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Show Page 30 most distressed at spoiling her plans for marriage once again. Then I made known my idea. "You are going to Virginia, Aunt Mary," I told her stoutly. "And you shan't have to worry about me because I am going also." In truth, Aunt Mary did protest at first. "Shush,poppet," she told me. "Are you in a ferment? Has the loss of your father addled your wits?" "There is no reason for me to stay in England," I argued. "You are my only relative and I want you to be happy. We are going to Virginia." For a moment Aunt Mary's tongue found no words. Then she had simply nodded. Now Aunt Mary lay somewhere in the deep waters behind me and I was going ashore in the New World without her. Hands were reaching out from all directions to help me take my first step on Virginia soil. Glad I was for those many willing hands, for I found the earth to be not at all firm. It rocked and swayed 'neath my feet and I reached for the nearest arm to steady myself. "John's got hisself a good one," someone yelled, and I looked up at my rescuer. Strange, I thought, he has a scar under his right eye just as Richard Kean has under his left. There was a mischievous glint in the brown eyes, but perhaps it was only the gold flecks that made it seem so. He stood a good head taller than myself and the hand that held mine was |
