Freedom For A Bride: A clean historical mail order bride romance (Montana Passion Book 2) (11 page)

“I don’t understand,” Moira whispered. “You told us he’s with your mother. We’re preparing to go all the way to the other side of the world to reunite the two of you!”

“And for that I am humbled and grateful, but he is not there. I told you the truth, he is with my mother. But she is in New York.”

“What? I was certain you said she and your sisters were preparing to go back to Russia to find work!”

“They were. But when I agreed to marry Mr. Russell, the price was enough to keep them in our room in the city for several more months, long enough for them to find positions. I am sorry if my language didn’t make me explain it plainly. Are you unhappy with me?”

“Oh, Katia, this is incredible news! You have no idea how happy I am that you haven’t kept up with your French studies!” They laughed excitedly over this turn of events, but when Moira dabbed at the tears of happiness in the corners of her eyes—the joy that came from knowing it would be weeks that she and Matthew were gone from home, and not months—alarmed the men who sat idly by, not understanding a word. She quickly explained.

“Mr. Russell, it is now very important that you ride to the fort and telegraph my brother if only to tell him that we wish to have him in our home this summer!”

“This summer? But you’ll be…” he began, but Moira shook her head.

“I’ll be right here in Montana, where I belong!” she cried. Moira explained the good news to Nathaniel while Mr. Jorgenson beamed happily. Nathaniel sat speechless, dazed by this new information. He fell back into his chair, weakened from the spectrum of emotions that overcame him all at once.

“Why then, that means… we can be married this summer?” he asked hopefully, but Katia only smiled before looking to Moira for an explanation. “Oh, never mind trying to tell her what I said. She understands me, even if she doesn’t know what I’m saying. It’s like my grandma from the old country used to tell us, ‘Das Herz weiß, was sie will.’” He smiled for only a moment as he recalled the childhood memory, but was pulled from his reverie by a startling pain that traveled up his arm from the spot where Katia gripped his elbow tightly, her eyes boring into his pleadingly as her breath failed her for a moment from the sheer hope she felt.

“Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”

***

The train pulled into the massive station and rolled to a stop amid a cloud of steam that billowed up over the windows, blocking Gretchen’s view of New York. It was almost as she remembered from over a year before, but that trip had been brief and unpleasant. This time, they were there to reunite a family and to rekindle the fondness between brother and sister.

The porter eventually came around to their private carriage and helped them down to the platform, promising them their trunks were already loaded in a cab. But instead of being taken to the cab from the train, Lord Brennan was waiting with a few of his employees, standing on his toes and craning his neck to find his sister in the sea of people.

“Ronan!” Moira cried out before running to him, darting this way and that to get through the groups of passengers milling about the platform. She dove into his outstretched arms and said, “Ronan, you’re here!”

“Aye, of course, I’m here! Where else should I be when I learn my darling baby sister is to travel to this horrid city alone?” he teased, kissing her on both cheeks and pulling her into another tight hug. “And where is my nephew? I demand to see him at once and to know why he was not named after me!”

Moira colored slightly but laughed along with her brother. Ronan knew good and well that Matthew was the name of the brother they’d lost in childhood, the one who would have bridged the wide gap in their ages. Instead, a boating accident had taken him from them and left a gap in their family that never quite was filled.

“Here he is!” Moira said, reaching and taking the baby from Gretchen’s arms and passing him to her brother. Ronan hefted the child appraisingly but was instantly taken with the child and insisted on carrying him to the waiting carriage. Ronan’s eyebrows knit slightly when Moira held out her hand for Gretchen to ride in the carriage with them instead of in the cab behind that carried Ronan’s manservants, but didn’t say anything.

They rode through the city’s traffic, the sights and sounds—and dare say, the smells—startling them anew. Ronan gave the driver the address for Katia’s family, but upon learning from the driver that it was in an unsavory section of the city, he refused to let the ladies travel there. Instead, he ordered the driver to take them to his hotel, and then sent the carriage after the family members.

“I’ve secured rooms for your mother and sisters,” he told Katia in French. “And I’m sure you’ll want to stay in their rooms and have a nice long visit before returning to Montana. We’ll leave you to your privacy so you can all catch-up.”

She thanked him but was unable to hold back the tears of gratitude and anticipation at the thought of seeing her elderly mother and her son again.

“I still don’t understand how you could leave,” Moira said, trying to remain polite but still getting to the bottom of a woman leaving behind an infant son. It only caused her more hurt and confusion to look across them and see her brother bouncing Matthew on his knee. How could a mother leave a child behind?

