Mail Order Wife

by Montana West

  “I got some work for you to do.”

  “Oh, thank you so much, sir,” Elizabeth beamed. “When can I begin?”

  “Right away,” Gerald said as he stood up. “Mrs. Summer is an elderly lady whose husband died a few weeks ago, and her only son went to the west in search of gold. She wants to send him a message to return home, but she cannot write. I told her that you would do the work for her for twenty-five cents.”

  “Thank you so much, sir.”

  Elizabeth soon settled into her work and she was glad that she at least had some money coming in because it kept her and Virginia off the streets. But after two weeks she realized that the money was not going to be enough to cater to their needs, especially now that spring was coming. They had left the house with winter clothing which would be unsuitable for spring, not to mention summer. She had managed to get only one suitcase full of clothes for them. Their father had bought them expensive gowns, and Elizabeth knew those would be sold off to settle some of the debts. Most of them had been almost new, because each time Mr. Lowell had entertained he bought his daughters new clothes.

  She counted out her money as she sat on the bed in their room. She had written eight letters and now had two dollars. She reached for the purse that she hid under the mattress and when she opened it she frowned. She was sure she had left ten dollars in there that morning but now there were only five dollars left.

  “Virginia,” she thought. “What does she need the money for?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. Her sister was proving to be quite complex, but Elizabeth soon quashed the thoughts. Virginia was a child whose world had been cruelly turned upside down and it would take her a while to adjust.

  She put the two dollars with the other five, intending to give the money to Mrs. Little later when she went down for dinner. Their rent was due. The room was one dollar per day and Mrs. Little had said Elizabeth could pay her every Friday. There would be nothing left over until she got the next job, but she was determined that they would always have a roof over their heads. She had promised her mother that she would always look after Virginia.

  Elizabeth sighed when she thought about her sister. Virginia was a very beautiful girl, but sometimes Elizabeth thought she was vain and spoiled. She got her looks from their mother who had been a beauty in her days. Standing at five-feet, nine-inches, the girl carried herself regally and always said she would be a famous singer one day, with a rich husband to support her. She had inherited their mother’s green eyes and honey blond hair which she liked to brush and leave flowing around her shoulders. Elizabeth took after their father who had been short and stocky, with unruly, curly blond hair, thanks to his Irish ancestry.

  Elizabeth was determined to support Virginia and give her all she needed, but try as much as she did the money that she got from transcribing was very little, and it was with a downcast face that she approached Mrs. Little in the third week of their arrival.

  “Mrs. Little, I am sorry that I cannot give you our rent this week. Work is so hard to find.”

  Mrs. Little tightened her lips. “Why not take on another job, if that one that you go to everyday is not paying you?”

  “I have tried, Mrs. Little. I went to the schools to offer my services to tutor the children, but they want people who are more qualified, and besides, they also want references, and I have none.”

  “Oh, child,” Mrs. Little sighed. “I can offer you a job here, and in turn you and your sister can stay here rent-free.”

  “What kind of work, Mrs. Little?”

  “My scullery maid, idiot that she is, ran off to get married to some miner in the west, and now I do not have anyone to wash the pots and pans, and clean the kitchen. I am willing to pay you five dollars a week, and you get your room free and you also get breakfast and dinner for the two of you.”

  “How can I thank you, Mrs. Little?”

  “Hush, child. What I suggest is that every morning you go to your other job, and then by three o’clock you come back here to clean the morning dishes and prepare for dinner, and then wash the dinner dishes as well.” The woman sighed. “But you will have to move out of the room you are staying in so that I can rent it out, and you can use Chloe’s old room. It has one bed, which is large enough for the two of you to share.”

  By the time Elizabeth got to bed each day she was so exhausted that she stopped only long enough to take off her apron and frock, and fall into bed. She always found Virginia asleep and was glad that the young girl was getting good rest and looking happier.

  But two weeks later Elizabeth was not smiling when she realized what was making Virginia happy. One night she woke up to find that she was alone in the bed, and thinking that Virginia must have gone to the outhouse, she turned over to sleep once again. However, she got up at around four o’clock when she heard the door opening, and was in time to see Virginia creeping into the room, still fully clothed.

  “What are you doing up at this time?” Elizabeth struggled to sit up in bed and Virginia gave a start, dropping her purse. Elizabeth lit the candle that was beside the bed.

  “You frightened me,” the young girl tried to say with a laugh. “I have a running stomach.”

  “Really? Why did you get dressed then?”

  “I did not want to go out in my petticoats, so I threw this dress over them.” Elizabeth looked at her sister in the lightening room and sighed.

  Something troubled Elizabeth at the way her sister seemed to have changed. Elizabeth went through her sister’s things and realized that Virginia had acquired some very expensive clothes, nothing that the little money she usually took from Elizabeth’s purse could pay for.

  “What is this girl up to?” she wondered as she scrubbed the pots that evening. “I must find out where Virginia is getting these expensive things.” Dread filled her heart when she imagined that Virginia might have met a rich old man who was giving her all these gifts in return for her body.

