“What is the meaning of this?” Pate demanded. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier, on the road, when I told you we were coming here for Commander Long to meet Louisa?”
“Because it wouldn’t have made a difference to you. And I had not yet discussed the matter with my own father. But you’ve heard me now, Sir,” Samuel said. “I intend to marry Louisa, with or without your permission. But I would prefer to have your blessing.”
Pate didn’t want to hear anything Samuel had to say. He whirled around and faced his daughter. “Is this true? You planned to marry Samuel Wyllie? I won’t have it! You’ll pay for this disrespect!”
For a second, Louisa flinched at her father’s words.
With a bewildered look in her eyes, she took a few steps toward them. What would she say?
Long followed too closely behind her.
When Louisa stopped, her eyes peered back and forth between her father and Samuel. He could see the struggle on her face as she grew more confused by the second. But he would have to let her internal battle play out. This was her life they were all talking about.
Samuel had no idea what she would say since he’d never discussed courting with her much less marriage. He hoped she would go along with his ruse to save her from Long. Was it a ruse? Surprising himself, he decided it wasn’t. A trick maybe. Or a ploy to gain control of the situation, but not a ruse. He really did care for Louisa. She just didn’t know it yet.
Any other woman might have dissolved into a blubbering puddle of tears or even fainted in a situation like this. But not Louisa. She seemed to be mustering her courage. She opened her mouth to speak, but Pate interrupted.
“Louisa, I forbid you to even consider marrying Samuel Wyllie! He’s merely a poor squatter. Not a gentleman.”
Commander Long agreed with Pate. “These men are here because they did not prosper in regular society.”
The man’s low opinion of frontiersmen was a common misconception and prejudice perpetuated by arrogant landowners like Long who never dirtied their hands.
The Commander continued, haughtily, “They are too shiftless to acquire either valuable property or a gentleman’s profession. They have no skills other than to fell trees, build log cabins, and lay open the ground to cultivation. All things done by slaves back in Louisiana. This kind of man merely prepares the way for those who come after him. People like me. And your father, Louisa.”
“That’s right! That’s why I’ll decide who you will marry!” Pate nearly shouted at his daughter.
The real reason was clear to Samuel. He was counting on Louisa’s marriage to gain him not only economic security but also favorable social standing.
Raw hurt glittered in Louisa’s eyes. Maybe she did care for Samuel. But she couldn’t muster the strength to voice a choice that would defy her father.
“I assure you, Sirs,” Samuel said bristling with anger. “I am neither poor nor shiftless. When I marry, I will have a thousand acres here at Pecan Point and will soon have that many cattle.” Samuel’s father had started paying him a man’s wage when he was fourteen. Ever since, for six years, he’d saved nearly all of it. The sum now amounted to an impressive number. “And as far as being a gentleman, the men of my family and this settlement are the finest sort of gentlemen if being a gentleman requires a courageous heart and the enterprise to settle new lands for a growing country.”
Long scoffed. “That merely requires a strong back and calloused hands.”
Samuel ignored him. “I request your permission, Mr. Pate, to marry Louisa. I will provide her with a fine home and care for her the rest of my days.” He knew his appeal was pointless but he had to try.
Pate merely scowled at Samuel. “Commander Long, are you interested in marrying my daughter?”
“Indeed, Sir. She is one of the loveliest women in the entire province. Of course, I would like to get to know her better before I make a final decision. Perhaps we can host a few parties in Nacogdoches before we have our formal engagement ball at my plantation in Louisiana.”
Samuel suspected what Long likely meant by ‘get to know her better.’ Over his dead body.
Pate nodded excitedly. “Then it’s decided. We will travel to Nacogdoches with you, Sir. That should give you both a chance to get to know one another.”
“Splendid!” Long said and gave Louisa a brazen smile. “You’ve made a wise choice, Mr. Pate. My destiny is bright, and your beautiful daughter will shine alongside me.”
Samuel glanced at Louisa for a sign of objection. But her obvious fear of her father kept her mute.