“I promised my papa I would take care of them until he came for us. He hasn’t come, so my promise has not come to an end. It is what I had to do to make sure there was food enough, and heat in the small room through the winter. My heart has broken so many times, I tried to tell myself that one more heartbreak wouldn’t matter. I was wrong, though.”

“And now you have Mr. Russell…”

“Yes, a wonderfully dear man. I can only hope that he is the man to put the pieces of my heart back in place!”

The carriage rolled up outside the Astor House hotel, and Katia gawked at the splendor. Although it had only been a short time since Moira had seen such magnificence—and Gretchen too, who’d spent her entire life in Brennan Castle—Katia had only ever known an existence centered on pulling together and getting by. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the gleaming hotel, its gold leaf entryway beckoning to her with its warmth.

“We shall be seen to our rooms, and then my men here will fetch your family,” Ronan continued. His servants helped them out of the carriage and then led the way to their rooms, ignoring the prying eyes of the New York elite who lounged in the overstuffed velvet chairs scattered around the marble lobby. Moira walked with her hand on her brother’s arm, followed by Gretchen, who carried Matthew, and by Katia, who did her best not to stare open-mouthed at the finest rooms she’d ever seen.

In Moira’s suite that she would share with Gretchen and her son, the ladies collapsed on the goose-down bed, giggling with the excitement of finally being here. It was a pivotal moment for all three: Katia would see her family again, or what was left of it, Moira would spend the next many days with her dear older brother, and Gretchen would have a decision to make. She could return to Montana and finish her days as a shop girl for Mr. Jorgenson, or she could return to Brennan with his lordship’s servants and return to a life of service in his household.

One route offered freedom, but isolation. The other path stripped away the hard-earned freedom she’d carved out for herself in the wilderness but exchanged it for companionship. But she was no closer to a decision than she’d been when she first stepped on the train.

“Oh, my friends! Look!” Katia said in a tearful whisper, clutching Moira’s arm on one side and Gretchen’s hand on the other. Two of Ronan’s men held open the great doors of the hotel, and a small cluster of women entered, their expressions a combination of awe and wonder, with a slight sheen of fear. The old woman stood in front of her two daughters as if to protect them from whatever may lie inside the lobby, clutching a little boy to her ample chest. Katia released her grip and ran to them, oblivious to the questioning looks from the guests who were too genteel to run anywhere, let alone in public.

Ronan approached Moira and said quietly in her ear, “Let’s take them somewhere more private for their happy reunion, shall we?” She smiled and nodded happily. She knew what her brother meant, and it had nothing at all to do with the impression their group gave the other guests. Instead, he was thinking only of Katia’s dignity and that of her family, and Moira loved her brother for it. His was always a unique ability to think of others first, despite his aristocratic and privileged upbringing. Remembering this about him made her think to ask about Gretchen.

“Brother, I have a favor to ask of you,” she said once they’d ushered Katia and her family into the elevator and to their rooms. Gretchen had stayed with them to help with Katia’s son, Nikolai, although Moira knew it had more to do with the opportunity to fawn over a babe than any offer of service.

“Ask away, little sister! I do naw have near enough chances to spoil you now that you’ve left me all alone!” he teased.

“Aye, ‘tis true, but I only left to make way for a woman who would take my place as Lady Brennan! We’ll talk about your need to find a wife soon enough,” she warned him with an ominous grin. “No, I’m speaking of Gretchen.”

“Your ladies’ maid? What of her? Is she not suited to service in this country?”

“Oh, no, that’s naw it at all. In fact, I fear ‘tis the opposite. She’s not content, I’m afeared, especially not now that I’m married and have my own child to tend. She seems… lost, I would say? When we thought this journey would take us back to Europe, she even asked about returning to Ireland instead of coming back here.”

“I see. And you wish to find her a position in my house?” he asked, concern creasing his forehead. “I have no ill-will for her at all, in fact, I owe her a debt of gratitude for seeing you safely across the ocean and all the way across this country! But I simply don’t know what ‘tis she would do if you’re not there to be kept company.”

“Well, I do naw even know if that’s what she had in her mind, but I wanted to ask you before broaching it with her. Of course, if you would hurry up and find a wife, she’s a far more than capable ladies’ maid. She was my dearest friend, I don’t know what my life would have been like without her beside me. But if the new Lady Brennan isn’t kind to her, I’ll come all the way to Brennan Castle to take my husband’s horse whip to the fine lady’s backside!”

