Chapter One

"I do not wish to marry John Martin," Letitia whined.

Pleasance watched her pouting younger sister closely, inwardly grimacing at her childish tone. From the moment Pleasance, Letitia, and their parents had sat down at the huge, heavily laden table to eat breakfast, her sister had kept up a steady stream of complaint. Although Pleasance continued to calmly eat her eggs and ham, she felt a tight knot of uneasiness begin to steal her appetite. She did not like the direction the conversation was taking. Whenever Letitia expressed displeasure, it cost someone dearly. And that someone was usually her.

She covertly watched her parents. Thomas Dunstan's face was flushed, and Pleasance knew he was failing to control his anger with Letitia. He wanted a marriage with the wealthy Martins as a means to increase his own prestige. His wife, Sarah, was fiddling with her heavy lace fichu, a clear indication of her agitation. No doubt she had already been secretly planning an elaborate, ostentatious wedding. Pleasance's elder brother, Lawrence, was studying with his tutor, and she was glad of it. Lawrence was exactly like their father, and there was already quite enough bombast at the table. Her younger brother, Nathan, was off on some mysterious business-probably eluding customs agents trying to collect unpaid duty on shipments he had made to the other colonies.

"John Martin is a fine young man," Thomas Dunstan said, tugging his elaborately embroidered waistcoat over his rounding stomach before filling his plate with a second serving of smoked ham and scrambled eggs f