Free Collision Course by Gordon Korman Page B

no doubt. That is, I believe, the number of cards in a deck.”
    Enraged, he raised a hand to her, but thought better of it when she stood her ground and did not flinch. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, but no lessangry. “Stupid girl, there are factors at play here that you cannot possibly begin to grasp.”
    For some reason, she thought of Sophie’s mother — Amelia Bronson’s outrage at being denied the vote. Until this moment, Juliana had not seen what was so important about casting a ballot for a prime minister you would probably never meet. Now she understood perfectly. What galled Mrs. Bronson — what should gall all women — was the belief that no female was intelligent enough to make her own decisions.
    “Then please enlighten me,” she told her father. “I am not feeble-minded. Tell me of these ‘factors.’”
    “Did you consider what would happen should Mr. Hardcastle hear of your dancing with swirling skirts?” challenged the earl.
    “Mr. Hardcastle?” Juliana repeated. “Your business associate is not aboard the
Titanic
!”
    “Do you not think these Americans gossip and spread rumors like fishwives?” her father exploded. “The entirety of what they call society is aboard this vessel!”
    She lowered her gaze. “I should regret to cause you embarrassment, Papa. But I fail to see how my conduct could have any effect on your commerce with a man who owns oil wells.”
    “Then you are extremely shortsighted. Hardcastlemay be an American, but he will care very much about the reputation of the future bride of one of his sons!”
    “
Bride?”
Juliana was rocked back on her heels. “I’m fifteen years old!”
    “In less than two years, you will be seventeen and marriageable. Mr. Hardcastle has three sons. Not many girls get such a choice.”
    “I choose none of them!” Juliana exclaimed, horrified.
    “I warned you that you would not understand. Perhaps you do not notice the financial difficulties of your family because you are still kept in silks and satins. Hardcastle has all the money in the world, but only you can place his family within the nobility.”
    “So now I have children, too?” Juliana sputtered.
    “It is your duty to rescue your family,” her father lectured. “That is what young ladies of your station are called upon to do. And if they are well-bred, they do it gladly.”
    Juliana had a brief vision of her mother weeping uncontrollably on the dock at Southampton as the
Titanic
sailed.
    She knows! Everybody knows — except me
!
    At that moment, Juliana would have preferred to hang rather than let her father see her cry. But thetears came. She could not hold them back. She stumbled to the stateroom door and threw it open.
    “When you invited me to accompany you on this business trip,” she sobbed, “you neglected to mention that
I
was the merchandise to be bartered!”
    She ran blindly along the passageway, wanting only to get away from him. Never before had she felt so completely betrayed or so utterly alone. Here she was, half an ocean away from the only home she had ever known, her sole companion the father who had put her up for sale to finance his gambling debts and pay for his polo ponies, aeroplanes, and other toys. Who knew if she’d ever see her mother again? She wasn’t even certain she wanted to. What sort of parent would send her only child off on a voyage of no return? Yes, she had wept on the dock. But her sadness had not given her the courage and decency to warn her daughter of her impending fate.
    Nobody cares what happens to me
….
    She pulled up short, dashing the tears from her eyes with a balled fist. Someone did care. She thought back to the day she and Sophie had found Paddy hiding in the linen drawer under her bed. His exact words:
All that blather about your reputation — what I’m saying, miss, is there’s something not quite right about it
.
    His background could not have been more opposite to hers, but
Paddy
cared. He had tried