Long straightened his waistcoat and the red sash around his waist.
Samuel sneered. This self-proclaimed hero of Texas would likely wind up in a Spanish prison. Or dead. But that wouldn’t be soon enough to save Louisa.
Pate glared at Samuel. “I warn you my word is final in this matter.”
Teeth bared, Samuel glared at Pate. “Well, here’s my word. You and the so-called Commander can get the hell off our place. Now!”
Pate addressed Melly. “Mrs. Grant, please pay my daughter and son what you owe them. We are leaving.”
“As you may recall, Sir,” Melly said in a voice that would intimidate a Comanche chief, “I paid you in advance. You took a week’s wages from me already, and they still have three days left to work off that advance.”
Pate’s face grew even redder, and he started to speak, but Baldy stepped forward which stopped him.
“You heard her,” Baldy said. Baldy still held the axe he’d been using earlier. “Don’t you even try to argue with or even intimidate my wife, Sir. I am a surgeon and know where to cut a man to make him die quickly.” Not only was he holding an axe, the doctor always carried several knives of different lengths on his belt.
Samuel glanced at Adam. He was now completely hidden behind Melly’s skirt.
Long turned to Pate. “Gentlemen, there is no need for further disagreements. We will wait three days. I need to spend some time recruiting at the settlement and in Jonesboro anyway. Louisa, you are a lovely young lady. I very much look forward to getting to know you better. If our plans are successful in securing Texas as an independent country, soon you could well be married to the first president of our new republic.”
“Like hell!” Samuel growled through gritted teeth. “Now you understand, Commander, if you come anywhere near Louisa, you’ll never have the chance to be president of anything.”
A sense of satisfaction filled Samuel when a glimmer of fear flashed in Long’s green eyes.
He had to come up with a way to stop this, short of killing Long, although that idea greatly appealed to him at the moment. But by custom and by law women were under the control of their fathers until they married. A father could give his daughter away in marriage without her consent. If Long didn’t marry Louisa, Pate would just find some other wealthy man for her to marry. Legally, women were decidedly dependent, subservient, and unequal.
He was helpless to stop this sham of a marriage.
And from the expression on Pate’s face, her father knew it.
Louisa kept all emotion from her voice as she said, “Come, Adam, we must get back to our work.” Woodenly, she took her brother’s hand and they walked away.
Chapter 12
In a shocked daze, Louisa returned to the Grant’s cabin. She had been too startled by the suggestion that she marry Commander Long and too fearful of her father to offer any objection. And she’d merely stood there, blank, amazed, and shaken by his words when Samuel said he planned to marry her. Now, away from all of them, objections exploded inside of her.
As she folded the clothes that Melly had washed since Louisa’s hands were still sore, her mind whirled with a jumble of thoughts, fears, and pure dread. They say misfortunes never come alone and they, whoever ‘they’ are, are absolutely right. First Indians, then quicksand, and now Commander Long and a forced marriage. What was next?
Three days! She’d disliked that Commander Long instantly. H
is smiling, lecherous face had disturbed her. Even now, the memory of it unnerved her. And he possessed enough arrogance for ten men. But none of that mattered. Her father cared nothing about her feelings. And in three days, he and Long would come to claim her. They would not be asking. They would be telling her she had to go.
And she would have to. A father exercised complete control over the course of events in his daughter’s life until she married. At that point, the husband took control.
She had a feeling Long would be a controlling husband. He seemed to be the type of man who thought his opinion was more valuable than anyone else’s. She couldn’t stand the thought of continuing to be completely powerless. Of living a life without any control over even the smallest of decisions. Her father decided everything. Where they would live, what they would eat, what they would do each day, even what she would wear. At the Arkansas Post, she’d found a pretty yellow dress that wasn’t that expensive. But giving her a hard glare, her father had snatched it out of her hands and tossed it to the floor of the shop. “You’ll wear your durable muslin and be glad you have it,” he’d shouted.
