Read "Because of Conscience" by Amy Ella Blanchard online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Alaine's youthful appetite sufficed to cause her to consume a good supper. The talk around the table was cheerful, and there were no issues raised. "A strange position for a young French girl," Alaine thought, "in company of these men, I who all my life have taken refuge by the side of my aunt or Michelle, and have never even taken a walk with any man save Gerard or Papa Louis, unless I except that one Sunday when I walked to church with Pierre as companion. What would my aunt say to my present situation? Allowed free converse with a young man? Shocking! " She smiled to herself in spite of the condition of affairs. The Indian woman stood in one corner of the room during the meal, and the girl wondered if she were to be again conducted to her chamber, but she was relieved to find that this was not intended, for the other gentlemen, sitting over their wine, allowed Francois Dupont to lead her from the room.
"I am your guard, mademoiselle, therefore see that you do not overpower me and make your escape," he said, playfully.