-
Sandra Wagner-Wright
a book bubble about
Two Coins: A Biographical Novel (Women of Determination and Courage)
Literature & Fiction
Author Insight
What Am I To Do?
Mrs Walker forwarded 3 letters to Rev William Hastie. Each describes conditions at the Female Orphanage. Each places Mary Pigot in a bad position. After reading the first two, Hastie is almost in a state of collapse. He sees himself as head of the Scottish Mission. Will he be held accountable? Reluctantly, he reads the letter Miss Gordon wrote. The implication is that if a man is seen leaving a house while putting on his coat, he hasn't been there for a moral purpose. And if the man is Indian, and Miss Pigot is Scottish, the indecency is all the greater in 1883 Calcutta. At this point, Rev Hastie is shock. He dislikes Mary Pigot, but he never thought of her in terms of the charges he just read. And what should he do with this information? He wants to ignor it, but can he?
Book Excerpt
Two Coins: A Biographical Novel (Women of Determination and Courage)
Oh, Dear Lord, forgive us! The Gordon woman saw Miss Pigot and Babu Banerjee in the drawing room with their arms around each other. Another time she saw Babu Banerjee going down the outside stairs while putting on his coat.
I feel as if someone struck the air out of me. This cannot be true. It mustn’t be! What am I to do? I sweep a pile of documents off my desk. There’s another letter. I inhale deeply, unfold it, and skim quickly through it.
Nothing about indiscretions, thank God. Just comments about food and clothing given to the orphans. A more detailed account of a child caned as punishment.
I hear tapping at the door.
“Go away,” I shout. “I’m not at home to anyone.”
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
GooglePlay
Apple Books
Kobo
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.