Bridget Harrison paced back and forth in her room. Sighing she flopped down on her bed and strained to hear the voices echoing bellow in the pallor.
"No no no! "Screeched Aunt Charlotte, " She is too young!"
"But my dear she will be fine, Robert and Susanna will be with her" soothed Dr. Kline.
"Humph" puffed Aunt Charlotte; " You think the Durans will be suitable company for her? Pleassee, Hubert the Durans are much too….. how can I put this…..young.., no they simply will not do for Bridget. She needs a stern hand and a watchful eye, she has just turned 18 this September, an age at which she needs proper guidance and advice"
Dr. Kline chuckled "Really Martha your calling Robert and Susana young! If they are young then I am and infant. You and I both know that they will take perfect care of Bridget. They are her own flesh and blood! I'm sure they can handle a young woman."
"I don't care if Susana is Bridget's cousin and my niece, I find Susana far too opinionated" replied Aunt Charlotte.
Laughter and grumbles traveled through the house to Bridget's room where the voices dwindled down to mere mumbles.
Bridget sat back in her bed twirling her dark hair in her fingers. Trying to solve the riddle to what Dr. Kline was proposing to her Aunt Charlotte. Alas Bridget could not think of anything and decided to go back to reading yet another book her Aunt was bound to confiscate.
For the past 3 years of her life Bridget has lived with her Aunt Charlotte in an old rickety house that scared even the spiders away with its domineering walls of stone and brick. The nearest neighbors were more than a mile away they hardly saw them or people in general even though the small town was just outside the bustling city of London.
When Bridget was 15 her parents sent her to live with her Aunt and get the benefits of an education and life in society. Her parents Benjamin and Amanda had married for love. Marrying for love was almost as ridiculous as thinking one could fly, it simply wasn't done. Those who did marry for love like Bridget's parents always ended up with far too many children to handle and too little money. Bridget's mother came from a high society family and had fell in love with a poor romantic fiddler who played at all the balls she attended. Yes it was a cliché love story but they had to start somewhere now didn't they.
Of course Bridget had no say in the matter of living with Aunt Charlotte. In fact Bridget hardly ever had a say in the matter. As a child she was always the quite one who never voiced her opinion deceiving others into thinking she was meek and simple minded. So no one thought little Bridget would oppose the move. Oppose Bridget did however, Bridget argued and argued and when that didn't work she went to tantrums and tears. In the end Bridget was on the back of a wagon heading to her "dear" Aunt Charlotte.
Living with Aunt Charlotte wasn't the most dreadful thing in the world. Bridget did sometimes enjoy herself. Most of the time she was just simply lonely. She had no friends, only old relatives who always looked at her with a disdainful eye. The only visit she enjoyed was from her aunt's long time friend Dr. Kline, and here he was today arguing cheerfully with her aunt on a topic that Bridget yearned to hear.
Flopping off her bed Bridget took off her shoes and quietly sneaked out of her room to the top of the stairs where she stealthy stepped down, one by one on the tips of her toes. Making it to the landing Bridget creped behind the parlor wall where she could now clearly hear Dr. Kline and her Aunt.
"Fine, all right fine I agree she is of age she shall go only I will accompany her and that is my final decision," stated Aunt Charlotte.
Laughing Dr. Kline replied, "Oh my dear Betty you shall not regret this, no you shall not. For you will be one of the few who will be able to say that you were on the first voyage of the unsinkable ship, Titanic!"