Their Conquered Bride. Grace Goodwin

Чтение книги онлайн.

      3

       Elizabeth

      As the coach pulled to a stop after hours of rocking and swaying, I was eager for a hotel room and a bath. My back ached nearly as much as my bottom, and I knew when I lay down to sleep later, the world would still feel as if it moved beneath me.

      But, we had arrived. Finally! My sisters and I were hundreds of miles away from my vile uncle. I would meet my husband and my sisters and I would be safe. Protected. For once in my life, I would be taken care of by a man who wanted me.

      I needed a bath, but I wouldn’t be choosy. I’d settle for a basin and ewer with fresh water to rid me of the miles of travel dust. I’d seen the never-ending open prairie, the tall grass turning toward gold. Hayes was much smaller than Omaha, and the first thing we couldn’t miss on the edge of town was a church, the sacred house of worship where I would soon take my solemn vows.

      A schoolhouse stood guard over a yard full of a dozen playing children and a long row of shops and houses lined the main thoroughfare of this quaint western town. The stage stopped in front of the mercantile, and I sighed in relief as the stage stumbled to a stop. A week of waiting threatened to make me daft. Waiting and wondering.

      With each mile we traveled over the last few days, I worried. Would my husband find me beautiful despite my dark skin and eyes? Would he desire me? Would he be kind or cruel? I did not worry over his looks, for I knew a handsome face could hide an evil heart. My entire life, I had been treated as an outcast, the bastard child of a wanton woman’s wicked pleasure. Tainted. I could withstand harsh judgment, but hoped for kindness. In the deepest, darkest place in my soul, I hoped for a man’s love, but that was too grand a dream to ever speak aloud.

      No. I worried most what my husband would think of my two sisters. They would be a surprise, something he had not expected. I hadn’t been able to leave them behind with our uncle though. Because of my wanton ways, he was going to marry me to a man with six grown children. From what my uncle had told me, I was to be Mr. Partridge’s third wife and as such, he wanted a lusty bed partner and not a simpering virgin. My uncle had told him of my unfortunate, licentious leanings, of my immoral background and the man had still been more than eager.

      I, however, was repulsed. Mr. Partridge was fifty-two. He was obese and had jowls. Food fell from his lips as he talked during a meal, landing unceremoniously on his shirt. To make the man even more odious and the arrangement completely ironic, he was very pious and committed to the church, which meant he expected me to be demure and meek when in public.

      And a harlot in private.

      I wondered if he expected me to eat his leftover dinner off his shirt as I undressed him for bed.

      The only way to escape him was to flee Omaha. But if I left either Judith or Rebekah behind, surely our uncle would marry one of them off to him—or someone just like him—instead.

      Accepting the offer made in that advertisement had been my last desperate attempt to save myself and my sisters. I understood, too well, that a man with two sons to raise didn’t need additional mouths to feed, but we’d been desperate, so desperate, to get away.

      Because of this, I would keep Judith and Rebekah a secret until after I was wed tomorrow. Only then could my new husband not send all three of us home. I’d gone mad, surely, but our uncle had finally pushed me too far. I took a deep breath, let it out. I could do this. I could do anything as long as I wasn’t in Omaha. My husband might reject my sisters, but if I married, they could remain in Hayes as respectable women with the hopes of finding employment, or even husbands of their own.

      If my new husband refused to help us? Well, the little money I had saved would keep us reputable for a few months. Hopefully, that would be long enough to see them properly wed. After that, I didn’t much care what happened to me. I would survive, as I always had. As long as I was away from the pious Mr. Partridge.

      In a rush to be free of the cramped quarters, we stepped down and landed in the middle of a group of men who were busy loading sacks of flour, tins of food and other supplies into the back of a wagon. They paused and looked our way, each and every man tipping his hat in our direction.

      The group was large, at least ten men. Judith and Rebekah froze in place at the sight of them all, for they were quite large and very formidable. They exuded an aura of… power. It appeared that they were traveling, just passing through town to purchase supplies. I tried to imagine all of them housed under one roof at a hotel or boardinghouse, but rejected the idea. There was something wild and untamed about these men. Fearless and bold, like I imagined a great grizzly bear would be, ambling through the forest. I suspected men such as these slept beneath the stars with loaded guns at their sides.

      “There isn’t much to this town, Lizzie.” Rebekah picked up her cream-colored skirts and looked around with a frown, clearly not as intrigued by the men as I. The top half of her dress was cut of a dark, velvet brown that brought out the gold streaks in her hair.

      “I told you two the town was small.” I tried to keep my voice low as I studied the men’s laden saddlebags and filled wagon. While we were at our final destination, these men seemed to have a long way to go.

      Pity. One or two of them might have made fine husbands for my sisters.

      “It’s nothing like Omaha, that’s the truth.” Judith stood next to her sister, her blue traveling dress stained around the hem, but the dress’ color a vibrant match for the cornflower blue of her eyes. “I hope your Jenkins is worth it, Lizzie. I’m going to miss having tea at Mrs. Dodd’s house. Do they even have a hotel?”

      My sisters didn’t know of my uncle’s arrangement with Mr. Partridge. They’d only fret or offer themselves up in my stead. As I wanted none of us yoked with that man, here we stood.

      “Of course.” I had asked the stage driver three towns back. If not, I’d planned on leaving my sisters at the last stop, in a reputable hotel, until I was a married woman and could safely retrieve them. Having them in Hayes was better. I wanted them close. Safe.

      “Hotel’s just up the street, ladies.” All the air was sucked from my lungs at the deep, СКАЧАТЬ