Though Charity was rather annoyed her parents had written to Mr. Cunningham without her permission, she was relieved to see that he was willing to marry her should she be willing to make the journey to the Oregon Territory. Yet, even in the letter he didn't offer much information about himself. Only that he would be willing to send her the money to get to him should she need it, and the assurance they were ready for her as soon as she wished to come.
Her stomach growled. Perhaps she should have taken his offer and had him fund her journey. Yet another fault in her plan. She left so abruptly there wasn’t any time to send money.
Her parents had replied on her behalf once more, telling him that she would be along as soon as possible. It was then that they had told her she would be leaving, gave her the letter along with the ad, and purchased a train ticket. Charity had been sent away quickly without the time to say goodbye to any of her loved ones.
She knew they had done so telling themselves and her it was for her sake, but she knew the fact of the matter was that he had paid for her he had given them a token for her to come as soon as possible. Charity was grateful that they would find life easier than before, but she was also insulted. She was not something that could be bought and she was going to prove it.
She had tried to tell her parents to simply send her on her way and let her handle things, but they had refused, telling her that she needed someone to take care of her in life. Though she had finally obeyed, she wasn't happy about it, and she was going to find some way to pay him back.
Charity had a strong will and was filled with passion, but in light of the trouble that had overtaken her family, she didn't want to argue with her father on the decision. She would honor him, but she didn't know how she was going to honor this man she was going to marry. No matter what she did on the outside what she let her parents believe, the fact of the matter was that she didn't want to marry this man. She would do it out of obligation, and nothing more.
Charity dragged herself through getting out of bed and slipping into her dress. It was the same dress she had been wearing the entire journey, and though she had done her best to keep it clean, having put it on and taken it off so many times without washing it in between, it was rumpled and showed signs of being worn.
But, it was the best she had, and she was going to have to make do with it. Though she had yet to meet this man or his family, she defiantly told herself he had better like it, or he should change how he decided the worth of other people.
She groggily grabbed her things and hurried down to the train station, wanting to get there before the back cars were filled. She preferred sitting in the back of the train to the front she didn't like the engine.
The familiar lurch ran through the entire train, sending another jolt through her body as it shifted backward before starting slowly forward once more. She held onto her seat as it began to pick up speed and she tried to calm her racing heart as it picked up speed. The train would continue to go faster and faster until it settled into a good pace, and it would stay there until they reached the next station in the next town.
Charity honestly didn't know how far that was, or how long it would be until she arrived at her final destination. All she knew was that she was going to continue to go through this cycle she called her life until she finally did arrive and she would deal with the next step then.
She would do what she so often did as the train chugged along from one station to the next she would spend her day wondering what her family was doing back home, missing them and wishing she could be with them, and she would wonder what the man was like she was riding toward.
Her mind whispered that he was going to be a hard man and even though he was only six years older than herself, he was going to appear much, much older. He would be rough and arrogant, and he wouldn't care a thing for her or anything that she cared about. She didn't wonder what he would look like. She didn't care.
The closer she got to her final stop, the more she realized she wasn't happy with the wedding. She left because she wanted to help her family, not because she wanted to marry him. To make matters worse, she knew she didn't want to marry a man who hadn’t worked a day for his riches. Deep down inside, Charity blamed the affluent people in the East for the war that was raging between the North and the South.
If they had just gotten along with each other and had shown everyone the respect that they deserved, then there wouldn't be the trouble that was threatening the tear the country apart now.
She was grateful Mr. Cunningham could support her financially, but she felt like she was betraying herself. Arrogant, rich, expecting everyone to serve him rather than thinking that he could serve anyone else the kind of man she had always wished to avoid. Her heart began to race, and she felt her palms growing sweaty. She would be there within a few days, and she knew the wedding would be expected to follow and the thought of it threw her into a panic.
Suddenly, Charity had a thought suppose she was to tell him that she didn't want to marry him? Suppose she were to tell him that she wasn't impressed with his inheritance and he could find someone else?
If she were to do that, she could get herself out of the marriage and still put her parents' minds at ease letting them believe she had made it safely and was happily married. If she was smart, she could get out of the marriage and disappear somewhere else off to find her own happiness and leave all the hardship behind her.
She hated the thought of losing her family, but in her mind, she also felt that she had already lost them. Now, she would focus on moving forward with her life. She wouldn't marry Mr. Cunningham, she would tell him that it was all just a show to get out of her situation. He couldn't force her to do it no one could force her to do anything.
With the idea taking a stronger hold in her mind, Charity smiled to herself. Suddenly, she didn't feel the dread of what was going to happen when she met this man weighing on her mind. Instead, she felt defiance and a spark of excitement welling up within her. She could handle this and she would.
The next morning, Charity would send notice to Mr. Cunningham that she was arriving. When they met, she would tell him they would absolutely not be getting married.