She truly didn’t want to leave the Grants and the Wyllies. And neither did Adam. They both loved it here. Melly and Dr. Grant treated them with extraordinary kindness, slowly healing their sadness, soothing the wrongs done to them. But just when they’d both begun to feel at home here, her father had shown up again bringing back all the same fears and hurts. Once again, she felt drained, lifeless, and hollow inside. Most of all she felt no control over her life.
Or Adam’s. When his mother died, she’d sworn she would protect him. But how could she protect him from his own father? Somehow, she would have to find a way for him to remain here with Dr. Grant and Melly.
Melly had spent every spare minute with Louisa, encouraging her, teaching her, and even showing her affection. The warmth and grace with which Melly treated her made Louisa realize that was exactly how she wanted to treat her own children someday. She would make them feel appreciated, safe, and loved. And she would give them choices. She would advise them, not dictate to them. She would earn their respect, not demand it.
And, that was how she wanted Adam to be treated. Already, Adam had learned a great deal from the doctor. Last night, as they were getting ready for bed, he’d proudly named all the major bones in his body. For Adam, working alongside Dr. Grant was more like attending an excellent school. Melly had told her that her husband had earned three degrees—one from a university, one from a medical school, and one from a seminary—all from first-rate schools in Virginia. The man could pass that knowledge on to Adam. Her brother might even become a doctor under his tutorage.
If she married Long, that would mean Adam would be left to live with her father. Doomed to a miserable life. What kind of a man would Adam turn out to be if life continued to treat him so cruelly? What kind of example would their father set for him as he grew up? She knew the answer—a poor one.
And marrying Long could also mean they might all be killed as he sought glory in battles with Spain’s military. Louisa’s brows furrowed. Did the man know what he would be up against? Even with her limited knowledge of politics, she knew Spain had a powerful army.
On the other hand, if she refused to marry Long, her father would take his anger out on Adam. He would use her brother as a pawn to get her to do what he wanted. She couldn’t allow that. She could tolerate him beating her, but not her brother. That was more than her heart could bear. Just remembering those beatings that left several scars on Adam’s back made tears well in her eyes.
She refused to let those tears fall. She blinked rapidly and wiped them away with her knuckle before she turned back to her work.
Then, out of her despair and confusion, with jarring clarity, she suddenly knew what she had to do. She would marry Long on the condition that her father let Adam live out the rest of his childhood here with Dr. Grant and Melly. That would protect Adam, although it meant a life of misery for her. She quickly waved aside any hesitation. She took a deep breath. To keep her brother safe and happy, she would do what she had to.
Reaching for another garment, she recognized it as one of Samuel’s shirts. The same one he was wearing the day he pulled her from the river. She ran her hand slowly across the shirt’s shoulder wondering what it would be like to actually touch his bare wide shoulders. The startling thought made heat flush her face and unfamiliar, tingling ripples course through her body. The sensation made her gasp in surprise and her pulse race.
Her heart also warmed as she thought about how Samuel had defended her. He stood up to her father and to Long. He even lied for her. And as an honorable man, she knew that could not have been easy for him. She clutched the shirt against her chest. What a lie it was! Obviously, he didn’t truly intend to marry her. He was just trying to keep Long from taking her away. But she could not stop herself from pondering the idea. A tiny part of her wondered if maybe, just maybe, he might have feelings for her. Would he ever consider marrying a poor, nearly homeless, daughter of a man as disagreeable as her father? Who would want to be yoked to a relative like him? Nobody.
It didn’t matter now anyway. She was going to marry Long to protect Adam. It was the only way to get her father to agree to leave her brother here. To give Adam a future.
She held the large shirt up and stared, picturing Samuel’s broad shoulders and strong arms filling it out. She knew that within his muscled chest, a kind heart beat. He was the most considerate man she’d ever known, but that didn’t mean he had feelings for her. Feelings of love. It was a big leap from friendship to love. Over the last week, they’d spent a good many hours together and not once had he expressed any fond feelings toward her. She could never love a man who didn’t love her.
