(COMPLETED)
It's 1817 and there is nothing more a woman wants than to marry a rich man and live a life of comfort.
But not Nancy Brooks. Having spent half her life helping her mother run her laundry shop and the other half in the local library, Na...
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They were cheering, Nancy realized with horror. They were encouraging him. What was wrong with them?
"Jump, jump, jump," screamed a group of boys gathered around. The young man this was directed at stood at the fence, about to do just as they were saying.
"What is wrong with them?" Nancy cried to no one in particular.
"Gale is not actually going to do it," a boy standing behind her said. Nancy turned around. "He's just looking for attention."
"Gale? Jonathan Gale?" Nancy remembered the package she was supposed to be delivering.
"Yes. Who are you?" the boy asked curiously.
Nancy turned back to Gale. Whatever this boy had said, it seemed to her that he was actually going to jump. Her heart beat fast.
"Gale!" She pushed her way through the crowd, trying to raise her voice over all the other voices screaming for him to jump. "Gale!"
A few people turned around in surprise to look at her. She ignored them, making her way to the front of the crowd.
"Hey, Mr. Gale!" she cried when she reached the front. "I have your clothes!" This was the first thing that came to her mind. She heard a few people laugh behind her.
"Who is she, Gale?" someone sneered. "I didn't know you were involved with a laundry girl."
"All the more reason to go ahead and jump!" someone else screamed, and the cheering resumed.
"Jump, jump, jump."
Nancy moved closer to him. "Don't listen to them," she said in a loud voice. "You have so much to live for!"
He turned around to look down at her in surprise.
"Like what?"
"You're at Oxford!" Nancy couldn't help herself. "What complaints do you have from life?"
He watched her for a few moments before slowly turning back.
And then he jumped.
Nancy did the only thing that came to her mind. Springing forth, she seized his shoulders.
= = =
She sat in the large cool office room, staring out the window. She had been sitting in the same position for the past hour. A few times, she considered just getting up and leaving, but her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to see how this would end.
Finally, she heard the door open and close behind her. Turning around, she saw a middle-aged man walking toward the desk where she sat. He took a seat across from her. He was tall and balding with a wispy beard. He wore a crisp black suit and round spectacles. Nancy vaguely thought that he looked like a cartoon character she had seen in a coloring book once, yet he gave off an air of authority. He pressed his fingertips together and peered at her over the rim of his spectacles.
