A Loyal Lass

A Loyal Lass by Amy Ella Blanchard

A Loyal Lass by Amy Ella Blanchard is aNiagara frontier romance set against the War of 1812, following Marianne Reyburn, a spirited half-French, half-American girl torn between her father's American loyalties and her Canadian grandmother's Loyalist family across the river. Marianne, daughter of Kentucky-born Walter Reyburn and his French-Canadian wife, lives near Lewiston, New York, while her grandmother, Madame Desvouges, and adopted cousins Victor and Victorine La Rue live across the Niagara in Canada. When war breaks out, Marianne's brother Royal—more French than American in temperament—impulsively joins the Canadian militia, devastating their parents. After Captain Reyburn is wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Queenston Heights (ironically rescued by Royal himself and sheltered at Madame Desvouges's house), Marianne engineers his escape with the help of a wily Yankee peddler, Asa Peaslee, and friendly Indians, disguising her father in Indian garb. During the escape, they inadvertently capture a wounded prisoner who turns out to be Jack Silverthorn, brother of Marianne's new friends Kate and Sue, whose Loyalist family had fled the American Revolution. The novel then follows the tangled relationships among these war-divided families: Marianne's prickly, teasing rapport with Jack (whom she initially despises as "the enemy" but who is smitten with her); Kate's growing love for Royal despite believing he is destined to marry the disfigured but saintly Victorine; and Sue's romance with Marianne's American soldier cousin, Fred Lyle, which culminates in an elopement across the river against her tyrannical Loyalist grandfather's wishes. A comic interlude has the Silverthorns "kidnap" a Reyburn riding party in retaliation for Jack's earlier capture, turning captivity into hospitality. The story darkens with the Battle of Frenchtown massacre and the American capture of Fort George, during which Kate's father is mortally wounded. On his deathbed, he blesses Royal and Kate's union, revealing that Victorine had all along selflessly encouraged Royal to pursue Kate rather than herself, having never viewed him as anything but a beloved foster-brother. Royal and Kate marry hastily beside her father's grave, blending the war-divided families through love rather than politics, and the narrative closes on themes of reconciliation, sacrifice, and loyalty transcending national allegiance.

By Amy Ella Blanchard · First published 1902 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, War Fiction · 20 chapters · 86,988 words

First lines

_War Clouds_

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juvenile fiction · historical fiction · American Revolution · colonial America · young heroine · loyalty · patriotism · family relationships · friendship · adventure · courage · coming of age

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A Loyal Lass is listed on Textopian as a novel by Amy Ella Blanchard, dated 1902 CE.

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