The Prize Read Online Free PDF

knocked on the
fine mahogany door.
    Mrs. Towne, a plump,
pleasant lady, gestured her inside. Her kind eyes held Virginia's, solemn now,
when usually they held dancing lights. "I'm afraid you will have to learn
to dance sooner or later, Miss Hughes."
    Virginia grimaced.
The one person she almost liked at the school was the headmistress.
"Why?"
    Mrs. Towne was
briefly surprised. "Do sit down, my dear."
    Virginia sat, then realized
her knees were apart, her hands dangling off the arms of the chair, and quickly
rearranged herself, not because she wished to be proper, but because she did
not want to antagonize the headmistress now. She clamped her knees together,
clasped her hands and thought about how fine it would be to be in her britches
and astride her horse.
    Mrs. Towne smiled.
"It isn't that difficult to cooperate, dear."
    "Actually, it
is." Virginia was also very stubborn. That trait her mother had bemoaned.
    "Virginia, ladies
must dance. How else will you attend a proper party and enjoy yourself?"
    Virginia didn't
hesitate. "I have no use for parties, ma'am. I have no use for dancing.
Frankly, it's time for me to go home."
    Mrs. Towne stared in
mild surprise.
    Virginia forgot about
sitting properly. "It's not true, is it? What that wicked Sarah Lewis
said? Surely I am not to remain here—forgotten—a prisoner—for another three years?"
    Mrs. Towne was grim.
"Miss Lewis must have overheard me speaking privately with Mrs. Blakely.
My dear, we did receive such instructions from your uncle."
    Virginia was shocked
speechless and she could only stare. It was a moment before she could even
think.
    For a while, she had
been afraid that Eastleigh would send for her, forcing her to go to England,
where she had no wish to go. That, at least, was one dilemma she did not have
to face. But he would lock her up in this school for three more years? She'd
already been here six months and she hated it! Virginia would not have it. Oh,
no. She was going home.
    Mrs. Towne was
speaking. "I know that three years seems like a very long time, but
actually, considering the way you were raised, it is probably the amount of
time we need to fully instruct you in all the social graces you shall need to
succeed hi society, my dear. And there is good news. Your uncle intends to see
you wed upon your majority."
    Virginia was on her
feet, beyond shock. "What? "
    Mrs. Towne blinked.
"I should have known you would be dismayed by the proposal. Every
well-born young lady marries, and you are no exception. He intends to find a
suitable husband for you—"
    "Absolutely
not!"
    Mrs. Towne was now
the one speechless.
    Anger consumed
Virginia. "First he sends me here? Then he thinks to lock me away for
three years? Then he will send me to another prison—a marriage with a stranger?
No, I think not!"
    "Sit down."
    "No, Mrs. Towne.
You see, I will marry one day, but I will marry for love and only love. A grand
passion—like my parents had." Tears blurred her vision. There would be no
compromise. One day she would find a man like her father, the kind of love her
parents had so obviously shared. There would be—could be—no compromise.
    "Virginia, sit
down," Mrs. Towne said firmly.
    Virginia shook her
head and Mrs. Towne stood. "I know you have suffered a terrible tragedy,
and we all feel for you, we do. But you do not control your fate, child, your
uncle does. If he wishes you to stay here until your majority, then so it shall
be. And I am sure you will come to be fond of your future husband, whoever he
may be."
    Virginia couldn't
speak. Panic consumed her. A stranger thought himself to be in control of her
life! She felt trapped, as if in a cage with iron bars, worse, the cage was
being immersed in the sea and she was drowning!
    "My dear, you
must make an effort to become a part of the community here. You are the one who
has chosen to be disdainful of the other fine young women here. You have not
tried, even once, to be friendly or amusing. You have set yourself