The Innocent Adventuress

'The Innocent Adventuress' is a novel by Mary Hastings Bradley that opens with Maria Angelina eavesdropping on her family's discussion about the dowries for her sisters' marriages. Maria is worried about her family's financial struggles and the fate of her sister Julietta, who is plain and in need of a large dowry to secure a husband. Maria's imagination runs wild as she envisions Julietta's future of ridicule and isolation, while her own heart aches for adventure and freedom.