  When she asked her sister about the expensive items, the younger girl told her some kind ladies at the church had given her the clothes and shoes, and for a while Elizabeth believed her. But when she found face powder and lipstick among the things, she realized Virginia was lying to her. None of the ladies in church used such items. Something else was going on.

  “I will kill that girl,” Elizabeth fumed, but decided that she would not ask her because Virginia would just lie to her. Instead she decided that she would watch her and see, and her patience was soon rewarded.

  One Saturday, Virginia got out of bed, thinking that Elizabeth was asleep. She dressed in the darkness and silently opened the door and snuck out. But this time Elizabeth was waiting for her, and gave her a few minutes head start before she threw on a thick coat and crept out after her.

  Virginia, oblivious to the fact that she had a shadow, walked briskly down the dark street and slipped into an alley, with Elizabeth following her at a discreet distance. When Elizabeth got to the alley, she peered into the poorly lit street, not seeing her sister, and she got very worried. Was her sister visiting a brothel? Then she saw it. The sign said ‘Wild West Tavern’ and Elizabeth wondered if that was where her sister had gone. She hid in the shadows and drew closer, and soon heard a familiar voice singing.

  She could not believe that Virginia was singing in the seedy tavern, and she slipped in, praying that no one would notice her. And sure enough, there was her sister, dressed in a very tight fitting gown, her face heavily made-up, and she was dancing seductively on the stage, as men whistled and one or two joined her on the stage, pawing her, and far from being offended, the young girl giggled.

  Elizabeth wanted to march to the stage and grab her sister, but she realized that the kind of crowd that was in the tavern was not the kind that would take kindly to such an interruption, and so she slipped out of the tavern and went to the rooming house, where she spent the rest of the night on her knees, sobbing her heart out in prayer.

  “Oh Lord,” she wept over and over again. “Do not fo
rsake me in my hour of need. You are our Father, we have no one else. What do I do about Virginia? Lord, I do not want my sister to go down a dark path, and end up as a ruined and fallen woman. But what do I do? How can I stop her from going to that place? Please help me,” she sobbed.

  By the time Virginia crept into the room early in the morning Elizabeth was calm, and resolved not to let the younger girl know that she had discovered her secret. She knew that in Virginia’s present state of mind the girl might even take it into her head to run away. So Elizabeth continued as if nothing was wrong, but she spent sleepless nights on her knees praying for her sister, with the result that she soon had bags under her eyes for lack of sleep.

  Meanwhile, Virginia went on as before, unaware that her actions were causing her sister so much distress. But not for long. She got a very bad cold and could not sing or rise from the bed, and Elizabeth silently gave thanks for this malady that had put her sister down.

  The doctor came and pronounced that Virginia had an inflammation of the lungs. “This weather is not good for your sister. You need to get her to a warmer place, if you can.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Elizabeth said with a sad smile. Where was she to take Virginia? Virginia had always been a sickly child, and this was especially aggravated by spring.

  As Elizabeth nursed Virginia back to health, an idea began forming in her mind. While working in the kitchen scrubbing pots and pans, she had become friends with Matilda, who was the cook.

  “A fine lass like you should not be scrubbing too much in someone else’s kitchen. If you could only go west, you might find yourself a mighty dandy farmer to wed you, and you can then scrub in your own home. ‘Tis a great shame,” she ‘tsked’ over and over again.

  At first Elizabeth had laughed and ignored her, but then as she watched her sister tossing and turning in bed she decided that she would ask Matilda for more details. Matilda was only too pleased to pass on more information.

  “Chloe, the one that was here before you, got herself a man from the west, and left.”

  “How?”

  “The newspapers. Men in the west are always putting ‘adverts’ in the papers to find mail-order brides. I reckon if you get hold of the Boston Daily, you might find yourself a man, my dear lass.”

  And the very next day Elizabeth took some of her savings and bought a newspaper. But the adverts that were there for mail-order brides did not appeal to her. The men seemed to only want women to clean, cook and breed. Besides, none of the men professed to be Christians, and the last thing Elizabeth wanted was to be wed to a pagan. The cleaning and cooking part was not bad. It was the breeding part that irked her. She did not need a man to touch her. If only she could find a man who wanted a woman to work with him, sort of in a business way, then she would go. And three days later she saw it:

  Christian widower seeks mother for his two daughters.

  My name is William Edwards and I am a widower aged thirty years. I have two daughters, aged ten and twelve years. I am a rancher in Missoula, Montana. We attend the Missoula Baptist Church under Pastor Thomas Clifford. I am looking for a Christian woman to marry and be a mother to my daughters. She should be between nineteen to twenty-one years old. A widow with children is also welcome. Send me a letter if you are interested, and I promise to reply.

  Elizabeth looked at the advert and when Virginia was asleep, she knelt down beside the bed.

  “Father, I am your child and you know my needs and my desires and my suffering. Matilda told me about finding a husband from the west, and today when I went and bought the paper I found this advert by Mr. William Edwards. He sounds like a fine man who will not place too many unnecessary demands on me. If it is in your will, let my letter reach him and let me find favor in his eyes. You know the hearts of all men and Lord, if you have looked into the heart of Mr. William Edwards and seen a kind man, then I pray that you allow this process to go speedily, because I have to take Virginia out of this place before she loses her soul. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  MISSOULA, MONTANA

  EARLY SPRING, 1874

  “Amelia, why did you have to leave me?” William Edwards, a tall muscular man, stood, hat in hand with his head bowed as his tears dropped onto the grave at his feet. It was a well-tended grave that made all who saw it aware that whoever lay beneath the earth had been well loved.

