thought Mother and Papa were a love match? I thought they were happy, Constance said. She was nineteen, the youngest. Charlotte and Miranda were twenty-six and twenty-five, and only ten months apart.

They were, Miranda answered. Although she didnt have many choices when our grandfather died. Being an earls daughter with no family, no relatives, not even a farthing to her name didnt give her many choices. Everything had to be sold around her to meet his debts. She was lucky to have met Father.

Who promised to make her wealthy, Charlotte said with a trace of bitterness.

I dont think she was unhappy, Miranda argued. They loved each other. I just dont believe she realized how hard it would be over here.

Or how violent, Charlotte tacked on, reminding them all why they had chosen to leave the frontier. There had been another Indian uprising. A family no more than two miles from the Cameron Trading Post had been massacred. Having seen their mother and baby brother die the same way, all three girls were ready to begin new lives. They had nothing holding them there.

Charlotte gave Mirandas arm a squeeze. We are the granddaughters of an earl. We have a chance to return to England, and I want it, Miranda. I want it for all of us.

Then let us take the money and go, she countered, referring to eight hundred pounds theyd found hidden in a secret drawer under the counter where their father had counted pelts. Thats what we had planned to do.

The money had been a complete surprise. Their father, who had died suddenly the month before, had always pleaded poverty. Theyd not expected to inherit anything and had thought themselves worse off than their mother had once been. When a German had offered to buy their small stake in the Cameron Trading Post, the girls had gladly accepted the pittance hed been willing to pay, especially after the deaths of the William and Nell McBride and their children.

Then fortune finally smiled on the Camerons. While cleaning the one-room trading post for the new owner, Constance had accidentally hit her head on the counter edge when she rose from the floor. A secret drawer had slid open, and inside was eight hundred British pounds. Where it had come from, they didnt know. Perhaps their mother had had a dowry, and their parents had saved it for them. Considering the bitter man their father had become, it wasnt likely. However, this money gave them possibilities.

Go to England and go where? Charlotte countered. To live in some potters hovel?

We could live very nicely, Miranda snapped.

Except that we deserve better, her sister shot back, and you can get it for us. Lady Overstreet is right. Your face is our real fortune.

At the mention of the womans name, all three sisters glanced back into the taproom where Lady Overstreet sat calmly sipping her mug of cider. She wore her gloves as she did it, treating the rough pottery as if it were the finest china.

She also seemed blissfully unaware of the stir she was making in the taproom. The crowd in the room was predominantly male. They stood at the bar and huddled over tables, the boisterous sound of men doing business filling the air.