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Show Page 113 "Well, mistress," Mister Pory.said, turning to me. "What sort of a woman are you? Are you someone's daughter?" I shook my head, feeling my breath come easier. "Are you someone's wife?" Again I shook my head. "Someone's widow?" "Nay." "Someone's intended?" I denied it. "That's a pity," he said mournfully, pulling a face at Richard. "Then you must be a woman of independence," he added. "It is true I am alone in the world." "Know you of any law that states such a person may not claim a headright?" Pory asked the clerk. "A wife may not make a claim of her own," he ventured. "She is not a wife," snapped the rotund secretary. "She belongs to neither husband nor father. I have told the lieutenant here that he has botched it if she does not belong to him, but that is neither here nor there. Therefore, the lady is free to make a claim on her headright if she can take the oath with a clear conscience. "We usually conduct this sort of business when the Assembly is in session," he explained, taking me by the arm and leading me outside, "since that is when we have most of the Council |