Cressida's Dilemma by Beverley Oakley

Courtney, her young man whom she saw tonight, three years after her ambitious mama forced her to reject his marriage offer. She thinks he may have recognized her, and she’s ashamed and fears he may tell her parents, whom she hopes simply believe her dead.”
    “But it wasn’t her fault,” Cressida stammered, before realizing that it was always the woman’s fault.
    “No, it wasn’t her fault, but that’s no defense, and now Minna must earn her daily bread, as must we all and, if she’s lucky, find a little love along the way before she is old and dies in the gutter.”
    Shocked at the harshness of Ariane’s tone, Cressida reflected on her own good fortune. Regardless of whether Justin strayed or not, she was protected by his name and his wealth. She might die lonely and unhappy, but at least it would not be in a gutter.
    “Surely this young man might rescue her?” she asked, realizing at the same time how absurd the notion was, for if Minna was no longer a virgin, she was indeed condemned to a lonely and miserable future with only the protection she could procure herself.
    Ariane turned the subject, her voice sympathetic and questioning as she laid two hands upon Cressida’s shoulders. “And why are you here? You are looking for your husband? Well, there are peepholes that will give you access to many of the rooms here, though if he does not wish to be spied upon, he has that right. Many here, however, are quite happy to flaunt themselves.”
    “Spy? Goodness, no! I just want—”
    Ariane’s gentle squeeze stilled her. “You don’t know what you want, I think. Or perhaps you just want to go home. This is not the place to be when you have somewhere else to go to that offers you comfort and security.” She led her to the door and pointed down the corridor. “The entrance is that way. I shall be going in a different direction, for I came here to enjoy myself”—a secretive smile curved her lips—“with my friends, since I’m rarely in a position to enjoy my husband, though he is visiting tonight. He is very handsome, you will have noticed. Come.” She started for the door and beckoned Cressida to follow. “You’re very welcome to join Minna and Persephone and Julia and me, but I think perhaps you’d prefer the safety of your own bed.”
    Ariane left her then, brushing past her and into the passage, her companions following, and heading in the direction opposite to that in which she’d pointed Cressida.
    Cressida watched her until she was nearly out of sight. Yes, she should go home. That’s what she’d intended. But she’d not found Justin. She’d not begun to understand what might have drawn him to such a place—if there was any grain of truth in Catherine’s words. And Ariane’s own story, and that of Minna, needled her. No, Justin would never come here, but he should know of what went on, and Cressida should make him do something…though changing the world and a judgmental society was hardly something that could be done overnight. However, Justin was in a position of power. He was a man who changed the ways of the world, and wasn’t that what her own papa had grown up lamenting was needed to his unworldly daughter? He always said it was a harsher world with a greater divide between the fortunate and the unfortunate than should be the case.
    Justin need not know she’d been here, but he should know what terrible things happened to defenseless women unaided or even persecuted by the law. He should try to do his part to change the society that governed so many cruel attitudes.
    Emboldened by an unexpected sense of crusade, Cressida picked up her skirts and quickly followed the young women.
    She might not have much experience of the seamier side of life, but as a parson’s daughter, she had not always enjoyed the sumptuous privilege she did now. And her father, a kind and gentle man, had been far less condemnatory toward the few fallen women of their parish than her more ambitious