Charity was going to take care of herself.
Chapter 2
"And how is it going with your search?" Mrs. Scarlett Cunningham asked. She was pacing in the room with her hands behind her back, not looking at her son as she spoke. It wasn't at all unlike her to ask him about his personal matters. Even though he was a grown man, she still often treated him as though he were merely a child.
"I told you, Mother, I put an ad in the paper, searching for one of those women from back East. There simply isn't anyone whom I wish to marry out here. I've been through all the women in town, and none of them have struck my fancy at all, really," he replied. He was looking at the morning paper though it was already early afternoon, his leg crossed over his other at the knee, and his mind on other things.
"And? Have you any word back? Your father would like us to be on the boat before the month is out, and it's going to take us some time to travel to port! If you want this mansion to be your own, you're going to have to have the means to produce an heir and that is going to come through a bride." She waited, but Chase ignored her, still reading through the paper. She cleared her throat and took a step forward, putting her hand on the paper and pulling it down so he was forced to look at her.
“Chase, you know your brother has little to no interest in finding a bride, and with you being the oldest son in this family, you are the one who is going to take over most of the inheritance yourself. Even if Troy does inherit some of the money, he isn’t going to be getting any of the house or the land—I need you to work with the family in this matter.” Mrs. Cunningham spoke softly, and Chase looked at her with a sharp look in his eyes.
“Don’t bring Troy into this! I don’t care if he decides to marry or not, and I don’t care if he gets most of the inheritance or not. He has worked hard for this family,
and all the harder now that he’s on the other side of the world. You know as well as I do what he is doing could get him in trouble, and I don’t think I would ever forgive myself if something happened to him!” Chase didn’t mean to snap at his mother, but he was very defensive of his younger brother. Chase loved Troy dearly, and he hated that Troy had decided to go overseas to find horses for the estate rather than merely staying inside the country.
As far as Chase was concerned, there were many horses that were available in America that his brother could have gone to see. He didn’t have to get on that ship and sail away for months in search of some mythical animal Chase didn’t even thing existed. The horses that they had were just fine. His mother sighed as she looked over at her son. She hadn’t meant to offend him. She, too, loved her son dearly, and she felt the frustration of him being gone every bit as much as Chase did.
His brother was the more adventurous of the two, so there was little wonder as to why he had chosen to leave the country to find the horse of his dreams. He didn’t worship wealth like many of their friends did, but at the same time, he knew the importance of appearances, and he was going to do what he had to for the estate to maintain the status it held among the people in the area.
Chase wished things could be different, but he also understood why his brother did the things that he did, and he wasn’t going to condemn him for them. He would, in fact, defend him with everything he had in him if he had to—even if that meant he was going to defend him to their mother.
“Chase, you are the one who is going to be in charge of this estate one day, and it is going to fall to you to manage those things. I know you are frustrated with your this situation, and I realize that it is very difficult for you to understand why things are the way they are, but you are going to have to trust me on this—you are going to get a wife and you are going to produce an heir. Your brother is going to do what your brother does, but at the end of the day, that isn’t any of your concern.” His mother spoke with as gentle a tone as she could muster, though it was clear that she, too, was feeling frustrated with the situation.
With a sigh, Chase looked up at his mother and rolled his eyes. "I assure you, Mother, I am going to have a bride before you and Father leave. There's no other way around it." He tried to go back to the paper, but his mother kept her hand on the top of it and prevented him from looking it over. He gave her another annoyed look, and she smiled.
"You know this is for your own good whatever are you going to do with yourself if you are here alone? You'll end up old and miserable, with no one to carry on your name or the family fortune. It'll be lost to God knows who! I don't want to even consider that possibility, and I think you should be taking this a little more seriously, too." She gave him a look that told him she was serious, and he gave her another look.
"If you must know, then I have someone on the way soon." That was partially the truth. He hadn’t heard official word that his future wife was on her way, but there was an agreement in place. He pulled the paper away from his mother and shook it out slightly, looking for his place once more. The noise his mother made showed him that she was relieved that someone was on the way, but she was far from satisfied with his explanation.
"Who is she? Where does she come from? Is she well-bred? Come now, you didn't tell me that you found someone you aren't being fair, Chase!" Scarlett pulled the paper away from her son and gave him a sly smile as she folded it up and set it on the table, she turned back to him and sat in the chair near his, reaching forward and putting her hand over his.
"Tell me all about her!" She demanded with a pleasant smile. Chase sighed. His mother was overbearing, and he knew if she didn't get an explanation, she would continue to harass him until she was happy with his answer. After staring at her for a moment and seeing her challenge him with her glare, he shook his head and put his hands in the air, showing that he had given up on fighting her on the matter.
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you. Her name is Miss Charity Stevens, and she comes from a rather large town in South Carolina. I understand that it is larger than Brookside here in Oregon, but I'm sure she'll be more than happy here." He tried to rise, but she put her hand on his, stopping him from getting up.
