Mail Order Mistake Read online

  “It’s going to be strange not living on the farm.” Malinda couldn’t stand the thought of having to go somewhere else. The farm was the only home either of them had ever known.

  “I know, but it’ll be fine. We’ll get used to it.” She sighed. “Do you like the idea of marrying the banker?”

  Malinda shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t like the idea of marrying at all, but if I do have to marry, I’d rather it was someone with enough money that I wouldn’t have to worry about where my next meal would come from.” She patted her stomach. “Speaking of which, we’re having cornbread for supper?”

  Ellen nodded. “I know it’s not much by itself, but we do have a little bit of honey left that I’ve been saving for when we ran out of beans. I knew it would make the cornbread better.”

  Malinda smiled. “And we have that fresh butter I churned yesterday. It’ll feel like a feast.”

  “Hopefully we can save a piece or two for breakfast in the morning.”

  Malinda nodded. She knew her sister was right, although she was ready to gobble up any food she saw. She told herself she would never go hungry again. No matter what it took, she would find a way to feed herself and any children she may have.

  During dinner, Malinda looked at Ellen with her eyes twinkling. “You know what I think we should do? Leave the dishes without washing them. Then the banker would have all of Mother’s dishes, but he’d have to wash them!” She was only half joking as she asked. If Ellen agreed, she knew she’d jump at the chance to do it.

  Ellen shook her head. “The banker didn’t force Father to sign the papers. We’ll leave the house as tidy as we’d want to find it.”

  Malinda sighed. Sometimes Ellen was so good that she felt like she paled in comparison. She so badly wanted to do something mean for the banker, but Ellen would frown at everything. Maybe she could hide a couple of eggs under her bed, and they’d start to smell before the banker got around to doing anything with her room. She smiled at the thought, but immediately rejected it. Ellen was right. It wasn’t the banker’s fault they had no money.

  *****

  They drove the wagon to town the following morning and Ellen and Malinda carried the huge chest into Harriett’s home, but were stopped when they said they’d take it upstairs themselves.

  “I’ll see to it. Mrs. Long is waiting for you.” Higgins took them back to the office where Harriett was waiting for them. Although Higgins was very polite and formal, Malinda had the feeling he didn’t approve of her and Ellen being there.

  Harriett slowly got to her feet and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re here. I have several things I need to get done today, and I was hoping you’d be willing to get straight to work.”

  Ellen bit her lip. “I need to take our wagon to the bank, and let the banker know it’s there. We couldn’t bring our trunk without it.”

  “Oh, that’s fine. Will you stop at the post office and get my mail while you’re out? That would help me tremendously.”

  Ellen nodded with a smile. “I’ll even be able to run the errand faster with the wagon. Good. I was worried.”

  “I’m not an evil task-master. I’m simply thrilled to have company and help for a while. Honestly, I’m as excited about the companionship as I am about the work.”

  “We’re very grateful for your hospitality and will do our best to make sure that we don’t take advantage.” She looked at Malinda. “You’ll stay here and help Mrs. Long with whatever she needs?”

  Malinda nodded, annoyed that Ellen felt she needed to tell her to work. She wasn’t a child and had done her share around the house for years. “I’d be happy to.”

  Harriett smiled at the by-play between the sisters. “Please, both of you call me Harriett. We’re going to be house-mates for a while, and the formality would drive me crazy.” Once Ellen was gone, Harriett sat back down in her chair and indicated the sofa for Malinda. “Did you get a good breakfast this morning?”

  Malinda shrugged. “We had some cornbread.”

  Harriett made a face. “I’ll have Higgins bring in some tea and cookies, and I’ll be certain cook fixes a hearty lunch for us all. I’m hungry too.” She started to stand, but Malinda held up her hand.

  “I’ll go tell them if you’d like. It’s not a problem.”

  Harriett sighed. “That would be nice. My leg is bothering me more than usual today. It’s probably going to rain tomorrow.” She laughed. “I sound like a crotchety old man predicting the weather with my bum leg.”

  “What happened to your leg?” Normally Malinda wouldn’t have asked, but when Harriett brought it up, she decided the subject wasn’t taboo.

  A wary look passed over Harriett’s face. “I fell down a flight of stairs.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Malinda could tell there was more to the story, but she didn’t feel like Harriett wanted to talk about it so she stood and went to talk to Higgins, who she found in the hallway outside the room.

  When she came back, she sat down on the couch. “What do you want me to do first?”

  Harriett sighed and looked at the huge pile of papers on her desk. “Would you mind sorting through these? On each letter where I’ve already sent a bride out, I’ve put a check mark in the upper right hand corner. I want you to put the letters from the men together with the letters from the women after I receive them. There should be two letters from each woman which will be filed with the letter from the man. Am I even making sense?”

  Malinda smiled, delighted. Harriett had seemed like such a well-organized woman just the day before. She saw now she wasn’t really just giving them charity. She truly needed someone to help her organize.

  She took the three inch stack of papers and started sifting through them. Each of the letters had a woman’s name written in the top corner, which made them easier to put together with the stack of letters from brides. She could see that Harriett had tried to make the system work well, but hadn’t done what she’d intended.

