Carter looked shocked. Ella averted her eyes. She couldn’t bear to watch his face as her life disintegrated before her.
His voice was calm and low. “My wife is not a terrible girl, and I have not been taken in by her in any way. I do believe it is time for you to be going. Please, don’t return unless you are in the company of your husband. I don’t think he would appreciate hearing how you are carrying your slander around the community.”
Ella could see that Carter’s mention of her husband seemed to give Mrs. Crocker pause, but it didn’t dissuade her from her mission.
“You are being deceived, Carter. I could not keep it to myself, you had to be warned. Her father was a thief and a murderer, and she’s probably here to swindle you from all your hard earned gains. Since your marriage was arranged in such a shady manner, it probably wouldn’t be too terribly difficult to have it dissolved. Then you would be free to marry my dear sister.”
“You are the one who is deceived. I would never have married your sister. And you don’t know the first thing about my wife.”
“Oh, but I do, Carter. Immediately after you introduced us in Council Bluffs, I went and wired home to Boston. It took some doing, but I was able to track down her history. Surely you couldn’t have known about it or you wouldn’t have married her. I just got the full story yesterday and had to come tell you about it today. I can get you whatever proof you might want. And I’m quite sure it could be grounds for annulling the marriage as surely she has committed fraud against you by marrying you under false pretences.”
Carter stood, towering over the crazed woman. “You have spoken quite enough. I will not listen to you uttering another word about my wife. You can be sure Jacob will be hearing about this. Please, leave by your own power. I would dislike having to physically remove you, but I will do it if you are not gone from this house within the next five minutes.”
“But Carter, don’t allow yourself to be fooled by her physical beauty. She is rotten on the inside.”
Carter’s voice got even quieter. “You’re now questioning my sense? You have gone beyond the bounds. My wife is not the rotten one in this room.” He grabbed Mrs. Crocker’s arm, ignoring her gasp of dismay, and hustled her to the door. Putting her outside, Carter slammed the door behind her. Silence followed the solid thud of the heavy door making contact with the doorframe. In the distance, a dog started barking again.
Chapter Fifteen
C arter was amazed at how poised Ella had been during Phoebe’s diatribe. But as he watched her, her composure slowly crumpled. He could see tears fill her eyes even though she obviously was trying to restrain them.
“I think I need to lie down,” she said softly through trembling lips. Without waiting for him to reply, she lifted her skirt in one clenched fist and ran up the stairs, shutting the door to her room with a quiet click. Carter would have preferred if she had slammed that door.
He should have talked to her about what he knew. He should have realized news like this wouldn’t stay completely hidden, even here on the frontier. He just wouldn’t have expected it to arrive this quickly. But he wouldn’t allow shrewish women like Phoebe Crocker to gossip and slander his wife. He stood for some moments staring out the window before his gaze focused on the curtains hanging on either side. He was stunned to feel a smile stretching his lips at a time like this. She had managed to hang more of the curtains she had been working on.
Carter softly knocked on her door. Part of him hoped she had cried herself to sleep, for he was certain she had retreated to her room for the privacy to weep. Perhaps if she were able to sleep for a few minutes, she would be able to awaken with a better perspective of this afternoon’s debacle. There was a rustle of fabric telling him she was not asleep, but she didn’t say anything.
Opening the door slightly, Carter put his head into his wife’s room. He didn’t wish to violate her privacy, but he couldn’t leave this matter to rest.
He spotted her lying face down on the bed. She lifted her tearstained face upon his entrance.
“Can I come in?”
His heart nearly broke as she valiantly tried to pull the tatters of her composure around herself. She nodded as she sat up and tried to smooth back her hair. It was usually tied back tightly as though she had exerted her will upon it, but now unruly curls were springing out all over her head as though even her hair were expressing its distress over the situation.
Before he had a chance to say anything, even as he was approaching the side of the bed, thinking to take a seat, she burst into speech.
“I never should have kept my background a secret from you, Carter. I’m so terribly sorry. Do you think if I leave you’ll be able to salvage your reputation within the community?”
“What?” he demanded much more harshly than he intended.
Her face flushed, and more tears leaked from the corners of her eyes but she did not cower away.