"Go on, that's not nearly enough!" she prompted.
"I haven't spoken to the girl directly, but I have spoken with both her parents, and they are sending her with their blessing. I did not get the specifics on the amount of money she has in a year, but I know she is eager to get away from the war that is on that side of the country, and as such she was very eager to come as soon as possible." He gave his mother a look, and she clasped her hands together with a thrilled look on her face.
"And when is she to be here?" she asked, her voice filled with elation.
"Umm. Soon. Don't worry, Mother Dear, I have gone through everything and it's all set, I can assure you." He gave his mother a smile that wasn't quite condescending, but one that told her that he would prefer that the conversation was ended.
She gave him a satisfied look, though throughout his explanation her face lit and fell several times. He knew his mother would be immediately concerned with the amount of money this girl had, but he didn't care. Either way, he knew she wasn't going to be the kind of girl he wished to marry, anyway. He rose from his chair and began walking toward the table where paper his mother had taken from him rested.
"And when can I meet her?" Mrs. Cunningham asked. Chase picked up the paper and rolled it up, slipping it under his arm and looking at his mother with the same, cool look in his eyes.
"When she arrives.” Was that weeks? Months? Chase hadn’t a clue. “I don't think she is going to want to be rushed into the wedding though I did make it clear that I want to be wed as soon as possible. I'll give her a few days to settle in you and Father aren't likely to be leaving this week, are you?" he asked. He wanted to turn her attention to anyone but himself, though he knew that it would be difficult with his mother's enthusiasm for his new bride. She shook her head and waived him off with her hand, as though them leaving the country was suddenly not the big deal she had acted like it was. She smiled as she rose from her seat with a broad smile on her face.
"Don't you worry about your father and me. Now that I can tell him that you have your bride on the way, he's going to be more relaxed about the whole thing, I'm sure." She started for the door, and he looked at her with wide eyes. He couldn't help but scoff and shake his head.
"I thought that this was pressing?" he asked. She laughed as she clapped her hands together, shaking her head and walking through the door. Chase watched as she left, then he rolled his eyes once more. The truth was, he wasn't happy that his bride was going to arrive the next day not in the slightest. He didn't want to get married to anyone much less a girl he didn't know.
As he sat back down, he couldn't help but let his mind drift to her. He knew very little about this girl just what her parents told him. She was nineteen years old, she had lived at home and helped around the house her whole life, and she had gotten a job to help pay for the family expenses.
They had done their best to keep the family together, but when the war had broken out, they hadn't been able to afford taking care of everyone. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't bring himself to imagine such hardship. His entire life, he had always had everything he needed and wanted handed to him; he found it difficult to imagine a different kind of life.
Chase wanted to imagine that that Charity would be a kind and happy girl one who would be willing to work with him throughout all the hardship life was sure to throw their way. But, knowing what little he did about her, he could only imagine that she was going to be like all the other women he had met. As with everyone else, she would only care about appearances.
Her priorities would be in the banquets they could host and the people they could invite. The look she could have while showing off their wealth and status among those in town, and the things she would be able to get the other women to do for her in h
opes they would benefit from it in some way. He would be trapped trying to manage her spending and unrelenting need for him to pay for every little whim she wanted and he would slowly become his father while she became another version of his mother.
The entire idea didn't at all appeal to him, and if there were any way for Chase to get out of it, he would have done it in a heartbeat. He had tried courting many different women in town, and had even traveled to the galas he was invited to in other towns to meet the young women there. But, it had always been the same. He would be introduced, he would do his part, and soon the conversation would turn to how much money he had and he would continue to make.
He would try to get to know them, but it would quickly become clear that they were after one thing and one thing only the appearances he would provide for them. They had no interest in falling in love with him, and they were far too shallow to be anything he could fall in love with.
It was true, he knew his attitude about the women he had met, but he had been through a lot of hardship that made him feel that way. There was one woman just one woman in his entire life whom he had allowed himself to fall in love with, and he found her to be just like every other girl he had tried to get to know.
She was a beautiful young woman by the name of Annabelle Jackson. They had met at a gala a few years prior, and he had been enamored by her from the moment they laid eyes on each other. Annabelle appeared to be everything he had ever wanted in a wife she had been born into poverty, but she and her brother had been orphaned when they were very young. They had endured the hardships of an orphanage, but were lucky enough to have been found by rich relatives who lived in the Oregon territory.
Of course, they were adopted out of the orphanage immediately and taken to live their new lives in the West, where Annabelle was given the chance to develop into a refined young woman. She was charming, funny, and very witty, and after the first dance, Chase could never see himself falling in love with anyone else in his life.
Mail Order Bride: A Bride's Unexpected Love: A Western Romance Book Page 2