She was not hurt, merely frightened. The roughness of his embrace, the violence of his face upon hers. But more than that, she was mortified. She did not want to embarrass her father. If only she could stop crying, she thought, cursing herself. Act like nothing had happened. She must not shame her father, she must not! Don't act like a stupid, weak girl, not now, of all times!

Ben already had his arms around her. "Marie! Scamp, darling! What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, Pa! Honestly!"

She spotted her brothers over Ben's shoulder and froze. They must not know, ever. Especially Joe. He would go insane and she did not want any trouble. She was sure it was all her fault but she did not know what she had done wrong.

"Please, Pa," she cried, pushing him away. "I'm...OK. I'm sorry. I'm just tired..." She faced the guests who were staring at her. "Please forgive me. I'm so silly! I'm just...a bit tired. Please forgive me."

One of the older women approached her and took her hand. Marie recognized her, she had been the postmistress for many years. "Scamp, sweetheart. It's alright. But this is not like you. What's the matter, dear? What's happened?"

"Nothing! Honestly, Mrs Warren. Nothing's happened. I'm just a bit tired. Please go inside, ma'am." She made a supreme effort to control her emotions, although she was still shaking. "Please, ma'am. I'm alright. I'm just being really silly. I'm sorry, Pa," she added.

"Scamp, sweetheart! What have you got to be sorry for?"

If only you knew, she thought. But he must never know. If only she wasn't so weak! She had always loathed weakness, especially in women, she scorned it. She suddenly felt sick.

"I think I'll go to my room," she stammered. "I'm sorry, everyone, I didn't mean to spoil your evening." Her laugh sounded unconvincing even in her own ears. "If you'd excuse me. You must go on with the party."

"Did it have anything to do with that fella who was chasing you?" one of the men asked.

Scamp silently cursed him.

Ben swung around. "Fella? What fella?"

"I don't know his name," the man said. "Marie was dancing with him earlier."

"Scamp, what's going on?" Ben demanded.

"Nothing, Pa!..." She searched her brain. For the first time she told her father a serious lie. "It's just...I fell down, you see. He was...trying to see if I was OK. I was a bit upset so I ran away. He was trying to see if I was OK."

To the others she seemed a lot calmer but her family knew her too well. Ben also knew she was not telling the truth. She never lied so he was truly worried. The guests wandered back inside and Marie tried to follow them but Ben caught her arm.

"Just a moment, young lady. Now, what happened?"

"Nothing!" she cried, jerking her arm away. "Please, Pa, just leave me alone! Please!"

She broke away and surreptitiously ran around the back of the dancing and up the stairs.