“I said, if I leave, no one should hold my past against you. You’ll be able to retain your position within the community.”
“My position within the community is perfectly safe, I can assure you.”
“But Mrs. Crocker said—”
“I don’t care what that tart said,” Carter interrupted forcefully. “She doesn’t control anything around here, certainly not people’s opinions.”
“But if she tells everyone about me, that’s sure to affect their opinions.” Carter hated how sad her voice sounded.
“It cannot be avoided that if she spreads her tales around, some will be affected by it, but I promise you, the people around here think for themselves. They will allow you to prove yourself for yourself. And most are predisposed to think well of others. Most have their own reasons for starting new lives out here. And they all have a healthy dose of skepticism for whatever Phoebe Crocker might have to say.”
Ella sniffled and then wiped her nose delicately with a handkerchief. She took a deep breath and looked so beautiful in all her rumpled devastation that Carter’s heart broke just a little bit on her behalf. It was obvious she was trying so hard to be brave.
“It’s kind of you to say that, Carter, but the fact is, she wasn’t lying. If anyone finds out what my name was before I married you and then they take the effort to read any old newspaper articles, they’ll know the terrible truth about me. I did take advantage of you by accepting Fred’s proposition of marriage. My father was a crook. And I don’t know how they died for sure. Maybe he was a cowardly murderer.” Her lips trembled, but she continued on. “You should let me go and then you can marry some respectable woman. I really don’t think you should align yourself with anyone connected to Mrs. Crocker, but you deserve a better partner than me.”
“No,” Carter declared. “There isn’t a better partner for me than you, so you’re going to have to stick with me.”
Her smile was tremulous and she looked relieved at his words, but she still shook her head. “But you don’t even know. She said some nasty things, but you don’t actually know what my background is. When you hear all about it, you’ll agree with her.”
“No, I won’t. And I already know. I knew when you gave me the wedding license. As soon as I saw your maiden name, I knew who your father must have been. And it doesn’t matter. While I would have rather you had told me yourself, and I would still like to hear the details from you, since I think it would do you good to discuss it, your background doesn’t matter to me except from the standpoint of how it must hurt you to know what your parents when through. And everyone turning their backs on you. People like Mrs. Crocker, who are in no position themselves to point any fingers, let me tell you.”
Ella was looking at him with wide eyes, amazement written all over her face, as though she didn’t know whether to believe him or not.
“Pack your bags, we’re going to the train station.”
With a blink her face crumpled and her tears resumed flowing. Carter thought back to his last words and quickly retracted them.
“I’m not
sending you away. I mean we’re both going. I’m going to pack my bags, too.”
Ella blinked at him, looking a little like a baby owl with her curls every which way in a halo around her head.
“Then where are we going? We cannot run away from what Mrs. Crocker is saying. Your beautiful house and property are here.”
“We’re not running away, we’re going back to face your history. We’ll go to Boston and force that dreadful society to retract their words and views of you.”
Carter’s stomach turned over at the thought of what he’d just said, but he was certain it was the best thing to do for his wife. From the looks of her, she had been at the center of Boston society and had no doubt been devastated by being cast out.
He was shocked when a loud peel of laughter slipped from between her lips. Perhaps the stress had turned her mind slightly. He reached out and grasped one of her hands. She was waving the other in front of her face as though she were trying to wipe away her mirth but was having trouble regaining control of it.
“I’m so sorry, Carter, I hope you don’t think me dreadfully rude for laughing over your suggestion. I know you made it with the best possible intentions, but there is really no need to make such a sacrifice.”
“Any sacrifice is worth the effort if it will make you happy.”
“Oh, that is so sweet of you to say, and I promise you I am comforted by your words, but this particular sacrifice would be needless. We both hate Boston society. I wouldn’t want you to make that effort for me. Why would I want to be restored into the good graces of the type of people who would shun me for something outside of my control? And who would send word of my misfortunes to follow after me so that I cannot start fresh?”
There was a space of silence while they both assessed each other, as though questioning each other’s sincerity. Carter couldn’t believe he was being granted a reprieve. His offer to return to Boston had been sincere, but he was thrilled to hear she was disinterested in accepting.
