THE STORY SO FAR
1740s. Kitty Bell dreams of working in medicine like her father. However, on the sudden death of her parents due to fever, 19-year-old Kitty is forced to find work in a London bakery. There she treats an elderly woman with a potion. When the woman dies of other causes, Kitty is accused of manslaughter. She is sentenced to 10 years of forced labour in the American colonies, where she is employed by Dr Francis Leary as tutor and companion to his daughter Melanie. Meanwhile, back in England, her sweetheart James finds proof of Kitty’s innocence. When Dr Leary is accidentally shot, Kitty operates and saves his life. He then asks her to marry him. However, when Kitty tends to injured indigenous people, the colonists demand that she must not only leave the Leary household, but she should also be severely punished. Kitty realises there is only one course of action open to her. She must escape from America.
James rushed to the rails as the first smudged outlines of land appeared. He felt a sense of relief and excitement. Within a day or two he would land in the New World and be with Kitty. The thought was overwhelming.
It had taken him almost nine months to obtain the final judgement that cleared Kitty of the manslaughter charge. Naively, he thought that once the legal writ quashing her sentence and ordering her release was issued, action would be taken to