  She felt like she’d barely gotten started when Ellen came in the door. Harriett looked through the new letters and had Ellen leave again to go to the mercantile for fabric. Malinda sighed. Normally, she’d be begging to be the one to go outside, but lately every time she’d stepped foot outside, she’d wanted to cry. Missing her father was hitting her hard.

  They took a break for lunch and Malinda was thrilled to see the chicken and boiled potatoes with fresh bread. They’d eaten nothing but beans and cornbread for weeks, even before their father died, so she had been almost desperate for something different. She was certain she’d never willingly eat beans again.

  Over the meal, Harriett talked about her plans for her two new assistants. Mainly what she needed was someone to get her files in order. “But I’m almost finished with that already.”

  Harriett laughed softly. “I have two more crates full of letters. And when they’re sorted, I’ll need you to paste them into a book in a certain order. It’s going to be a long boring task.”

  Malinda shrugged. “I don’t mind at all.”

  Ellen looked at Harriett. “Will there be enough for both of us to work on?”

  Harriett nodded. “While one of you works on sorting, the other can do the pasting. You can each work half days and the other half you can work on your dresses.”

  Ellen blinked. “What dresses?”

  “No bride should ever go to her marriage with old worn out clothes. There’s enough fabric with what you bought this morning for you each to have two nice dresses for Sundays and three everyday dresses. I may even help you sew them.”

  “You can’t do that,” Ellen protested. “You’re already doing too much for us by letting us stay here.”

  “You can pay me back when the men send money for your journeys if you feel the need.”

  Ellen didn’t protest further, much to Malinda’s relief. She could see that Harriett truly enjoyed helping people and would like to do more for them. She hated it when she tried to help others and they refused her help, so she wasn’t g
oing to take the joy of helping them from Harriett. She’d find little ways to return the blessing.

  After lunch, the three women went to Harriett’s formal parlor. “I thought we could sew in here in the afternoons. I won’t need to work into the afternoons with you both here, and I can enjoy your company while we make your dresses.”

  Ellen looked sad at the idea of having to accept the help, but she must have realized just as Malinda did they needed it. They simply couldn’t do it without help, and Harriett obviously had the means to help them.

  When they were shown to their rooms that evening, Malinda was amazed. She had never seen such a pretty room. It was decorated in soft pastels and had beautifully carved furniture. She’d always had a room with old furniture and a faded quilt. The quilt had been pieced by their mother, so it held a special place in her heat, but she couldn’t help but love this room. She would rather stay there forever than move to Colorado. Did she have to get married?

  Chapter Two

  Malinda carefully pasted the letter Harriett had just received from a new happy bride. She loved the way Harriett got so excited each time a bride wrote to her and told her how happy she was. This was the third book she’d filled with letters from men searching for women and happy brides.

  Harriett had decided to take empty bound books and paste the letters she received into them for her records. It was impossible to do alphabetically without knowing how many spaces to leave, so Malinda was doing it chronologically. Harriett smiled every time she picked up a book and flipped through to read the old letters.

  “Do you ever keep in contact with the women after they send you their second letter?” Malinda asked.

  “A few.” Harriett looked up from the letter she was writing. “There have been a few brides that I continued to write to, but not all. Some just seem to touch my heart more than others.” She tilted her head to the side as she watched Malinda, knowing she’d be one of those who touched her heart more. How could she not be? The girl’s sad eyes made her want to reach out and hug her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, every woman goes West hoping for something different. Some are just trying to escape something unpleasant here. Some are looking for a place to go. Some are looking for true love. No matter what they’re looking for, they all have something special to offer.” She shrugged. “A few of them find real love when they arrive. I tend to keep in touch with those. I like to watch how their lives develop. But honestly? I keep in touch with the happy ones more, because they write to me more.” She sat back in her chair and folded her hands. “I keep writing to all my brides as long as they write to me.”

  Malinda considered that for a moment. “I’ll keep in touch with you whether I’m happy or not. I promise.” Malinda had never had someone far away to write to, but she’d happily write to Harriett every day in thanks for what she’d done for her and her sister.

  Harriett smiled. “I expect both you and Ellen to keep in touch with me. I’ve gotten closer to the two of you than I have to any other brides. No one else has ever moved in with me.”

  “Thank you for letting us live here. I don’t know how we’d have survived otherwise.” Malinda knew she hadn’t thanked Harriett nearly enough for everything she’d done for them, but how could she? How did you thank someone for giving you a place to live, a job, and somewhere to go when the job ended? All she could do was offer her friendship to the lonely woman, and she would do that with everything inside her.

  “I was happy to do it. I’ll tell you, you two have provided so much more for me than I’ve ever done for you. Your companionship has been just what I’ve needed.” Harriett hadn’t realized until she’d offered the two sisters a home just how lonely and isolated she’d become. Her closest friend was her butler, and she spent all her time either working or responding to letters she received from women who were little more than casual acquaintances. She needed to do something to break away from her quiet life, but what?