“If you meant it when you said you want me to remain at your side and you truly don’t think my presence will damage you, this is exactly where I’d like to remain.”
Carter’s heart swelled and he got to his feet, pulling her up and encircling her in his arms.
~~~
Ella had been so comforted by his words and Carter’s warm grasp on her hand but was surprised when he pulled her into his arms as he got to his feet. He was able to maneuver her easily, as though she weighed nothing. His strength was one more thing to find attractive. The butterflies that seemed to be omnipresent whenever Carter was around resumed fluttering in her midsection.
“Ella McLain, I know we might have gotten off to a rather shaky start. You are probably still grieving and you have been trying so hard to hide how little experience you have with anything that is normal life here on my spread. Your bravery has been a source of wonder for me ever since I realized how unprepared you must have felt for our life out here.”
She hadn’t expected such warm words from him. Ella could feel the prickle of tears behind her eyelids but she blinked rapidly, not wanting to spoil the moment with tears and wanting to watch his face closely as he said such lovely things. Before she could say anything in response, Carter resumed speaking.
“When you first arrived, I fell a little bit in love with your outward beauty. I was stunned that such a beautiful woman could be mine. But then the very shallowness of my immediate reaction led me to be suspicious of why such a lovely woman would need to accept an offer of a proxy marriage. I’m sorry if my wayward thoughts caused you even a moment of pain or sadness. As the time passed, I realized you couldn’t be anything other than what I saw, a genuine, lovely, young woman who had fallen into tough times but had accepted an offer of assistance. You worked hard to make my life comfortable, preparing delicious meals, washing the laundry, beautifying my house, taking on tasks that had to be unfamiliar to you, without a single word of complaint.”
“Oh, Carter, you needn’t say such things to me, I’m so grateful to you for saving me from my troubles.”
“But don’t you see? You’re the one who has saved me. I didn’t even realize how lonely and cantankerous I had become. Your arrival has changed everything. The only thing I can be proud of is that I was right, a wife from Boston was exactly right for me, but only the right wife, you.”
Finally, Ella couldn’t stem the flood of her tears. She was touched to the deepest part of her heart by his words. Her own heart swelled with love toward him. Her smile widened as his head dipped toward hers. He was going to kiss her. She could hardly stand still, she was so giddy with joy. But then his lips covered hers, and she was swept away in a tide of sensation. She had never felt so happy in her life. She just knew they were going to live happily ever after.
Note
I hope you have enjoyed my first book in the brand-new series, The Proxy Brides. New books will be released every other week through 2019.
If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review, as it helps me reach new readers and continue to write stories that appeal to you.
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The other Proxy Bride Books
A Bride for Jeremiah by Christine Sterling
A Bride for Clay by Marianne Spitzer
A Bride for Nathan by Barbara Goss
A Bride for Abel by Cyndi Raye
A Bride for Finn by Linda Ellen
A Bride for Carter by Wendy May Andrews
A Bride for Charles by H. L. Roberts
A Bride for Sterling by Parker J. Cole
A Bride for Henry by P. Creeden
A Bride for Braylon by George McVey
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About the Author
I’ve been writing pretty much since I learned to read when I was five years old. Of course, those early efforts were basically only something a mother could love I put writing aside after I left school and stuck with reading. I am an avid reader. I love words. I will read anything, even the cereal box, signs, posters, etc. But my true love is novels.
Almost ten years ago my husband dared me to write a book instead of always reading them. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it, but to my surprise I love writing. Those early efforts eventually became my first published book – Tempting the Earl (published by Avalon books in 2010). There were some ups and downs in my publishing efforts. My first publisher was sold and I became an “orphan” author, back to the drawing board of trying to find a publishing house. It has been a thrilling adventure as I learned to navigate the world of publishing.
I believe firmly that everyone deserves a happily ever after. I want my readers to be able to escape from the everyday for a little while and feel upbeat and refreshed when they get to the end of my books.
When not reading or writing, I can be found traipsing around my neighborhood admiring the dogs and greenery or travelling the world with my favorite companion.
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A Bride For Carter (The Proxy Brides Book 6) Page 12