No, marrying Samuel was too much to expect. She refused to think of her own needs. She had to think of Adam first. Biting her lip, she quickly folded the shirt and set it aside. She had come up with a plan, and she would stick to it no matter how much the idea dismayed and disgusted her.
“I need a plan,” Samuel swore as he paced back and forth in their home after the Commander and Long left. “Three days and that weasel will take Louisa away. Three days!”
Cornelius and Steve had returned to the cabin from hunting just as Pate and Long were leaving. Their father had explained everything and they’d all gone inside to talk.
His father and brothers, Baldy, and Melly, all sat at the table with him, all but Baldy were drinking coffee. Baldy drank a whiskey. The doctor normally didn’t drink whiskey this early in the day. Samuel guessed it was Pate who had inspired the need for a strong beverage.
All of them wore sympathetic expressions as they listened to Samuel rant. “Did you see the way Commander Long eyed Louisa?” he asked. “It was appalling. And, I swear he is by far the most arrogant man I have ever met.”
His father nodded. “Indeed. If you offered to make him a god, he would likely say he desired to be something greater.”
“Hmm, I wonder what the solution might be…” Cornelius said, a merry glint in his green eyes.
Baldy smiled knowingly at Cornelius. His smile softened his face. A face sculpted by the hard life he’d led for a time prior to becoming a preacher.
What the heck was there for the two to smile about? He frowned at Cornelius and the doctor. “What is it? What’s got into both of you? This is serious.”
Baldy was still smiling. “Have you forgotten that I am an ordained preacher?”
“Of course not,” Samuel said, although sometimes the unconventional preacher made it easy to forget. Then he abruptly realized why they were smiling. “Now wait just a minute. I only told them I’d asked her to marry me to keep Long from taking her. But my ruse didn’t work because her obstinate father chose Long over me. And, he wouldn’t even let her speak.”
Thomas sighed and rolled his eyes. “Are you sure that’s the only reason you said that? We’ve all seen the dreamy looks you give her when she’s not looking.”
“It’s enough to make me blush,” Cornelius said, with a chuckle and a pat to his cheek.
“Yup, you’re sweet on her,” Steve said. “We all know it and you know it. Might as well ‘fess up.”
“It’s understandable,” Baldy said, “she’s a beautiful young woman. If I weren’t already married…”
Melly rolled her eyes.
Samuel was ready to beat the stuffings out of all three of his brothers and Baldy too. He would trust each of them with his life. But his love life was off limits. He glared at them until his eyes widened with the realization that their teasing comments held nothing but the truth.
“Thomas, Cornelius, and Steve,” Father said, “go finish chopping up those logs. I want it all done by dinner. Chopped and stacked.”
“But…” Steve started.
Cornelius interrupted. “We’re just trying to make him see what we can all see.”
Their father held up a hand stopping him. “Your brother has important private decisions to make.”
After the three trudged out the door and shut it, his father turned to Samuel. “Marriage to you would be a solution. But no one can make that choice but you. Marriage is an important and lasting step. There will be no going back. From my perspective, Louisa is a fine young woman, and you would have my blessing even if you don’t have her father’s.”
Samuel was glad to hear that. His father’s blessing was far more important to him anyway.
“But she deserves a husband who loves her,” Melly said. “Not one who is merely trying to save her.”
Samuel suspected he did love her. But was he ready to marry?
“Keep in mind if you marry her, you are marrying her father too,” Baldy said, shaking his head. “That man would try God’s patience.”
“And you’d likely be accepting responsibility for her brother too,” his father added.
“None of that bothers me,” Samuel told them. “But I just met Louisa a few days ago. We’ve talked a lot, but we haven’t actually courted yet. And with three days left before she has to leave, we’ll hardly have any time together. What my brothers said is true though. I am strongly attracted to her. I think I even love her. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to marry her. I just don’t want anyone else to.”
Red River Rifles (Wilderness Dawning—the Texas Wyllie Brothers Series Book 1) Page 12
