Read an excerpt from The Locket.
"You have to marry him." The captain’s wife stood on the narrow stairway and blocked the path from Ariel’s bedroom to the downstairs parlor.
"I can’t." Ariel didn’t want to tell the sweet, interfering lady why. But she could not marry Misha Smith. She just couldn’t. After careful deliberation she realized there was no way she could let Misha sacrifice himself because of a shared mistake. Misha didn’t love her or desire her. He was simply doing the honorable thing in offering his hand.
"I won’t change my mind." Guilt consumed her. How on earth would she break the news to Misha when she’d already told him yes?
"Don’t be stupid. You have to agree to his proposal. Have you heard the talk in town?" Helen ground her hands together, her kindly words making Ariel shudder. "Of course you have. They’ve called you every horrible name they can think of. Mrs. Fernridge even suggested tar and feathers."
"It won’t come to tar and feathers and you know it. I’ll stay inside and the gossip will blow over. In a few weeks time, no one will remember my night in the cave with Misha Smith." She prayed they wouldn’t.
"Not this time. You know how spiteful the women can be. The first time one of their husbands comes here for a good meal, as they do often enough, well--mark my words there will be trouble. The only remedy is marriage. I know he asked and you told him ‘yes.’ Now you’re turning him down? Why?"
Ariel wiped her hands on the cotton apron around her waist. "I don’t love him. He doesn’t love me." Her chin went up. Pride would be her downfall. "What kind of marriage would that be?"
"Love? Love will come. Give the relationship a chance. I daresay, I didn’t love the captain at first, but now my life would be meaningless without him. If you wait until you find love first or it finds you, you’ll go to your grave an old maid."
Helen’s prophecy might surely come true. Ariel stirred the batter harder, whipping it until her arm ached. Nothing would make her change her mind, the alternative worse than the remedy. Yet she didn’t want to become an old maid. She wanted children to care for and a husband to love.
It would be so easy to change her mind and take the course everyone expected of her.
The heavy door swung open and landed on the opposite wall with a resounding crack.
Ariel jerked in response and Helen uttered a helpless, "Oh, my!" Her pipe falling from her mouth.
"You told me, yes.’" Misha’s harsh words shot straight to Ariel’s backbone and slithered in an arc of guilt to her heart.
"I know."
He’d entered the house, walking deliberately to the kitchen, and she’d known he’d heard more than she wanted him to. She’d wanted to think of some way to tell him without forcing a confrontation. Now she wouldn’t have time for that luxury.
"You think I’d let you change your mind?"
"I made a mistake." Ariel slowly turned, her hand resting at her throat as if somehow the gesture would ease her ragged breath.
He flashed strong white teeth but it wasn’t a smile she saw. She saw anger and stubborn determination. Everything Misha did, he did with a fierce pride and an unwavering purpose.
"No, the blunder was mine. I should have made sure you had no choices. I’ll take care of that one small problem tonight," he said, his meaning implicit
"I can’t." Ariel didn’t want to tell the sweet, interfering lady why. But she could not marry Misha Smith. She just couldn’t. After careful deliberation she realized there was no way she could let Misha sacrifice himself because of a shared mistake. Misha didn’t love her or desire her. He was simply doing the honorable thing in offering his hand.
"I won’t change my mind." Guilt consumed her. How on earth would she break the news to Misha when she’d already told him yes?
"Don’t be stupid. You have to agree to his proposal. Have you heard the talk in town?" Helen ground her hands together, her kindly words making Ariel shudder. "Of course you have. They’ve called you every horrible name they can think of. Mrs. Fernridge even suggested tar and feathers."
"It won’t come to tar and feathers and you know it. I’ll stay inside and the gossip will blow over. In a few weeks time, no one will remember my night in the cave with Misha Smith." She prayed they wouldn’t.
"Not this time. You know how spiteful the women can be. The first time one of their husbands comes here for a good meal, as they do often enough, well--mark my words there will be trouble. The only remedy is marriage. I know he asked and you told him ‘yes.’ Now you’re turning him down? Why?"
Ariel wiped her hands on the cotton apron around her waist. "I don’t love him. He doesn’t love me." Her chin went up. Pride would be her downfall. "What kind of marriage would that be?"
"Love? Love will come. Give the relationship a chance. I daresay, I didn’t love the captain at first, but now my life would be meaningless without him. If you wait until you find love first or it finds you, you’ll go to your grave an old maid."
Helen’s prophecy might surely come true. Ariel stirred the batter harder, whipping it until her arm ached. Nothing would make her change her mind, the alternative worse than the remedy. Yet she didn’t want to become an old maid. She wanted children to care for and a husband to love.
It would be so easy to change her mind and take the course everyone expected of her.
The heavy door swung open and landed on the opposite wall with a resounding crack.
Ariel jerked in response and Helen uttered a helpless, "Oh, my!" Her pipe falling from her mouth.
"You told me, yes.’" Misha’s harsh words shot straight to Ariel’s backbone and slithered in an arc of guilt to her heart.
"I know."
He’d entered the house, walking deliberately to the kitchen, and she’d known he’d heard more than she wanted him to. She’d wanted to think of some way to tell him without forcing a confrontation. Now she wouldn’t have time for that luxury.
"You think I’d let you change your mind?"
"I made a mistake." Ariel slowly turned, her hand resting at her throat as if somehow the gesture would ease her ragged breath.
He flashed strong white teeth but it wasn’t a smile she saw. She saw anger and stubborn determination. Everything Misha did, he did with a fierce pride and an unwavering purpose.
"No, the blunder was mine. I should have made sure you had no choices. I’ll take care of that one small problem tonight," he said, his meaning implicit
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