  The tombstone read:

  Here lies

  Amelia Jane Edwards

  1845 - 1873

  Beloved Wife and Mother

  Rest in Peace.

  William wrung his leather hat in his large hands.

  “I am sorry I let you down,” he sobbed. “I am so sorry.”

  William knelt at the foot of the grave, uncaring that the earth was still wet from an early morning drizzle. He had come here every morning for the last year since he had buried his wife of thirteen years.

  Amelia had been a fine young lady of sixteen when they had met. He was eighteen, and for him it was love at first sight.

  They had met in church at a wedding. Amelia’s family had just moved to Missoula from Helena. Her father had been a prospective miner, but when he and his wife and daughter had reached Helena, he had quickly realized that mining was not what he wanted to do, and he had responded to the government’s Homestead Act, which offered one hundred and sixty acres of land to the head of a family, or any citizen twenty-one years or older, and because women were also allowed to apply for the land, Reginald and Miriam Willoughby had both applied and jointly got three hundred and twenty acres of land.

  They were strong Christians and their daughter, Amelia, was a very pretty girl. Just a few months after they moved to Missoula, Reginald and Miriam had been killed in a storm. Amelia had been at Pastor Thomas’ house, preparing for Sunday school because she taught the young ones, and so had not been at home when the house fell on her sleeping parents and killed them instantly.

  For a long time Amelia had grieved for her parents, but Pastor Thomas, his wife Salome, and other members of the congregation had supported her, most of all William, who had seen to the settlement of the Willoughby’s estate. Most of the money went to repaying her father’s debts, as the farm had not started producing anything, and he had borrowed large sums to develop it.

  Amelia eventually also fell in love with William, and after courting for two months they were married and settled down on William’s one hundred and sixty acre farm.

  William lived with his sister, Katherine, who was then thirteen years old. William had inherited his father’s farm when the latter ran off with a saloon lady, leaving their mother quite devastated, and she had pined away and died.

  Life for William and his new wife Amelia had been full of joy as they brought their children into the world. The two loved each other deeply, and Amelia was a very strong woman who was rarely ill.

  So when William had returned from one of his hunts for mustangs to add to his horse ranch and found her lying in bed, he was not overly concerned.

  “Feeling a little under the weather,” Amelia had said. “It is just a cold, nothing to worry about.” But that night she took a turn for the worse, and by the time William rode in the early dawn to get the local doctor and returned, Amelia’s breathing was raspy and quite labored.

  “Why didn’t you get me earlier?” Dr. Shawn had asked him, frowning deeply. “Your wife has influenza, and it seems to have spread to her lungs.”

  “Please do all you can to help my Amelia get better,” William had begged.

  But in the end, Amelia had lost the fight.

  Now, standing beside her grave, all William had to give his wife was tears. “I am sorry I let you down, Amelia,” he wept. Though he felt like he might never stop missing her, never stop grieving, he never wanted his daughters to know the depth of his pain. He had to be strong for them as they struggled to go on with their lives after the loss of their mother. He could not add to his children’s pain.

  At least, William cou
ld tell his wife that he was doing well by their children. “Amelia, your daughters are growing into fine young women. Mary is looking more and more like you every day, and it hurts when I look into her eyes and see you staring back at me.” He shook his head. “I miss you greatly, Amelia. I miss you so much.” The pain in his heart threatened to overwhelm him. “I promise I will never love another woman like I loved you. I will devote my life to looking after our girls.” He wiped his nose on the back of his hand. Then he wiped his hand on his black dungarees. “Abigail is turning into an expert horse rider, like you were. You would be proud of the girls, Amelia.” He sniffed. “Why did you have to leave us? How do I go on without you? The girls are getting to the age when they need a woman. They need you, Amelia. Why did you leave us?”

  Tired of kneeling, he sat down and began plucking the small weeds that had begun forming on the grave. He worked silently for a while.

  William was not worried about his children. His sister Katherine had come from her home in Butte to check on them as she did every two months since Amelia had died, and whenever she came, at least the house and their clothes got a good washing. She would come in with strong detergent and coax the girls into helping her clean the cabin from top to bottom.

  He was on a short break before he went back to the mountains to meet Sure Foot, his good Nez Perce Indian friend who had taught him how to track and chase after mustangs. He had discovered that dealing in horses was better than dealing in cattle because for one, the mustangs were wild creatures that could be allowed back into the wild during winter to forage for themselves, and come spring he could go back and recapture them and sell them to the many miners who transited through Missoula for lands beyond, in search of gold, silver and copper. And besides, the mustangs were strong riding horses, and the stage coach owners preferred them to other breeds because they were hardy animals and could endure adverse situations and weather.

  Keeping horses had proved profitable to William, and though he was by no means rich he managed to give his family a comfortable life. But life without a wife was quite a challenge.