  Malinda thought carefully about how she wanted to phrase the question she had. “Why do you not spend time with other women? You spend all your time in this beautiful house. Don’t you know anyone here?”

  Harriett’s eyes looked guarded. “I moved here three years ago after my husband died. For a while, I was in shock and had no desire to be around other people. After I’d been here for a while, I started the mail order bride business and I tend to have all my friendships on paper now.”

  “What was your husband like?”

  Harriett looked down at her hands. “He was tall, handsome and extremely wealthy.” She shrugged. “When I first saw him, I thought he was the most wonderful man in the world.”

  Malinda nodded, sensing there was a great deal more to the story that Harriett didn’t want to tell her, so she politely changed the subject. “Our letters should be here soon, shouldn’t they?”

  Harriett glanced at the calendar on the wall. They’d already been there just over seven weeks. “I would say any day now if they responded immediately. Are you looking forward to getting married?”

  Malinda shook her head slowly. “I’m actually really nervous.” Nervous was putting it mildly. She had no idea how she was going to live without her sister and everything she knew. She was petrified.

  “All brides are nervous. I’m sure Patrick is a wonderful man.”

  “It’s not just that. I don’t feel like I’m ready for marriage. I mean, I don’t even know what happens when you marry.” She blushed as she said it but kept her eyes on the older woman’s face.

  A look of understanding crossed Harriett’s face. “You mean on the wedding night?”

  Malinda nodded and looked down at the letter she was gluing onto the page in front of her. It was a letter talking about how happy a woman named Emily was. She’d apparently married a wonderful man and had two equally wonderful new step-daughters. Malinda wondered if she’d be writing a similar letter anytime soon. Minus the step-daughters. of course.

  Harriett took a deep breath. “Just a moment.” Walking to the hallway, she said something to someone out there in soft tones before returning. She limped back to her usual chair in front of her desk. “We’ll work for a few more minutes, and then we’ll talk over tea.”

  Malinda looked at the older woman in surprise. “You mean you’ll tell me?” It had never occurred to her Harriett would be willing to explain that mystery to her. She was pretty sure Ellen knew what happened, but Malinda hadn’t wanted to seem stupid, so she hadn’t brought it up to her sister.

  “I wouldn’t knowingly send one of my brides off without them having basic knowledge of their wedding night. It wouldn’t be fair to the bride or the man. My job is to prepare a bride for her wedding. If that’s part of the preparation, then I’ll do it.”

  Over tea a few minutes later, Harriett calmly explained the basics of sex. When she was finished she asked, “Do you have any questions?”

  “Does it hurt?” Malinda wasn’t certain if she was relieved to know what would happen or more afraid than ever. How would she be able to do that without getting too embarrassed?

  Harriett seemed to think about the question for a minute. “It does the first time. I think it depends on the man how it feels after that.”

  “Thank you for being honest with me. And that’s what makes a baby?” Malinda wanted to be certain she understood exactly what would cause a child. What if she had twelve? How would she know to stop if she didn’t know where they came from?

  Harriett nodded. “Yes, it is. Do you want children?”

  “I do. Maybe not right away, though. I’d like a little while to get used to being married first.” Malinda shrugged. “What if I hate it?”

  “Marriage or intercourse?”

  “Intercourse.”

  Harriett smiled. “I’m told it can be very pleasurable for a woman.” She set down her tea cup and seemed to be about to say something else, when Ellen rushed into the room clutching a handful of letters.

  Ellen gave them t
o Harriett and said, “We got them!”

  Harriett gave Ellen her letter back and smiled as she handed Malinda hers. Malinda couldn’t tell if Harriett was disappointed or relieved their conversation was cut short. She opened her letter and read. “Dear Malinda, I’m so happy to hear you’d like to be my bride. I’ve enclosed a bank draft for Mrs. Long and spending money for you. I included extra so that you may help your sister during the journey if need be. Your train ticket is also included. You will leave on the fifteenth of July. Wesley and I will be at the train station to fetch you both when you arrive. We plan on marrying the day after your arrival. You and your sister will spend the night in my home, while I spend the night with my brother in his. I look forward to our marriage together. I must say, I’m happy that Wesley and I will be marrying sisters. I think it will help us to draw even closer as brothers if that is at all possible. Yours, Patrick.”

  Malinda stared down at the letter in her hand for a moment before taking out the check and giving it to Harriett. The letter had seemed very cold and formal to her. She hoped he would be much more personable when she met him.

  Ellen handed Harriett a portion of her money for the trip to pay for the fabric they’d received. She glared at Malinda as if telling her to do the same. Malinda sighed. Patrick obviously didn’t think they had enough to pay for the food as it was, so how would he feel if she gave some of it to Harriett? She took several of the bills and offered them to Harriett, just as Ellen did.

  Harriett refused to take their money, and Malinda was relieved. They’d gone hungry enough. Did they really need to do it during their trip out West? And in the time she’d known Harriett, she’d learned you couldn’t force the woman to do anything she didn’t want to do. She obviously didn’t want the money, so she wouldn’t take it.