Ronan threw back his head and laughed before putting his arm around his tiny sister’s shoulders. “I fear you’re putting things in reverse order. I’m to hire on a ladies’ maid, and then find a lady?”

“Surely there’s someone by now! ‘Tis not right that I should be married and a mother before my older brother! I left you with specific instructions to find a wife, get yourself married, and produce a pack of heirs to secure our family’s estate!” she said, wagging a finger reproachfully at Ronan. It only made him laugh even harder, and she quickly joined in.

He really is the most handsome man when he’s happy
, she thought, pushing aside all the images in her mind of Ronan when he’d been angry and brooding, straining under the pressure of suddenly being thrust into his role as the lord of Brennan.
Any woman would be glad of him!

“Well, I haven’t as yet said anything,” he began but stopped to look over his shoulder and make a show of peering around the corner to be sure they weren’t overheard. “But I have spoken to a young lady’s father. We’re planning the announcement for May Day.”

“Ronan! That is most wonderful! I am so happy for you! Tell me all about her!” Moira cried, talking all at once and overwhelming her brother’s attempts to explain. They carried their conversation into his rooms, where the staff had already brought tea. Moira remembered meeting the young lady at several social events, and heartily approved of his choice of a mistress for Brennan.

“But where shall you marry?” Moira asked hesitantly when she’d gotten all the details. “I mean, I know you’ll have a ceremony at Brennan, just like all of our family before us, but do you think your wife would like to honeymoon abroad? Would you come to Montana?”

“I can think of no greater adventure!” he answered joyfully before turning serious. “Which leads me to wonder if there’s not a better course of action. Why not we encourage Gretchen to return to Montana with you and Matthew, and then if she still wishes to leave one day, we will come for her when we visit after the wedding? She can simply join us on the rest of our travels before we return to Ireland to settle in.”

“That’s a fantastic idea! I’ve kept up hope that she was only feeling out of sorts by the harsh winter, that when she feels the sun on her face and the warm grass beneath her feet once again, she’ll be as happy as ever she has been. And if she’s not, I shall send her with you and the new Lady Brennan with a sore heart but my fullest blessing!”

They enjoyed the rest of the morning while waiting for Katia to catch up with her mother and sisters. Eventually, Gretchen came in to announce that Katia was going to take Nikolai for a walk to spend some time with him and that she would accompany them.

“Nonsense, the two of you with a baby? In a city such as this?” Ronan interrupted. “One of my men will accompany you.”

Gretchen seemed torn for a moment, looking back and forth between Moira and Ronan, both at one time her former employers, but only one of them now counted as her friend. She finally smiled gratefully for the offer of protection and curtsied before letting herself out of the suite.

“Oh, I don’t know that she liked that too much!” Moira said with a giggle. “Things are different between us. I no longer employ her, and I’m not Lady Brennan in this country! Well, I am, but for all the good that it matters to the fine people of Montana!”

“What do you mean?” Ronan asked with interest.

She explained to him the way of life on the homestead, detailing how they could go weeks at a time without seeing another soul. But when times were hard, there was a sense of community about the people, even though they were far flung in their own farms.

“Take that one day before our departure, by way of example. We had come into town to get word to you of our pending travels when violence broke out. We were immediately safeguarded and cared for until there was no longer a threat.”

“Hmmm, that is troubling, to be sure. Is it really so savage out there?”

“I wouldn’t say savage, I suppose, but it is certainly a different way of life. I just hope ‘tis a life that Katia enjoys as much as I have, for her sake and for Mr. Russell’s. And now for this child’s sake!”

***

“Ronan, you’ve spoiled us these three weeks!” Moira said as she hugged her brother goodbye and prepared to board the train. “It has been nothing but feasting and parties and expeditions to make more and more purchases… it was like being your treasured little sister again, I must say!”

“You are my treasured little sister, Moira, now and for always! And I will spoil you and Matthew every chance I get! Of course, we have a new bride to think of, and her family. What kind of host would I be if I did not buy some small token of congratulations to the newlyweds?”

“But a new plow and a team of horses? ‘Tis truly what you call a small token? In so, I’d be too scared to see what you consider lavish!” she said, pointing down the rail cars where the six horses were being loaded for the journey west.

“They were lying around and I didn’t have need of them,” he said, feigning disinterest as he placed a gloved hand on his chest.

