Motherlessness
Isabel and Ruth have been orphaned since a young age. As slaves, their care is dependent upon their work value. Isabel is constantly searching for a mother figure to guide and nurture her. Unfortunately not all of her role models are worthy of her attention. Her first mistress, Miss Mary Finch was a kindly old lady who looked after the girls. She promised to free them in her will, but the promise isn't honored after her death. Madam Lockton is a harsh woman with next to no integrity. When Isabel looks to her for favor, she's greeted with abuse and cruelty. Isabel is constantly frustrated by this woman's unique emotional abuse. For example, Madam keeps the girls separated and soon sends Ruth off to another plantation after drugging Isabel to make sure she doesn't fight the change. When she wakes up, Isabel is told Ruth was sold to a new owner -- a blatant lie. The matriarch whom she is supposed to be able to trust turns out to be an awfully unethical person. Isabel does find a ray of light in Mr. Lockton's aunt, the elderly Lady Seymour, however, who takes her safety upon herself, offering some kindness in a dark world.
Betrayal
From start to finish Isabel and Ruth are shortchanged by people in whom they should be able to rely. While Miss Finch promises to free them in her will, they aren't freed because her brother denies the validity of their claim and since they don't have access to a lawyer they're subject to the brother's will. At the Lockton's Isabel is drugged by Madam in order to prevent a scene when her sister is sold without her knowledge. It turns out Ruth wasn't sold, but she was transferred to a different property owned by the Lockton's. Isabel does her own share of betrayal when she joins the patriot cause, however, and starts spying on her British-sympathizing owners. In the end she is responsible for Mr. Lockton's flight to England. The tides turn again when she is discovered. Madam Lockton tells her that Ruth will be punished for Isabel's betrayal, although the validity of her threat remains unknown. It feels as if every character in the book perpetrates their own series of betrayals by the end of it all.
Kindness Pays
Throughout her story, Isabel gradually learns the value of kindness as she is repaid dearly by the people whom she treats well. That does not mean that she is responsible for being kind to her abusers -- the Locktons. In fact she shows them an extraordinary amount of deference considering her age and position. Isabel's kindness to Miss Finch, Curzon, Lady Seymour, and even the patriot soldiers is repaid when each of them gives her some degree of aid. For the rebels, its mostly empty promises, but they don't forget her efforts for their cause. On Curzon's end, he becomes a dear friend. He is the one Isabel turns to when she escapes from the Loctkons. Discovering him sick and imprisoned by the British, she takes it upon herself to help him escape as well. Together they set out to ensure both of their legal freedoms and to rescue Ruth from Charleston. What started out as a simple act of kindness, earned Isabel a lifelong friend who stands by her when everything is on the line.
