Maybe she had no idea what she was getting into. She had lost a husband before and it had hurt terribly. Perhaps it was just such a loss that was making her rebel in this way. To sleep with a man and to continue doing it without chance of marriage was scandalous. Mary knew they had a word for women like her, even if Jim was the only man she was sleeping with. Mary loved him though, and she had realized that there was a difference among love and sex and marriage. One didn't need to be married to be committed to someone or to have sex with them. It was a wild idea for both her time and her social class.

Mary grinned up at him when he pushed her back on the bed. She smoothed her hands slowly down his chest. "Did you want something, Captain?"