Emily: Army Mail Order Bride

by Mercy Levy

  The night was a fitful one, with Jane being unable to sleep. Dinner had been brought to her, but she had hardly touched the food. Mrs. Potts herself had served it, and she knew the other maids must have already been let go. Her entire life was falling apart around her, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to survive.

  When the morning light finally began to shine through her curtains, she gave up on sleep and sat up in her bed, knowing she was going to have to dress herself and take herself down to breakfast.

  The table was set and both her parents were already seated, but there was a tension in the room when Jane walked in, and she took her seat in silence. Mr. Mosely himself brought out the plates and served each of them, but there was still a quiet to the room that was nearly unbearable. Once all the meals were on the table, Jane picked up her fork and began, but she had scarcely taken two bites before her father spoke.

  “Jane, we need to talk about something,” he said.

  “What is it, Father?” she asked.

  “It’s about the inheritance. I know you are a smart girl, and no doubt you know that it’s gone. I can’t see you living here if you are getting anything but the best, Jane.” He spoke with a gravity, and Jane felt her heart skip a beat. She had hoped her parents would do this. Certainly there had to be some wealthy relative she could go live with to spare her the life of poverty.

  “Father, I agree. I know that it will be hard on you and Mother to see me go, but I don’t think I can watch this place sell. I love it too much.” She smiled as she took another bite, her appetite returning.

  “Excellent. We are in agreement, then. A train ticket has already been purchased, and you will be on your way in the morning.” Mr. Percy smiled though there was still a cold look on Mrs. Percy’s face.

  “Where am I going?” Jane asked with a smile.

  “To Oregon Territory. I know it’s a long way away, but we have looked over our options carefully, and we believe that it is the right thing to do—for everyone,” Mrs. Percy replied. Jane raised her eyebrows as she looked at her mother.

  “I wasn’t aware that we had relatives in Oregon?”

  “We don’t, but you shall. You are to be married to a nice young man whom your father and I have selected for you from the paper. He has a house and an income, and he will take care of you,” she said with a smile. Jane’s eyes widened.

  “I am…to be married?” she asked, fighting to keep her voice calm. “How much does he make a year?”

  “He didn’t give a sum in the ad, but he is looking for a young woman to marry, and he is hoping to find someone who is willing to go West sooner rather than later. Considering our circumstances, we have both felt that it is better for you to leave now.” Mrs. Percy picked up her fork and started in on her own breakfast, but Jane had suddenly felt her appetite leave her.

  “I can’t live with someone who isn’t rich. What do you expect me to do? Work?” she spat. Although it was rare for her and her parents to have disagreements, she wasn’t afraid to say when she was upset with a decision they had made. She didn’t care what they had to say—there was no way she was going to leave this mansion to marry a man who didn’t have a mansion of his own to offer.

  “Jane, you have been privileged, and that is good for you, but you are going to have to learn to take life as it comes. Your mother and I are going to have to decide what we are going to do next as well, but you are old enough to take care of yourself—and we have once again provided for you to do that as well,” Mr. Percy said as he looked down at his breakfast, but Jane was feeling a tension in her heart she couldn’t shake.

  “I am your daughter! You can’t just throw me out to the cold because you don’t want to give me money anymore!” she cried.

  “There is no more money to give you! Jane, you are both smart and beautiful, and you can handle this. We have provided you with a place to live and someone to care for you—that is all you need in life. Your mother and I love you very much, but it’s time for you to start living your own life,” he smiled, but Jane threw her hands down.

  “You can send me away, but that is not going to change the fact that this is not fair!” she shouted. Mr. Percy sighed, but Mrs. Percy is the one who answered.

  “We love you, Jane, but our minds are made up. You are going to be leaving on the morning train.” She spoke simply. Jane looked from one to the other with an angry and defeated look.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll go.”

  Chapter 4

  Jane sat with her hands folded on her lap. Above her head was her carpet bag, but it didn’t hold many things. Her parents had both gone through her gowns and her possessions in her room, and they allowed her to only choose two changes of dresses, plus a few of her other things. Though Jane wanted to keep everything out of her room, they refused to allow her, telling her that they were the ones who had purchased it for her in the first place.

  “These are my things!” she had shouted, but by the end of the night, she had her bag packed with the only things she could fit. The rest of her things would be taken and sold, and the money would be used to help her parents paid off the debt they had stacked up against them.

  A ticket was sent for, and though she still wasn’t happy about leaving, she took it when it was handed to her, and she was taken to the train station the next day. Jane had no idea where she was going, and she was angry with her parents for sending her off alone. She didn’t know how she was ever supposed to make it all the way to Oregon Territory from Vermont on her own, but her father was confident that she would.

  “But there are robbers, outlaws! I could even wind up in bad company with someone else on the train that ends in my demise!” Jane had tried to argue. Her father merely told her to stay away from everyone on the train, go right to her hotel room as soon as she arrived in any of the towns along the way, then go straight to the train station first thing in the mornings.

