4
SULLY
Yes, we certainly did.
“But—”
Miss Rose held up her hand. “If you wish to spend the night here with these men, you will marry first.”
Her ultimatum pleased me immensely. It would get our ring on her finger so we could truly protect her from Benson and her father. We could do nothing until she legally belonged to us and I wouldn’t tarnish her virtue by expecting anything less.
“But… all the girls. None of them marry the men they take upstairs!” Mary’s voice rose as she became upset. “Why me?”
“Are you a w***e?” Miss Rose asked bluntly.
Mary looked away. “No,” she whispered.
“Then you will marry. I will not allow you to accept anything less. If your mother were alive, she would agree.”
The idea of Mary alone with her father, of his ruthless plans for her, made me even more
