Mail Order Mayhem
Book One in the Brides of Beckham
By Kirsten Osbourne
Copyright 2012 Kirsten Osbourne
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When Maude is told she must marry a repulsive man, she instead responds to an Iowa farmer who is looking for a mail order bride. After sneaking out of town on a train, she goes to Iowa and marries. She quickly falls for the wonderful man she marries, but does he feel the same? And will she be able to escape her past?
Chapter One
New England, 1883
Maude picked at her dinner, wishing her parents hadn’t invited Horace Templeton for Sunday dinner yet again. He seemed to think he was coming to dinner because he was courting her, but she had no interest in being courted by a man twenty years her senior who looked at her as if she were going to be on his plate for breakfast. He kept casting her sly glances as if to say he knew something she didn’t.
Maude didn’t consider herself a raving beauty by any means. She was short, with raven colored hair and large gray eyes. She’d turned nineteen just six short weeks before, and her parents were starting to worry their only child would never marry. Of course, her father found a way to find fault with every young man who had ever expressed an interest in her, so she wasn’t sure why they were concerned. If he would just slack off, maybe things would be different.
Since Maude was a child, her mother, Lillian Abernathy, had volunteered at a local orphanage three afternoons a week. As soon as she finished her schooling, Maude had joined her mother, and worked there six days per week. She enjoyed working with the children and helping out there. She didn’t feel the need to marry right away as her few friends had. She was willing to take her time to find someone who was right for her, even if it meant being an old maid at twenty.
After dinner, she immediately stood to help her mother clear away the dishes from the table. Their only servant didn’t work in the evenings, and she and her mother stacked the dishes in the sink for the maid to wash in the mornings.
Lilly shook her head at Maude. “Why don’t you take our guest into the parlor and keep him company while I finish up with the dishes?” Her eyes pleaded with Maude to not make a scene and spend time with the man.
Maude looked toward her father waiting for him to get up and head to the parlor first. He remained seated. “I think I’m going to have a second piece of pie and a cup of coffee. You go on.” He waved his hand toward the door indicating they should go without him.
Her parents had never left her alone with any man in her entire life, so she knew something was wrong. Why would they want her to be alone with him, when they wouldn’t allow her to be alone with any other man?
Maude led the way to the parlor hating how closely Mr. Templeton followed her. She’d known him all her life and he’d made her uncomfortable for years. She carefully took a seat in one of the chairs and left the settee for him, so he couldn’t sit too closely as he was wont to do. Once they were seated, she gave him her full attention. She struggled for a topic she could use to begin a conversation with him. “How is business at the bank, Mr. Templeton?”
He ignored her question, and instead got to the topic that was on his mind. “Please, call me Horace.” He waited for a moment, and then leaned forward to take her hand in his. “I spoke with your father this morning, and he agreed that I may ask you to marry me.” His eyes were intense and she felt a shudder run down her spine. She couldn’t marry him. He made her too jittery.
She sat looking down at her hands, unsure how to respond. He hadn’t really asked her anything, so she chose not to respond at all, but kept looking down, not meeting his eyes. Hopefully he would take the hint and drop the subject.
“Well?” He didn’t even try to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
“Well what?”
“Are you going to answer my question?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t aware you’d asked one. It sounded more like a statement to me.” She knew she was annoying him, but she didn’t want to marry him, but didn’t want to come right out and say so.
He sighed. “I forget how young you are.” He shook his head at her as if it was a crime to be young. “Will you marry me?” Although worded as a question, it came out as more of a demand than anything else.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “No, thank you.” The words were whispered, but audible nonetheless.
“Your father has already agreed on your behalf.” His voice was mild as he informed her of her future. She had no choice in the matter as far as he was concerned. Her only hope was that her parents would see how she felt about it.
She looked up at him to see his eyes glinting with anger. What was it about this man that frightened her so much? She’d never been particularly shy or afraid of men. It was just him. He made her skin feel like there were a million spiders crawling across it. “So why did you ask me if you already had your answer?” She kept the anger and fear from her voice and asked the question as if she were merely curious.
He shrugged. “I just wanted to make you feel like you had a choice. Of course, you don’t, but everyone should feel like she has a choice in life.” He stood, pulling her to her feet with the hand that was still holding hers. He leaned down and kissed her then, forcing his tongue into her mouth.
Horace was an older man who’d let himself go to pot over the years. He was almost as wide as he was tall and had brown hair liberally dusted with gray. At least what little hair he had left was liberally dusted with gray. The touch of his lips on hers made her want to vomit, and it was everything she could do not to pull away from him.
He smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in months, and his hair was so oily, she was certain she could fix the hinges on the front door with it. He was no one’s idea of a matrimonial prize. She would speak to her father after he left and let him know in no uncertain terms she would not be marrying this man.
Finally, he let her go and leered down at her in a manner that made her want to add an overcoat and a blanket to her perfectly modest dress to cover herself better. It was as if he were trying to see right through her clothing. He actually looked at her as if he was expecting her to jump on him with uncontrollable passion. She did her best to swallow the vomit threatening to escape. She wished he’d asked her when her stomach was empty.
“Let’s go tell your parents the happy news!” He pulled her after him into the dining room where her parents were waiting. Her mother had an anxious look on her face, like she knew Maude wouldn’t want to marry the man, but would be afraid to say anything against it. Her father’s face glowed making Maude wonder what he’d been offered to give his only child to the hideous man beside her.
“Maude has agreed to be my wife.” Horace’s voice was filled with pride as he spoke the words as if it was his magnificent physique that had turned the young woman’s head.
Maude didn’t say anything, because Horace’s words were anything but true. She’d never agreed to anything. She wouldn’t marry him if she had to run away with a wagon train going west. She just couldn’t do it. He repulsed her and she wouldn’t say otherwise.
Morgan Abernathy got to his feet, his face filled with delight. He hugged his Maude tightly. “I’m so happy for you, dear
!” He looked over at Lilly. “Aren’t you happy?”
Lilly looked slightly horrified, but nodded quickly. “Yes, of course. When will you be married, Mr. Templeton?” Maude watched her mother’s face knowing if she could get one of her parents to see things her way, it would be her mother.
Horace sat at the table in the same spot he’d recently vacated. He refused to sit anywhere but the head of the table no matter where he was. “I need to leave tomorrow on business and will be gone for approximately three months. I need to travel to New York City. I would like to be married as soon after my return as possible.”
Lilly nodded. “Why don’t we plan the wedding for four months from now?” She had a piece of paper in front of her on the table. She picked up the pen and dipped it in the ink and very carefully wrote. “Do you have any requirements for the wedding?”
Horace shrugged. “That’s women’s work. All I care about is getting married.” He gave Maude another look that made her feel slightly queasy. How could anyone possibly think that a woman her age would be interested in him? The only thing he had going for him was money, but that wasn’t enough to offset his bad points, and Maude had never cared much about money anyway.
Lilly smiled at him. “Maude and I will work out the details together while you’re away then. I’ll talk to our pastor and see when we can use the church in that time frame, and we’ll give you the time and date.”
“That sounds fine. I need to leave in the morning, so I should be going. Maude, you’ll walk me to the door.” Again it was a command that left no room for argument.
Maude followed him meekly to the door, but inside she was furious. How could her parents expect her to marry a hideous old man? Why could they possibly think it was in her best interests to do so? Her stomach heaved at the idea of sleeping in a bed with him.
At the front door, he turned to her and pulled her into his arms, leaning down to kiss her again. His hand slid around her side, up her corset, and gripped her breast hard squeezing it intently. She stood still letting him touch her, knowing she would never submit to marriage to him. No matter what, she was not going to spend the rest of her life with this terrible man.
Finally he tore himself away and smiled down at her. “I’ll hurry back so you don’t have to worry that you’ll have time to miss that too much. I can’t wait to make you my wife.” He winked at her as if he knew that depriving her of his touch would be horrible for her.
She didn’t return his smile, simply staring at him. “Good night, Mr. Templeton.”
He laughed. “We’re going to be married. You need to start calling me Horace.” He opened the door and walked out into the fresh spring air. As she watched him leave, she felt resentment growing inside her. She walked straight to the dining room where her parents were sitting.
“I’m not marrying him!” The words came out much louder and more shrilly than she’d meant them to. She hadn’t meant to scream, but she’d kept so much bottled up while dealing with Mr. Templeton that she couldn’t keep it in a moment longer. “How could you even agree to let him ask me?”
Her father stood. “You have no other marriage prospects. Of course, you’ll marry him. He’s rich, and he’ll provide well.” His look was hard. “You have no choice.”
“I want to marry a man whom I can love! Not some old man who makes my skin crawl! He’s dirty and he smells bad.” She looked to her mother for help, but Lilly just sat with her head hung, not meeting Maude’s eyes.
Morgan took a step closer to Maude, squeezing her chin between his fingers as he forced her eyes to his. “I’ve let your mother handle you for too long. You will be an obedient daughter and marry him. Go to bed.”
