Titans by Leila Meacham Read Free Book Online Page A

faded away.
    She could blame Anne Rutherford and Todd Baker for the return of her nighttime horror—Anne for bringing up her bloodline theory at her birthday party to make a point of Samantha’s lack of one, and Todd for trotting out stories of her laboratory experiments from their school years. Those strands of conversation had led to her mother asking over the menu at Tea and Crumpets yesterday, “Now that you’ve turned twenty, darling, have you any regrets about… anything?”
    It was like Estelle Gordon to couch possibly painful subjects in vague terms. “Anything” referred to the question of whether Samantha regretted her choice of avocation. Did she regret staying behind to learn the business of ranching over her opportunity to study natural science at the Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Massachusetts? And… was she ever curious about the family and roots from which she came?
    “No, Mother, I have no regrets about anything,” Samantha had answered. “I wouldn’t change my lot for anything in the world.”
    “Lot” meant her home, her parents, her situation in life. Samantha was noted as one for not hedging the truth. Don’t ask if one did not wish a straight answer. Her mother had looked at her over the rim of her teacup with a gratified smile in her gaze.
    Samantha wondered if her father, alone at the ranch while she spent the week of her birthday with her mother in Fort Worth as she did every year, was asking the same question. At twenty, did Samantha have regrets about anything? He wouldn’t ask out of pride and maybe a secret fear of the answer, but that didn’t mean he didn’t question whether she was as happy as she might have been if things had worked out differently.
    Darn Anne and Todd for causing them to wonder even a trifle if Samantha had regrets! She didn’t. It took only the image of that little girl in her nightmare and the terror it evoked to make her realize how lucky she was. Her mother was so easily readable. It was clear that Todd’s reminiscences had triggered a memory of the time the Gordons, unbeknown to Samantha, had been asked to meet with the headmaster of Simmons Preparatory School. Samantha, too, had been called from biology class and walked into the headmaster’s office to find her parents and Mr. Latimer, the chairman of the science department and her favorite teacher, seated before his desk. She was sixteen years old and in the final months of her schooling before graduation.
    “What’s the purpose of this meeting, Headmaster?” Neal Gordon had demanded. “Is our daughter in trouble?”
    The headmaster had exchanged a grin with the chairman of the science department. “Absolutely not,” he said, and pushed a letter across his desk for the Gordons to read. “Your daughter has been accepted at the Lasell Seminary for Young Women in Massachusetts to pursue a degree in science.” He tipped his head to his colleague. “You have Mr. Latimer here to thank for sending Samantha’s résumé listing her outstanding credentials to the school. It only remains for you to fill out the application form to make it official, Samantha.”
    Samantha remembered woodenly intercepting the letter before it could reach her parents’ hands. She was aware of the prestigious, highly respected institution known for its radical and innovative approach to women’s education, especially in the field of sciences. She had followed the career of Annie Montague Alexander, a Lasell graduate whose work with fossils and the study of paleontology was internationally recognized. Sensing her parents’ stiff dismay, Samantha read the glowing reply to Mr. Latimer’s request for enrollment, then pushed the letter and its attached application form back across the desk.
    The two academics regarded her with puzzled expressions. “Uh, Miss Gordon, perhaps your parents would like to read the letter,” the headmaster suggested.
    “It is for me to decide whether I wish to attend Lasell Seminary, and