Mail Order Bride- Twenty-Two Brides Mega Boxed Set

by Emily Woods

  Melly nodded obediently and snuggled closer to her mother. Ellen, thankful for her youngest daughter’s gentle spirit, smoothed Melly’s wild, untamed black ringlets. “You’re a good girl, Melly,” Ellen whispered as Melly nuzzled her cheek. “Your papa would be so proud of you.”

  The next morning, Ellen’s stomach growled as she heated water over the tiny, iron stove in the corner of the flat’s kitchen. She bit her lip, willing herself to be positive despite the deep, aching pangs of hunger that flashed through her belly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bella stir in the small bed she shared with her sister, and she hoped that her daughters would stay asleep for another few hours.

  “Please let them sleep,” Ellen wished as she wiped her tea-stained hands on her crisp gray apron. “Let the little children sleep, Lord. Sleep is the only refuge they have from the difficulties of our lives right now, and they deserve all of the lovely dreams of lovely things.”

  Ellen’s wish was not fulfilled. A few moments later, she felt Melly wrap her arms around her legs. Ellen’s heart warmed, and she reached down to pat the top of Melly’s head. “Good morning,” Ellen murmured to her youngest daughter. “Let’s be quiet, shall we? Let’s let Bella keep sleeping.”

  “Bella is awake, Mama!” Bella declared as she leapt from the bed and threw her arms around her mother’s waist. “Mama, I’m hungry!”

  Bella’s words cut through Ellen’s heart. Ellen did not expect to have a visceral reaction to her oldest daughter announcing her hunger, but her body began to shake as Bella hugged her. “Mama is sorry,” Ellen said to Bella as the girl stared up at her. “We don’t have breakfast this morning, Bella, but we will have lunch today. Mama is making a nice stew for lunch! I have carrots to slice up, and the grocer gave me a nice slice of cow’s tongue to add.”

  Bella stuck out her lip and began to pout. “I want food now, Mama,” Bella pleaded as she tugged at Ellen’s skirts. “Mama, can we have the stew now?”

  Ellen shook her head. “No, Bella,” she replied, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead as the steam from the kettle hit her face. “We only have enough food for one meal today, and it is better if we eat later in the day.”

  Bella began to sob. She dropped to the uneven wood floor, flailing her legs and screaming as her nightdress slid up to reveal her skinny, underfed torso. Ellen frowned as she saw her daughter's ribs sticking out of her body, and she was flooded with guilt as she remembered the elaborate meals her family used to enjoy before the war.

  “I’m sorry,” Ellen assured Bella. “Bella, please! Please don’t cry. We must be strong for Melly, remember? We must be strong!”

  Bella continued to throw her fit, and Melly eventually joined in. “Me hungry too, Mama,” Melly wailed as Ellen’s face grew flushed. Ellen studied her daughters’ thin faces, and before she realized it, she burst into her own tears.

  “Mama?” Melly asked in concern. Ellen rarely cried in front of the girls, and Melly’s eyes grew wide.

  Ellen wiped the tears from her cheeks, but her shoulders continued to shake. “I’m sorry, my girls,” she breathed to her daughters as Melly and Bella drew closer. “Mama is sorry.”

  A few hours later, after the girls had been given lunch and were taking their naps, Ellen found herself staring out of the flat’s only window. It was a cold, brisk afternoon, and Ellen shivered as the chill of the November air stung her skin. Her warm, thick coats and fine dresses had been sold off to afford the flat, and Ellen clung to the thin, shabby frock that was failing to keep her comfortable.

  “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him,” Ellen recited to herself as she gazed outside. “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

  Ellen turned to her sleeping daughters as Melly stirred. She clutched her heart and called out to God, reciting the verses that had brought her comfort during the horrors of the war. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

  Melly stopped moving, and Ellen sighed in relief. “Thank you, Lord,” she whispered as she walked to her sleeping daughters and kissed them both on the forehead. “Just please, Lord, deliver us from this life of uncertainty and hunger. Deliver us from the sadness and the pain. Lord, I trust in You, and I trust that You have even greater plans for my daughters…and for me.”

  3

  “I think it’s a wonderful plan,” Henry’s mother cooed as she straightened the collar of his best suit. “You were brokenhearted when you returned to Alabama after Katie May refused you last year, and I think it’s time you open your heart again, Henry! And this woman sounds perfect for you. From the contacts I have on the East Coast, it sounds like she comes from old money! She has two little daughters, which means she will be able to bear children for you, and she is willing to start her life over again, right here in Alabama!”

  Henry closed his eyes and sighed. After returning to his family’s plantation after Katie May’s rejection, Henry had worked hard to become a man of God. He knew that traveling to Indiana and begging Katie May to leave her husband was wrong, and he sought out counsel from the family’s minister nearly every day. As his father and brothers had been killed in the war, Henry attended church each week with his mother and sisters, representing the Davenports as the man of the family.

  “I just don’t know. I’m nervous about all of this,” Henry confessed as Mrs. Davenport surveyed him. “Agreeing to marry a mail-order bride just doesn’t seem like something our family would do. It doesn’t feel like the proper way to meet a lady.”

