The Captain's Choice

MONA LLOYD had a problem, and for the first time in her twenty years, she didn’t know how to solve it adequately. She had been fretting about what to do for months, and the looming wedding date kept her up late into the night as her mind raced through her options. None seemed sufficient to evade the marriage she had practically been conceived for to cement the alliances of business. It was only a matter of weeks before she would be trapped completely, ensnared in a decades-long plan to enrichen the lives of men at her expense. Most fathers hoped for a son to take over their legacy, but Mona’s had wished for a daughter, a suitable match for his business partner and best friend’s son.

She couldn’t even enjoy the warm June sun that beat down as she helped the maids hang the rest of the laundry on the line strung between two trees on the manor grounds. Damp linens flapped in the breeze rolling up from the sea, and the smells of salt and seaweed permeated the air. It was the first truly hot day of summer. Sweat ran down her spine beneath her stays and pricked at her brow. She dabbed it away with the hem of her apron, feeling the sting as the rough fabric scraped across her sunburned cheeks. Her father would scold her for that, she was sure. Though he allowed her more leniency than most daughters of wealthy merchants were afforded, he still had his limits, and maintaining his image was one. For him, it wouldn’t do to have the village think he was working her outside, as though she were part of his staff. Especially not with the wedding so soon.

She should have worn a hat at least, but it was so pleasant to feel the rays of sun warming her hair again. Even with all the windows of the manor opened, the estate still felt stuffy inside– as though the dampness of winter would never fully dissipate, the austerity a permanent feature since her mother’s death a decade prior.