  “If you do this, you will make it in no time—and if the train is robbed or comes under attack in any way, there are many other people on board, and you’ll be just fine.” He seemed to be far more confident than she was, but Jane knew there was no sense to her arguing. He had made up his mind, and whether she liked it or not, she was going to have to go through with it.

  “The very least you can do is give me the ad for the man who is to by my husband.” She didn’t want to be confrontational, but she hoped that by telling her parents once again she had no say in the matter, they would change their minds and allow her to stay. Unfortunately, they had merely handed her the ad and each had given her a hug and a kiss, bidding her farewell.

  While on the train, Jane had read through the letter more times than she could count. The ad was supposed to tell her everything, but she felt it told her nothing. Only the bare minimum of the person she was traveling across the country to meet—and there was nothing she could do about it.

  It read:

  Ladies,

  My name is Jack Franklin and I am searching for a bride. I don’t have much to offer being a farmer, but I do have a house for you to live in and more than enough food to take care of us both.

  I am twenty-seven years old, and not picky about your age. If you can cook, clean, and tend to the other small things around the house, you are perfect for me. I live in Oregon Territory, and I am looking for someone who is wanting to move immediately as the snow is coming, and I don’t wish to ask a young lady to travel in the snow.

  Yours,

  Jack Franklin.

  Jane had read it and read it again, looking for something that would help her get to know him better. She had known her fair share of young men in her growing up years, and the older she had gotten, the more interest they had shown in her. Of course, she wasn’t going to lie to herself. She knew they were after her inheritance as much as they were interested in her—but the same could be said for what she was doing.

  Jack, however, didn’t have a fortune. Marrying him would be simply that—marrying him. She would be s
igning herself up for a life of work and making ends meet—one in which something could go wrong and they would have to do without. Perhaps they would even have to do without to keep something from going wrong.

  She would forever think back to the time when she was wealthy and could live the life of luxury she deserved, but he would never know what that kind of life was like. Before she even got off the train, Jane knew that this man was going to be of the simplest sort. He might be clever of speech and possess a quick wit, but he would know nothing of the opulent lifestyle to which she was accustomed.

  When the whistle blew, announcing it was time she got off the train, she rose and grabbed her bag, then walked quickly to the door of the train. Her heart was racing the closer she got to the door, and she silently prayed that she was going to find Jack quickly. Reading the ad gave her no indication of what Jack looked like. She knew her parents had sent him a photo of her, but with all the people standing on the platform, and with all the people pushing behind her off the train, she worried he would miss her stepping off the top of the steps.

  However, as soon as she stood in the doorway of the coach, she saw a man at the back of the crowd waiving frantically toward her and motioning for her to come forward. She raised her hand to show that she had seen him, then she stepped onto the platform and began pushing her way through the crowd. Everyone was giving her looks and commenting how rude she was to be pushing her way through, but she didn’t listen.

  She needed to get to the other side of the crowd and to Jack—she wanted to get a good look at him. She could see from her point on the train that he had blonde hair under his black cowboy hat, but she was unable to make out any real features besides that.

  Suddenly, she burst through the crowd and found herself standing right in front of him, her chest heaving from yanking the heavy carpet bag behind her. Though she didn’t have many things in the bag, she did find it hard to get it through such an intense crowd with the cumbersome object being tugged along behind her.

  “Miss Percy?” the man asked, looking down at her with a searching look. She was still breathless, but she nodded.

  “Mr. Franklin?” she asked, and he nodded.

  “Can I take your bag?” He reached forward, and she handed it to him, glad to have someone who could relieve her of the work that she didn’t want to do.

  “Thank you,” she remembered. He held out his arm to her, and she hesitated, not wanting to move too quickly. She sighed and reluctantly put her hand in the crook of his arm, allowing him to guide her through the street toward a—wagon. She stopped short and looked at him with wide eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked as he looked at her. She looked from him to the wagon and back again, then shook her head.

  “Nothing, I was just feeling a little tired after getting off the train,” she said. She wasn’t sure what else to say. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t ride in wagons—that she would rather die than be found in the seat of a wagon—but she knew she had no choice. This was going to be her life now, and she was going to have to get used to it.

  There was no more money—no other way to go. If she didn’t say yes and marry this man, she was going to have to get a job and support herself—and who knows where she was going to end up? He smiled.

  “I know this is all sudden, but the preacher isn’t here often, and I was hoping that we might be married rather quickly. I apologize that it has to happen so soon, but I think it would be only proper considering that we are going to be living in the same house.”

  “Of course, naturally,” she replied. Her heart was still racing, and she knew she didn’t want to marry this man, but necessity was prompting her to go through with the arrangement before she found herself in an even worse situation.

  She was soon to be Mrs. Franklin.