  Mrs. Davenport rolled her eyes and adjusted her skirts. “Henry,” she said gently. “While you were away, all of the single, eligible women in the county either left or married! Trust me, my son. I have looked high and low for a suitable bride for you, and after spending time in prayer, I feel as though God is telling me that this woman is the one for you! Her deceased husband was a fine Southern soldier, she is from a good family, and she seems like a nice woman, Henry.”

  Henry ran a hand through his blond hair and closed his eyes. “It just sounds too good to be true,” he admitted. “You placed the advertisement in the East Coast papers on my behalf, and within weeks, you received a response from this Ellen woman? It just seems impossible!”

  Mrs. Davenport stared straight into her son’s eyes. “We thought you to be dead, Henry,” she began. “Dead! But you showed up here, on my front steps, alive and well! There is no such thing as impossible, Henry. With God, all things are possible, and I truly believe that this woman has been sent from the Lord.”

  Henry smiled weakly at his mother. He had first been annoyed with his mother for placing a marriage advertisement on his behalf, but after receiving several inquiries from a woman on the East Coast, Ellen Grace Mosely, Henry had warmed to the idea of meeting his future wife through letter-writing. The letters he and Ellen had exchanged had been pleasant, and Henry had even gone as to have a fine, heirloom bracelet sent to Ellen to show her his interest. Ellen had written back immediately upon receiving the jewelry:

  The bracelet was simply stunning, Henry! I cannot thank you enough for sending such a sweet token of your affection. I must admit that my heart began beating faster and faster when I opened your letter and the golden bracelet fell out. You have been so thoughtful and kind throughout this courtship, and I do pray that the day comes that we meet in person, Henry….

  Henry’s hands had shaken as he read Ellen’s words. “Perhaps it is time to have a wife,” he had thought as he traced Ellen’s delicate handwriting with his own fingers. “The way we became acquainted is rather unconventional, but given the circums
tances of the war, and everything that happened with Katie May, I wonder if this is my sign to move forward…”

  After spending several days in deep prayer, Henry had moved forward. He had sent a lengthy letter to Ellen explaining his intentions:

  Dearest Ellen,

  I know the beginnings of our relationship have been unconventional; I never expected to become acquainted with a woman through correspondence, and it still seems quite peculiar that we met by chance through a marriage advertisement my mother placed for me upon my return home from war. I must say though, Ellen, that I am pleased with this development; following the war, when it seemed that I had lost nearly everything, it is truly a blessing to feel as though I have found a kindred spirit in you.

  From your first letter responding to the marriage advertisement my mother placed all of those months ago, I knew that you were a Godly, sensible woman; you have written extensively about the difficult choices you have had to make in the wake of the terrible war, and the way you speak about your late husband is honorable. From your other letters, I have gathered that you are a firm, but loving mother, and that you have raised your two daughters with care and devotion.

  Ellen, it has been several months of exchanging these letters, and after significant prayer and seeking counsel from the minister who serves our family, I would like to propose to you a union between us. You are alone in the world without your husband, and I am seeking a faithful, well-bred woman who will not only bear children for me, but will also one day on the responsibilities of managing our family’s plantation. As I mentioned, we have worked to restore our lands and our property to its former glory following the war, and as my poor mother is growing older, I believe it is time for me to take a wife. It is time for me to bring someone into the Davenport family who will learn from my mother regarding all aspects of running our household, and who can also provide me with love and companionship.

  I understand that this proposal might seem forward; prior to the war, I had courted a local girl, and I had every intention of marrying someone from my social circle in Alabama. Now, as you know, our country is very different; the war between the states caused immense tumult and destruction, and the way we Americans conduct our lives and businesses have shifted. Ellen, while this proposal is not something I had ever dreamed, it is something I am now placing my hope in. Ellen Grace Mosely, would you do me the honor of traveling to Alabama with your two little girls to become my bride?

  I have enclosed an engagement ring with this letter as a token of my adoration for you. Please know that it belonged to my great-great-grandmother, the first lady of the house here over a hundred years ago. I hope you wear it knowing my deep affection for you, and my eagerness to meet you in person.

  Henry had not sent the letter immediately. He had held it to his heart for several days, hoping that the Lord would give him a sign that it was time to send it and propose marriage to Ellen, a woman he had never met. Finally, one morning, he received his sign. After a night of tossing and turning in his large, comfortable bed in the plantation’s master suite, Henry awoke to the sound of children laughing in the night.

  “What could that be?” Henry wondered as he tossed and turned. “There are no children here. My sisters and their families left the Davenport Plantation two weeks ago to return home to their own properties. What is that noise?”

  Henry rose from the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “I must have been dreaming,” he whispered as he stumbled to his writing desk. The morning sun was slowly rising, and the room was filling with light. “I might as well begin my day,” Henry said to himself as he sat at his desk and folded his hands in prayer.

