London, October 1756
"Stop George, this is not proper" Alice says, trying to find a reason to resist to the man behind her.
"And who will judge us? There's no one here apart from you and me" the man continues kissing her neck.
"God will do it. We're not married" Alice knows she won't be able to resist much more, especially if he keeps kissing her like that. She has let him unbutton her dress and slide it down to the floor and now she stands in front of him with nothing more than her undergarments.
"Alice you'll be my wife when we are in America" he insists, sliding one strap of her shirt and caressing her shoulder with his lips.
Alice knows George Clark since last year. Three years older than her, he is a foot soldier of the British army. Over time they fell in love, developing a secret relationship because of his lower social class. However, as the ambitious man he is, he has explained her that he dreams of becoming a Lieutenant or a Captain and then, maybe Colonel Munro allows him to marry his youngest daughter. Until then, they conform ourselves with her secrets visits to his house. They only talked or kissed each other at first, but lately, their relationship has become more passionate.
"Please, I'm not ready. Can you wait until we are married?" Alice asks feeling a bit uncomfortable with his eagerness to undress her.
"Alice you know tomorrow I'm going to take the boat to America. Our country needs me there to fight against the French. We won't see each other for nearly a year" he says a bit annoyed.
"But next summer I'll go there with my sister to see our father and…"
"Alice enough. Even then, we'll have to wait a lot until your father allow you to become my wife. I need you give me something to make the wait worthwhile…" George starts devouring her neck while caresses her waist with his hands.
My virginity. The gift she had planned to give to her husband. She feels horrified of doing something like this out of marriage but she can't lose George. He is the love of her life, her charming prince and she trusts completely on him. Maybe doing that is not so bad… after all, we're going to marry at some point and no one will know about this. And oh, I feel so attracted to him…
"Well, are you willing to do that for me? George whispers in her ear. She doesn't like the impatience in his voice but maybe he is right. Sometimes she is too naive and proper and that's why men always prefer her sister Cora. Her shyness bores them and now it's obvious George is getting angry with her for the same reason. But she can change that…
"Alright. If you want…" as soon as she pronounces these words with a timid voice, George starts working on the laces of her corset with expert hands. As soon as he throws it to the floor, he turns her around and kisses her lustfully, touching all over her body.
He is too rude Alice thinks feeling extremely uncomfortable and not knowing what to do because of her inexperience. That's not what I had imagined but maybe men are always like this…
Suddenly, George picks her up in his arms and takes her to his room. He closes the door behind them. At last he is going to take what he has been waiting for…
Boston, May 1757
It wasn't a mistake. Alice has repeated this statement in her mind hundreds of times since the nightmare began, trying to convince herself this isn't so terrible. She looks at her pregnant belly and remembers everything she has been through over the last months.
It began a few months after George had left England. Her monthly courses hadn't come a couple of times but she didn't give it a thought. But then she started feeling sick in the mornings, with horrible nauseas and Cora insisted she had to be examined by the doctor. Though she had prayed it wasn't that, he corfimed her suspicions. She was pregnant.
Cora couldn't believe it and got really angry, demanding to know the whole story. Alice told her everything and her sister spent several days without saying a word, after yelling at her how stupid she had been. Fortunately, one night she came to her bed and embraced her. Alice cried a lot in her sister's arms but Cora told her that no matter what she had done, she was her sister and she will be always by her side.
However, it was imposible to keep the secret forever. Rumours spread over the city and their relatives discovered the terrible news. Cousin Eugenie sent a letter to Colonel Munro telling him about his daughter's pregnancy. His answer was the worst Alice would have imagined. Her beloved father told her she had dishonored the whole family and she was no longer his daughter. He didn't want to know anything more about her or the baby and she had to leave home. Cora couldn't do anything about that but promised Alice that she would be always her sister and she would help her.
However, Alice still had a place to go. She would go to America to reunite with George. They loved each other and now they wouldn't need her father's approval to marry. Her lover would take care of her and their baby.
That's why she is here. She took the first boat to America and finally she is in Boston, where George told her he would be. Asking for him around the town, she discovered he has become a Lieutenant and she felt happy for him, it was his dream after all. Standing at the door of his house, she takes a deep breath. Everything is going to be alright.
Alice knocks on the door and after a moment, it opens and she finds herself in front of her love, after so much time.
"George" she says with a smile and embraces him. He pushes her away slowly and looks at her with shocked eyes.
"Alice what are you doing...?" He has not finished the question when he repairs in her pregnant belly. His face pales and his expression becomes horrified.
He takes her arm quickly and takes her inside, before closing the door. "What is all of this Alice?"
Alice had imagined their reunion in a different way but she understands he might be shocked by the situation. "Well...did you remember the day before you left England?"
He nods, clearly overwhelmed.
"Well...I got pregnant...and my father was so cruel to me...he said I dishonored the family" Alice continues, feeling tears in her eyes because of the painful memory.
"And why are you here?" George shortly asks.
"Well...we love each other...and now we can marry without my father's approval" Alice answers, not liking the tone he is using with her.
"And you have any proof that the child is mine?"
Alice can't believe what she's just heard. "No but...you know I hadn't lied with a man before you..."
"Yes, but what about after that?" he cuts her off "You gave yourself to me so easily that day, maybe you gave yourself to other men when I left"
"Of course not, George please you have to believe me!" Alice says desperately touching his face "I don't love anyone besides you..."
"Don't touch me!" he jerks away from her "Get out of my house and forget about me. I won't take care of someone else's child"
"You can't do this to me, I have nowhere to go!" Alice says desperated.
"You are a beautiful woman. I'm sure there will be a lot of men willing to pay you for your services"
A wave of rage invades Alice, hearing him insulting her in that way "You bastard!" she cries furiously, starting pounding at his chest. He grabs her wrists easily, forcing her to stop her attack.
"Don't you dare to hit me again!" he screams, shaking her violently "You seem and angel but you are no more than a whore!"
Alice's cheeks are full of tears and she sobs incontrolably "George please...you are hurting me..."
Suddenly, he slaps her with the back of his hand, throwing her to the floor with a painful cry.
Alice stays in the floor with a hand on her sore cheek, looking at him with a scared expression. The man she has loved all this time, her charming prince, not only has rejected her and their child, he even has slapped her. It doesn't matter that there is nowhere for her to go, no way she would stay with such a violent man.
She stands up trembling and looks at him with sad eyes. "I thought you loved me".
"The only thing I've ever wanted from you, I took it that day in my bed."
Feeling new tears coming to her eyes, she runs to the street. What I'm going to do now? Alice thinks desperated. All her romantic fantasies had dissapeared inside that house. No man will love me again, knowing that I'm no pure.
Suddenly, she feels a kick inside her belly. She breaths relieved: the baby is alright. She smiles between her tears I'm not alone. I've got you and I promise I'll be the mom you deserve.
Author's note: Hello again! Here I go with a new story. I've had this idea wandering through my mind for some time and finally I've decided to write it down. I had some doubts about how to portray Alice's character in this story, so I'd like to thank MohawkWoman and AsterLaurel for their amazing suggestions:)
I know this is a quite dramatic start, but don't worry, next updates won't be so sad. What Alice has been through in this chapter was something really common in those times and, unfortunately, it still happens nowadays, so I wanted to show that awful reality.
I haven't finished yet my other story "The road to happiness", but I will continue it as soon as inspiration come back. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this one:)