Margaret Brownley by A Vision of Lucy

Author:A Vision of Lucy [Lucy, A Vision of]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Her father was asleep in his chair when she arrived home, an open Bible on his lap. The Bible surprised her. It wasn’t like Papa to read scripture outside of church. Had the fire really caused him that much distress?

Weighed down by guilt, she gently lifted the Good Book off his lap. He woke with a start and rubbed his eyes. “How’s Monica?”

After setting the Bible on the table, Lucy pulled off her shawl and hung it on a peg next to the door. “She’s doing very well,” she replied.

“Why are all these blasted windows open?” He rose and crossed to the nearest window.

“Caleb says fresh air prevents consumption.”

Her father slammed down a sash, and she sensed more than open windows were responsible for his bad mood. “So are we to die of pneumonia instead?” He spun around to face her. “What were you doing at the church so late at night? Tell me that!”

She suddenly felt tired. Exhausted.

“I was . . . helping a friend,” she said, praying she wouldn’t be required to reveal the friend’s name. The one thing she could not do was lie to her father.

“Some help. You almost got her killed.” He obviously thought Monica was the friend she referred to and she made no effort to correct his impression. He shook his head. “The church. Of all the buildings to destroy.”

“It was an accident, Papa. I’ll get the money to build a new one. I will!”

He scoffed. After a moment of silence he said, “Richard Crankshaw came to see me today.” He watched her closely. “He asked for your hand in marriage.”

Surprised, but no less grateful for the sudden change of topic no matter how distasteful, it took her awhile to respond. “We’ve talked about this, Papa. You know how I feel about him.”

“Things have changed,” he said, his voice thin with anger.

“What things? Certainly not my feelings!”

“You have to make things right—you owe the people of this town. Crankshaw has offered to build a new church in exchange for your hand.”

Her jaw dropped. “He wants to buy me?”

“That’s not his intention. It wouldn’t hurt you to show a little gratitude, young lady. Right now, he may be the only friend you have.”

“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I have to marry him.”

Her father heaved a sigh and his shoulders slumped. “Lucy, think about it. That’s all I ask. He’s a good man.”

His pleading tone melted away her anger but not her dislike for Crankshaw. “If he were that good, he would offer to rebuild the church without demanding anything in return.”

Her father turned to close another window. He lingered for a while, his back toward her, before turning. “I have some money put away. Not much, but it’s a start. And . . . if we had to . . . we could probably sell one of your mother’s paintings.”

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. Never did she think he would part with anything of her mother’s, let alone a painting.

“No, Papa. It’s my fault the church burned down and I’ll find the money to rebuild it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.