Ravished by the Pirate

Chapter 1

       

York, England

1804

Chapter 1

Cassandra   stood  by the  windows of the drawing room. The   windows, adorned by rich cherry red drapes, emitted May sunlight into the room. The sunlight picked up the copper glints of Cassandra's red hair.  This allowed the dressmaker to attend to her chore.

"Miss   Montgomery,   please be still." The dressmaker flailed her hands in exasperation.

"I can't abide all these preparations," her client asserted.

"It will be well worth it, I assure you. The gold beading looks splendid with your green eyes. You're sure to bewitch some earl or duke."

"  Accept my apologies, Miss Warwick." Lady Montgomery smiled sympathetically at   the   dressmaker "Cassandra," Lady Montgomery interjected, "it's for your own good. It's the start of the season."

"Yes, the season when all good girls do their family's bidding,   and   endeavor to catch a husband more than their social equal."

"What is wrong with that, Cassandra? It   hasn't   harmed   your younger sister," Lady Montgomery  said, with a distinct emphasis on younger.

The inflection in her mother's voice didn't escape her   daughter's   notice ."Yes, my sister wed at the proper age of   eighteen, to an Earl."

"And what is wrong with that, young lady? And I might add, I use the word young lady loosely."

"Mother, four and twenty isn't old."

"It is   getting  beyond  marriageable age. Now, luckily, you have a beautiful face, and your figure is quite admirable. There is some talk in the ton    about  men  who are interested in you."

"Is that all a woman could want?"

"What else is there, Cassandra? You don't want to be a spinster, do you?"

"I don't know Mother. Maybe that's what I really am."

"Heaven forbid, Cassandra. You are going to marry, and bear children. That is a woman's purpose in this world."

"Has it made you   happy, Mother?" Cassandra studied her  mother's  face. She   was still a pretty woman at five and forty. Her blonde hair was touched by a few strands of gray. Her   skin showed just a few lines, and was still pulled tautly around her chiseled cheekbones. She had a few  creases around her  sapphire eyes.

Cassandra's mother bowed her head "Yes, it has, Cassandra."

Cassandra immediately felt a twinge of pity towards her mother when she said that. There have always been rumors about her father, Baron Charles  Montgomery. and his mistresses. "I'm sorry, Mother."

Her mother sighed. "Cassandra, I won't lie to you. Marriage isn't always a joy, and there are certain things a woman must put up with in marriage that is her duty to   bear. But look around you. Look at what your father has provided for   you. Surely, you must be grateful l for that."

"I am, mother, but...."
"But what, Cassandra? What more could you want than a husband and children and good social standing?"

"Mother, perhaps there is something wrong with me, but none of the men I've known really interest me."

"Cassandra, true love is based on more than some passing spark between two people. Real love is based on admiration and respect."

Cassandra shifted from the subject of the moment and addressed Miss Warwick. "Are we almost finished here?"