  Chapter 5

  Although Jane kept her opinions to herself, she was horrified. The ceremony had been nothing like she had dreamed, and she felt as though she were just some commoner coming through the doors. Worse than a commoner, in fact, as there was no one else there besides the preacher and his bride. Jack told the man he wished to get married, and they were both told where to stand and what to say.

  Growing up, Jane had always planned an elaborate wedding for herself. She didn’t know who the groom was going to be—but it didn’t matter. Her wedding day was about her and only her as far as she was concerned. She was the bride—the one who was being celebrated. Her entire life, she planned she would be married in the summer, in the backyard of the huge mansion.

  There would be tents and balloons, sweets and beautiful decorations. There would be row after row of seats for the guests to sit in—after all, there would be so many guests to come they would have to even have standing room at the back of the garden. Her groom would be at the front of the garden, and she would walk up the aisle to him.

  Everyone would have their eyes on her and her alone, and everyone would be amazed at how beautiful she looked. She would be the talk of the entire town for days to come—the envy of all her friends. For years she had it planned out—but none of that was what really happened.

  There were only two other people besides Jack and herself, and no one was dressed in anything special. They all looked like they were just living their normal lives, going about their business. There was no one to adore her, no one to applaud when she and Jack were pronounced husband and wife.

  No gifts.

  The only good thing she saw about the wedding was that she was able to get a much better look at her husband, and she had to admit, he was far better looking than she had seen at first. He was tall with overgrown blonde hair and blue eyes. His jawline was soft, but there was still a dominance about him that told her he could handle anything that came his way.

  His skin showed that he had been in the sun and wind, and his hands were worn from the work that he had done. His smile was kind, and she soon realized he laughed often. Yet, in spite of how attractive she found him, she still hated the way she was getting married to him right now—and how little he had to offer her.

  She was handed a pen and shown where to sign on the paper, and that was the end of that. They were married, and Jack was ready to take her home. She felt numb as she walked out of the small church on his arm once more and climbed up into the wagon. Everything she had valued in her life was gone—and here was a man who was kind to her, but not one with any money.

  Jack climbed up into the wagon next to her. “Are you warm enough?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she replied. She didn’t have much to say to him, but she did want to be polite.

  “Good, it’s not too far out to the house. We are a couple of miles out of town, but it’s not too far for you to walk if you get the hankering to get out for a while. Though I bet you’re going to be too busy to anyway,” he added with a laugh.

  Jane felt her heart sink and looked over at him. She didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but there was nothing she could say. So far today, she had already married him, she didn’t want to think about what was going to happen when she got out to the house as well.

  “I’m not much of a cook, I’m afraid,” she said, and he laughed once again.

  “I was told a little bit about your upbringing, so I can say that I’m not surprised. But, all I ask is that you try. You do your part and I’ll do mine.” He went on to tell her about the house and what he wanted her to do around it—and though nothing was too bad, she was feeling overwhelmed.

  He told her she would have her own room on the other end of the hall from his, so she would have more than enough privacy. “I just want you to be comfortable, really, and don’t worry, I let you have the bedroom and I took the room that I was using for storage.”

  He laughed once more, and started whistling as they road along. Jane had listened politely to all he had to say, but she was still feeling as though she might have made a bad decision. She tried to tell herself she had made the right choice—after all, if she hadn’t—she had no
idea where she would have ended up. No one back home would have wanted her without her inheritance—she would have been seen as someone who was only looking for some kind of financial security. Something she didn’t think was a bad thing, except she didn’t have any money to offer from her end.

  “There it is!” Jack suddenly broke into her thoughts and she looked where he was pointing. In the distance, there was a little house with smoke rising from the chimney. It was much smaller than the house she had grown up in—and there was no gate separating the house from the road, and anyone could walk right up to the front door.

  There was a large barn, but there certainly wasn’t a stable like there had been back home. In the distance, there were plowed fields that had already been harvested and were lying in wait for the next summer.

  “You’re lucky, you’ve missed the harvest,” he teased. She glanced over at him and forced a smile, though she could feel her heart sinking with each step the horses took toward the house. Chickens ran for their coop loudly squawking and flapping their wings, and pigs were in the barnyard. “What do you think?”

  Immediately, her mind went blank. She had no idea what to say in reply. The truth was that she felt horrified. Everything about the farm bothered her, and she had no idea how she was going to handle any of the chores he had asked her to do. The chickens would be her responsibility, as would the cooking and cleaning of the house. It might be a small house, but she had never been required to clean anything in her entire life.

  Jane wasn’t even certain she would know how to wash dishes properly—let alone how she was going to make a fire and cook a meal. But, as the house drew near, Jack continued to chat about the life they were going to have together, and the hopes and dreams he had for that life. She would nod occasionally, but her mind was spinning, and she felt she was going to be sick.

  This was her life now, but she was far from happy about it—and this was just the first day. How would she ever survive the years that were to come?