Pearl Maiden
By: H. Rider Haggard
Pearl Maiden is about Miriam, a girl born on a boat in the middle of a storm, whose mother, Rachel, dies shortly after giving birth. Before she dies, though, she asks her servant, Nahushta, to raise the baby in the city of Essenes with her brother, the baby's uncle, Ithiel. He loves the baby as soon as he sees her, but Essenes does not permit women in the city. Nahushta convinces him to ask the courts and Ithiel is granted permission to care for Miriam until she turns 18.
While living in Essenes Miriam abides by her mother's will to maintain her Christianity, though the city is a Jewish city. The Order visits Miriam's house twice weekly and at age seven is given a playmate, Caleb, the only child close to her age. Miriam and Caleb play everyday after her lessons. She is well taught. The Order provides her with a teacher for everything from history to art to theology.
One day while Miriam and Nahushta are out collecting flowers they see Caleb with a bow and quiver. He explains there are drunk Roman officers in the city collecting taxes and also that a hyena had been bothering the sheep so he had to shoot it. But when Nahushta saw that one of the officers had been shot in the neck and fallen off his horse, she knew Caleb had done a bad thing. An officer, Marcus, comes to Essenes to investigate. Just outside the city notices Miriam and Nahushta collecting flowers again and immediately falls in love with Miriam.
He introduces himself and asks her to bring him into the city. Along the way they meet Caleb who is unable to hide his jealously toward Marcus. Afraid he'll lose her, Caleb confesses his love to Miriam and though he would not force her to ...