Maude ran from the room with tears streaming down her face. She ran to her room, wrenching the door open and slamming it loudly behind her. Throwing herself across her bed, she wept loudly. “I won’t marry him. They can’t make me!”
Chapter Two
During the following week, Maude found herself a lot more aware of her surroundings. She was constantly looking for an escape from her situation. On Wednesday, she walked into the post office on her way home from the orphanage, to see if they’d received any mail. The woman in line in front of her was chatting with the clerk about the handful of letters she’d just received. “I don’t think I have enough women to fill all these requests! I’ve only had five sign up, but there are at least ten letters here.”
The clerk smiled. The two were obviously friends. “I’m surprised you were able to find even five women willing to be mail order brides. I can’t imagine marrying someone I’d never met. A woman would have to be truly desperate to do that.” She shook her head, looking horrified at the prospect of being a mail order bride.
Maude couldn’t help but chime into the conversation. “You mean like being told you have to marry a man more than twice your age who smells badly and is hideous? Is that the kind of desperate you mean?” Her voice had a hint of panic to it as she asked the question and the other two women gave their full attention to her.
The first woman, who was clutching the letters, turned in the line and looked at her. “That’s exactly the kind of desperate you need to be.” She paused, her warm brown eyes meeting Maude’s blue. “I’m Harriett. When’s the wedding?” Her voice was sympathetic as she took Maude’s hand in hers and squeezed it.
Maude looked down. “Four months, but he’ll be back in three, and I want to be gone before he gets here. I want to be gone in two months or less if at all possible.”
Harriett nodded and smiled. “That’s more than enough time. Let me buy you a slice of pie.”
The postmistress handed Maude a letter without saying a word. She’d watched her sad eyes every day as she’d come to get the mail. Maude had never been one to talk much with her, but she knew something was very wrong.
Maude followed Harriett out of the post office and to the restaurant next door. It was a small place, with only six tables. Maude had never been here before, but her parents didn’t often take her out to eat. She’d only been to a restaurant a couple of times in her life. She took a seat across from Harriett and sighed heavily. “I can’t marry him.”
Harriett smiled at her, squeezing her hand. “You won’t have to.” She fanned the letters out for Maude. “Let’s read these and we’ll pick the very best one for you.” Harriett picked up one and opened it while Maude did the same.
As the waitress came and went, leaving their pie and some coffee, the two women read letter after letter. Each made a pile of rejects and their favorites. When they’d opened them all, Harriett gave her full attention to Maude again. “I know which one I’d pick, but what about you? What are you looking for?”
Maude shrugged. “I really didn’t think I was in a big hurry to marry. I haven’t thought about it much, but I do know what I don’t want.” A picture formed in her mind of Horace’s sweaty face with his eyes gleaming at her. “I know exactly what I don’t want.”
Harriett held up two letters. “These are my favorites. This one is a farmer and needs a wife. He has never been married and has no children. He lives in Iowa.” She wiggled the other letter. “This one is a widower. He has two small children and owns a general store in a small town in Minnesota. He lost his wife to Scarlet Fever just a few months ago, and needs someone to help him with his little ones.”
The letter Maude was holding was from a man in Washington Territory who worked as a lumberjack. “I think I like yours better than mine.” She took the two letters from Harriett’s hands and read them carefully. The man in Iowa was named John Powers. He wrote with a neat hand and talked about his farm and how badly he needed a wife to help him with it. The man in Minnesota was Benjamin Johnson, and he spoke of his two small girls, ages four and six, and their need for a mother.
She sat looking at them both unfolded on the table in front of her and finally she looked up at Harriett. “I think I want to marry John. I love children, but I’d rather have my own than take care of someone else’s
.” She wouldn’t have a problem with Benjamin either, though. She would happily marry either of them rather than stay here and marry Horrible Horace.
Harriett nodded. “I’d feel that way myself. Write to him.” She pushed the letter back across the table to Maude and put the others in a neat pile.
Maude smiled. “I will. Anything to get out of marrying Horace.” She took another bite of her apple pie, sighing happily as the flavors exploded on her tongue. There was nothing Maude liked better than apple pie, and this one was baked to perfection.
Harriett’s eyes widened. “Not Horace Templeton? The bank owner?”
“That’s him.”
Harriett let out a little shudder. “That man is not right in his head. One of the other women, who is looking for a husband, used to be a maid in his house. The stories that woman told would make your hair curl.” She straightened. “We’re going to make this work. You keep your head down and act like everything is okay. Make whatever wedding plans you need to make, but don’t be alone with him. Promise me that.”
Mail Order Mayhem (Brides of Beckham) Page 1