“You didn’t have need of them because they were naw yours!” she said, unable to contain her laughter at her brother’s outrageous, humorous ways. “And you’ve supplied horses for Pryor, too… I hope he’s as pleased as I am.”

“I know he will be! I’ve sent a letter ahead of him asking him to breed this variety with the wild horses in Montana if he gets the opportunity. I think there’s a real market for the offspring these could produce. So you see, ‘tis not charity or lavish gifts, but a business deal. Nothing more.”

Ronan turned behind him and waved over one of his manservants. “I almost forgot to tell you the best gift. I’m giving the town of New Hope a security force to keep watch over it.”

Moira blinked in surprise. “Pardon me? How do you intend to do that?”

“This is Kieran O’Conner. I’ve cabled the land management office and told them of the new tavern and the recent troubles that have brewed there. Kieran is the new constable… I believe they refer to him as a ‘sheriff’ in those parts. He is to travel with you for your own safety, then will be amassing a small force of able-bodied lawmen from the residents of the region.”

“Brother! Are you seriously giving us a person to take with us? You can’t go gifting people to do your bidding!”

“’Tis not a gift, after all. He’s on salary with the land bureau to protect the citizens who come west to homestead. The fact that he’s to keep an eye on my little sister is a secondary duty, one for which I pay him a small salary!” He laughed and kissed Moira on the cheek. “Now go, board your train and have yourself another adventure. I’ll see you when we travel this summer, and I’ll bring you a new sister!”

“A sister!” Moira breathed dreamily. “I’ve always wanted a sister. I can naw wait to meet her!”

She boarded the private car Ronan had secured for their journey and laughed almost immediately when she saw Gretchen lounging luxuriously on a small sofa. “Oh, Moira, can you remember back to that wretched journey we first took when there were no cars to be had? We sat upright on a hard bench for all those weeks. I thought my back would ne’er recover from it! And look at us now!”

“’Tis certainly a far different type of travel, if I say so myself. But, Gretchen, you may wish to sit up. ‘Tis only us ladies for the moment…” she answered, pointing to Katia and the three ladies in her family who were coming with them to the West. “…but there’s another fellow traveling with us—”

Gretchen yelped in surprise and sat up immediately just as a man’s shadow crossed the stairs to their car. She turned a bright pink at having nearly been caught in such a pose, but quickly locked eyes with a man so tall, he had to stoop and bend down his head to enter the car.

“Ladies, this is Kieran O’Conner. He’ll be joining us as far as New Hope. He’s hired on to be the sheriff in the town, and to restore safety to the people. Isn’t that prodigious, Gretchen?” Moira asked knowingly, taking in the way Kieran and Gretchen looked at each other.

“Kieran? ‘Tis really you?” she asked quietly, rising from the sofa and crossing the car to stand in front of him. “What happened to you? You’ve grown!”

“Aye, I have, Gretchen,” he answered, flashing a bright smile before looking away self-consciously. “I’ve been in Lord Brennan’s personal service for two years now, after finishing at the school he sent me to.”

“Lord Brennan sent you off?” she asked, confused. “I don’t understand, we all heard you’d gotten into a scrape of some kind and took off in the night.”

“Oh, the master thought that a better story than he felt sorry for me and gave me a proper education. I returned from school and have helped manage affairs in his London office, but when he heard about the recent trouble in Montana, he thought it best that I go there, at least for a while.”

“Well, I’m right glad to see you again, and to hear you’ve done so well!” she said genuinely, smiling shyly before returning to her seat. Moira stepped over to the window and looked out at her brother, then pointed behind her to Kieran with a pleased but questioning look.

Ronan simply nodded and laughed again, aware as always of his own devilish plots.

“Moira, are you certain Nathaniel won’t mind my family coming, too?” Katia asked cautiously. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at her mother to make sure the woman didn’t catch on to her worry.

“Not at all. I’m sure Mr. Russell will be so happy to have you home that he goes straight away to building more rooms for the cabin! Now don’t worry, and just enjoy this time with your family and your little boy.” Katia smiled gratefully and took her seat near the others, taking her son from her mother’s arms and snuggling him tightly.

Moira breathed a sigh of relief to herself. She settled into one of the stuffed chairs by the window and held Matthew up to see his uncle, taking his tiny hand in hers and waving it at the last family member she had that tied her to her childhood home. This was a new world, that was for certain, and it pained her to know that Matthew may only ever know this one. She brushed aside the dark thought as the train began to roll forward, taking in one last look at her brother’s face and remembering that, at least this time, she had gotten to say goodbye.