The next morning saw the Marcus household in a tumult. Jim had returned home in a dark mood and instantly wrote her letter rather grimly. Then, at breakfast, she'd barely eaten anything and rushed from the table to read Harrison's long-awaited response. Carol had explained what had happened to her father, who frowned, but didn't seem very concerned.

"Hopefully, this will all turn out to be an unfortunate misunderstanding," was his comment. "It sounds very out of character for Harrison to pull such a stunt."

A broken sob from above quickly disproved that theory unfortunately.

"Oh, dear," Carol sighed. "Jim never cries. It must be very bad for her, I fear."

"Go do your comforting, daughter, I will find the man and get to the bottom of this," said the Admiral with a ferocious frown that boded ill for the dishonest Harrison.

Carol nodded and hurried up the stairs to Jim's room, where a weeping girl was crumpled over the covers, letter still in hand.

"Jim dear, what happened?" She asked gently. In response, the crumpled letter was thrust into her hand.

Carol read the terse missive with a sinking heart and growing anger towards the writer. Harrison bluntly told Jim to stop communicating with him and he was ending their association and regretfully returning her lock of hair.

"I can't believe the man could be so cold!" She exclaimed. "There are a dozen more polite ways to terminate a Courtship and he went for the broad-bladed axe! I'm so sorry, Jim," she whispered to her heartbroken friend, whose tears had not abated.

"It-it-must be that woman..." Jim hiccuped. "She probably influenced him to be...harsh. I saw how she looked at me with contempt."

Carol held Jim for a long time as she cried, fuming inwardly at the blatant cruelty of the rejection. Just as Jim's sobs had started to die down, Hannah the maid rushed upstairs to deliver another crushing blow.

"Miss Carol! Miss Carol! Did you hear? Your father's friend, Mr. John Harrison, did something scandalous and got himself disinherited! He's so desperate for money to keep his company from bankruptcy, he's gone and got engaged to a Miss Grey with twenty thousand pounds!"

"Where did you hear this, Hannah?" Carol asked over Jim's pained cries.

"The Admiral himself heard it from Harrison's aunt. She's very angry with Mr. Harrison, and so is your father."

Carol sighed. "Than you for informing us. Now, could you please fix some lavender water for Jim? She will be in need of it before long."

"Yes, Miss Carol." Hannah departed swiftly, much to both women's relief. Carol wondered what had happened to earn John the severance of his inheritance. The answer to that question was currently about to knock at the door.

When Hannah brought the water a few minutes later, she informed Carol that there was a gentleman caller in the drawing room.

"Captain Pike it is, Miss."

"I'll be down in a moment, Hannah."

"What in the world does HE want?" sniffled Jim from her burrowed position. "He picked a fine time to remember we exist."

She sounded decidedly on the bitter side and Carol gently tucked a fresh scented handkerchief in her hand.

"Will you be alright for a few minutes, dear?" She asked. "I must go be hospitable for a time."

"Yes," Jim croaked. "I will live." She turned over and faced the wall despondently.

With a pang in her heart, Carol removed herself to the drawing room. Captain Pike was walking back and forth in some agitation, twisting his hat in his hands.

"Hello, Captain."

His head shot up and he looked relieved and anxious at the same time, an impressive feat, Carol thought absently.

"Hello, Miss Marcus, I am sorry for the intrusion at such a time, but I wished to see how Miss Kirk is faring."

"Not well, at the moment. I assume you were informed of what happened?"

"Yes, because it also closely concerns my reasons for taking my leave of you some weeks ago."

"Oh? Do explain, captain," and a very intrigued Carol sat down, indicating he should sit as well.

"My brother and his wife have one daughter, a much loved and somewhat spoiled girl named Amelia. Two years ago, she ran away in a fit of rebellion and was not seen for two years. Two months ago, I received word that she was found and to come to London immediately. I answered the summons as fast as I was able. She was alive, but with child by a man who claimed to love her and subsequently abandoned her. For some time, she refused to give the man's name, but finally she changed her mind as the harsh reality set in that he had no intention of returning for her as he'd promised."

Carol had a sick feeling about where this was going.

"Do you mean to say that..."she began.

"The bastard who treated her so cheaply is none other than John Harrison," Pike said bluntly, blue eyes hard. "Pardon my language."

"Oh, dear heavens!" Carol breathed, crushed at the news of just what kind of a rake Harrison was.

"I assume his aunt found out about it and that was the cause of his disinheritance?"

"Indeed. She was furious with him. As was I, knowing he was likely doing the exact same thing to Jim-wooing with flattering but empty speech. I went so far as to challenge him to a duel, but we were both uninjured."

Shock left Carol speechless. She'd never seen the Captain angry enough to challenge someone, or looking downright fierce the way he did while telling his story. She felt she was seeing a glimpse of the commanding officer coming out in him-the piercing stare he probably leveled Harrison with and the tightly contained rage at the insults to one of his own.

"Doesn't he make a considerable sum with the shipping company? I did not know he was in danger of bankruptcy," Carol puzzled, wondering at the sudden decision to marry a wealthy heiress.

"Poor management and bad luck have left it in dire straits. If he'd hire a competent manager, perhaps he would have fared better. But alas! He must suffer the dreadful fate of engaging to a rich and popular woman."

"Meanwhile, sweet Jamesina is left with a broken heart," Carol added sorrowfully. "I wish to goodness he had never showed his face around her and I didn't introduce them."

Pike sighed and lost the hard expression, his eyes flitting towards the stairs.

"We couldn't have known unless we had done some intrusive research, and that would only have made her resentful. All we can do is comfort her and hope this doesn't throw her into a depression."

He looked soberly at Carol and his eyes were sad now.

"All I want is for her to be happy, Carol," he concluded. "Who know how long that will take, now?"

Carol looked at him. iMaybe not as long as you think,/i she thought. The man was in love with Jim, she was sure of that now.