  After finishing his morning prayers, Henry looked down at his personal Bible. The book was open to a passage he had not been studying, and Henry gasped. “I have not been reading through Ecclesiastes,” Henry murmured as his sleepy eyes widened. “How did my Bible happen to open to this passage?”

  Henry scanned the lines, his jaw dropping and his heart pounding as his chest was filled with conviction. “Ecclesiastes 4:9,” Henry read aloud. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?"

  Henry’s voice shook as he finished reading. His Bible had been opened to the marriage passage that had been read at his own parents’ wedding, along with the weddings of each of his sisters and brothers. Henry’s body grew cold, and he looked over at his nightstand. His letter to Ellen was resting beside the bed, and Henry lunged for it, retrieving the letter and dropping to his knees beside his bed as he began to pray.

  “Dear God,” Henry said softly. “You have shown me Your ways. You have shown me Your intentions for me, and I will not hesitate any longer. I made a mistake last year when I went to Indiana to ask for Katie May’s heart, but I am a changed man now. I have spent time in the Word, and time walking with You, and I know what I need to do now. Lord, if it is Your will, which I believe You have shown me, let me seek the hand of Ellen Grace Mosely in marriage. She is a good, Godly woman, Lord, and I believe that she will make a good, faithful wife to me.”

  Henry had been thrilled when Ellen responded immediately with an acceptance to his proposal.

  It would be an honor and privilege to become Mrs. Henry Davenport. Your proposal was the answer to many of my prayers, Henry, and you have no idea how desperately my heart has ached for companionship after the death of my husband. I was a good wife to him, and I pray I will become a good wife to you.

  I will pack my things immediately and make arrangements to bring the girls to Alabama. We have never left Virginia before, but they will be elated to learn that they will have a new Papa. The girls miss their own father very much, and they will not be able to contain themselves when I tell them of their new life in Alabama.

  Henry, I thank you for your proposal and wish you well. From your letters, you seem like a wonderful, Godly man, and I eagerly await the day I become your wife.

  “This is spectacular,” Henry’s mother declared in her slow, thick Alabama accent as Henry read Ellen’s letter aloud at dinner. “My son, I have been praying for your future wife for years, and I just know that this is the woman you have been waiting for!”

  Henry chewed his dinner slowly. He had been excited by the arrival of Ellen’s acceptance letter, but he was anxious with the prospect of gaining not only a new wife, but two young daughters. “Are you sure this a good idea?” Henry asked his mother as the servants wound around them to serve the next course. “The Davenport family is important, and I know how important it is for us to maintain our legacy. With my brothers perishing in the war, and with my darling sisters marrying and moving away, I am all the family has left. Are you sure it is a wise idea to bring a complete stranger into our family?”

  Henry’s mother narrowed her eyes at him, and Henry could see the blue veins protruding from her pale forehead as she frowned. “Henry,” Mrs. Davenport finally answered. “The Davenport family has lived in this county for years, but that did not sway the hands of fate, or the will of the Lord, during the terrible war. We nearly lost everything. We lost your brothers and your darling father, and it’s taken months to rebuild the property. Had we not had our money saved away at a bank in Atlanta, we could be paupers now!”

  Henry nodded. “I know all of this,” he gently informed his mother. “But that is my point! God has smiled upon this family, and I just do not know if it is wise to seek out a wife for me outside of this county…”

  Mrs. Davenport rose from her seat at the head of the long, antique oak table and pointed at her son. “Listen to me, Henry,” she hissed. “When you were away during the war, I prayed for you, and I prayed that my family would follow the will of the Lord. You said yourself that He was showing you that this course of action is His will, and who will I be to stop His plans? You should reflect up
on that, my son. You have changed so much in the last year since you went to Indiana, but it seems your heart still has some changing to do…”

  4

  “His name is Henry Davenport, and he lives in a big, beautiful house in Alabama,” Ellen explained to her daughters as they huddled together on the bed.

  Ellen waved her hand at the girls, and their eyes widened when they caught sight of her engagement ring. “Mama!” Bella squealed. “Mama? Did Henry Davenport send that to you?”

  Ellen nodded. “This ring is a token of his affections for me, girls, and it means that I have agreed to marry him!”

  Melly giggled. “Mama getting married! Mama getting married!”

  Bella narrowed her eyes. “Does that mean you are leaving us, Mama?”

  Ellen pulled both girls to her bosom and kissed the tops of their heads. “No! Girls, Mister Davenport has proposed that our little family travel to Alabama to be with he and his family! He lives in a grand house in the country with his mother, and they are excited to welcome all of us into the family!”

  Bella shrieked, jumping from the bed and flailing her limbs in excitement. “We’ll have a house again? We’ll have a papa again? Oh, Mama! This is the most wonderful news!”

  Ellen smiled at her daughters. She had been thrilled to receive Henry’s marriage proposal, but the thought of uprooting her daughters’ lives after years of chaos during the war seemed almost cruel. She had waited days to tell them of Henry’s proposal, and her heart filled with peace as she watched their happy reactions to the news.

  “Papa! Melly love Papa,” Melly said as she buried her face in her mother’s chest. “Melly happy!”