by Lilah Rivers
“Forgive me. I just haven’t heard a statement like that about a home with three bedrooms before,” she said.
“Well, how many rooms did your house have?” he challenged.
“Twelve bedrooms, four rooms for the housekeeping staff, a dining hall, a parlor, a drawing room, the kitchen, the study, the library,” she listed before trailing off, apparently finished.
Amos was astounded. Why would anybody need that many rooms?
“You must have a very large family,” he said.
“Sadly, I have no siblings. It was simply my mother, my father, and myself,” she said.
Amos felt his jaw drop open. That was nonsense and he didn’t understand why anybody would need a home like that.
“It sounds like our countries are very different,” he said, trying to keep patient and not grumble.
Suddenly, Amos was wishing that he had spent a good deal longer in prayer for this woman and this marriage. He had known that she might not be his ideal woman, but he had never imagined that she would be arrogant.
It occurred to him that she was not trying to be rude. Perhaps she was simply surprised and was trying to communicate that. Perhaps this was how the English lived and spoke.
Indeed, Miss Temple did smile at him again, inhaling and looking far more pleasant.
“Forgive me, I meant no insult. I have stayed at a few inns on the way to your home here but know very little about this country and what to expect,” she said.
“I understand. It must be very difficult to leave your own country behind,” Amos said, hoping he might learn why she had done that.
“It is difficult, but it was for the best,” she said.
“Really? You are happier here?” he asked.
“We shall see. I do not know what I shall feel as time goes on,” she said.
Amos nodded, understanding that it must be rather difficult for Miss Temple to figure what was ahead for her. She had come to America knowing only that she was going to be married, nothing more.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Famished,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“Wonderful. My sister left something for us. She is a wonderful cook,” he said.
“Your sister does the cooking? You have no housekeeper?” she asked.
Amos laughed.
“There aren’t many around here who have that,” he said. “Maybe in the eastern part of the country, but not here.”
“I see…” she said.
He gathered that she would rather have gone somewhere like that, but Amos was not going to give up hope. He was going to show this beautiful woman that he would be an excellent husband, a husband that she could be happy with, a man who would bring her joy and blessing.
“Well, I do hope that you enjoy your time together. I must go and attend to more clients,” Miss Collins said in a clipped tone, darting out the door so quickly that Amos wondered if she was frightened he might send Miss Temple back.
The door closed behind her and suddenly they were there, just the two of them. They stood awkwardly, neither knowing quite what to say.
“Oh, right. The food,” Amos said, leading Miss Temple to the little kitchen where there was a table set up. He realized in that moment that there were only two chairs and now that Miss Temple had arrived, they would need a third.
“Just give me a moment,” he said, starting to warm up the food over the little wood stove that they had.
Miss Temple sat and continued with her wandering eyes, taking in the room. He wondered what else might be passing through her thoughts. He also wondered how she felt about staying in the house with him and his sister before they married. Was she comfortable with it? Did she trust him?
“Do you have things with you? I can take them to your room, and you may get some rest if you wish after lunch,” he suggested.
“That would be nice. I would like to rest. But Miss Collins said that she is having my things brought later. All of the young women that I was with had their belongings in one coach while Miss Collins brought each of us and is taking us one by one to our new homes,” she said.
It was all so matter-of-fact and simply stated that Amos wondered if she was really all right with it all. Had she accepted a fate or had she chosen this path? He couldn’t quite tell which is was, for she still appeared so unhappy with the decision that it was difficult to say what she had expected and how the reality compared.
“Well, if there is anything that I can get you to make your stay more comfortable in the meantime, please tell me. I think my sister is a little bit taller than you, but if you need to borrow one of her dresses, you may,” he said.
“Please, you needn’t worry. Mine should be here very soon,” she said.
Amos nodded and hoped that she would be comfortable.
Miss Temple appeared pleased with the meal and when he showed her to her bedroom, she was less disappointed than she had been before. He didn’t mind that she wanted to be alone and understood that she would likely feel that way for some time.
Still, he hoped that after a bit of rest, Miss Temple would be willing to spend some time talking and getting to know one another. Until then, he would wait.
Chapter 4
Gemma woke in the morning and, for a moment, forgot where she was. In fact, she had been doing that every morning since she had left England.
Her room was decent, although it was nothing like the one she had left behind. She still missed it as she had been missing it for quite some time. The morning she had boarded the boat had been a strange experience, but it had not prepared her for what the next couple of months would hold.
The travel by land and water had been an exciting adventure that was tempered by the pang of sadness she felt at saying goodbye.
Gemma had tried to get along with the other young ladies who traveled with her but had found that they were all coming for different reasons than her and they thought she was rather snobbish for leaving such a lavish home.
It was difficult to have been judged this way from the very beginning and to feel as though she had no place among these young ladies. Gemma had wanted to find a friend. Someone, anyone who might understand her situation. She had not wanted to be alone in this strange and foreign place. Unfortunately, she had failed.
Pacing around her room for a while before sitting on the bed, Gemma felt more alone now than ever. She couldn’t comprehend what it would be like to leave the room.
She had arrived yesterday in the afternoon, taken a nap, woken up and not been willing to leave for fear. It had been a blessing to sleep the whole night through, but now she knew that there was little choice. She could not pretend to still be sleeping. She would have to leave the room.
“All right, Gemma, just go. You can go. You are fully able to greet your soon-to-be husband. There is no need to worry,” she told herself, the words coming out in an uneasy voice.
Trying to muster her courage, Gemma stood up from the bed and sat back down immediately. She could not do this. No matter how she tried, she simply could not.
But just then, as she was trying to get herself together and find her courage, Gemma was surprised by a knock at her door.
She bolted to her feet again and stared at it for a moment before opening it.
On the other side of the door was a young lady who looked very much like her future husband. She had the same shade of brown in her hair and the same lovely brown eyes.
She was very surprised to see this woman but recalled that Mr. Thompson had spoken of a sister. This was, evidently, that sister.
“Hi there! I’m Justine Thompson. It’s so nice to meet you! Wow, Amos was right, you really are beautiful,” she said, all the words coming out in one go.
“Oh, yes, hello. It is lovely to meet you as well,” Gemma said, giving a curtsey before she remembered that it had gone so awkwardly the day before and it appeared as though the custom was different in America.
Indeed, Justine tried to give a strange and
unbalanced curtsey in reply, her face uncomfortably polite as she did so.
“Forgive me, I think your greetings are rather different here,” she said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it at all. You know, your accent is just the peachiest thing,” Justine said.
“Well, thank you,” Gemma said, suddenly self-conscious of it.
“Would you like to have a seat for a while?” Justine asked.
“Certainly. In here? Or…elsewhere?” Gemma asked.
“I imagine you must be hungry. Amos has already had his breakfast and gone, but I have food for us and I would love to sit and chat for a while. It would be mighty fine if we could get to know one another well,” Justine said.
“Yes, that sounds lovely, thank you,” Gemma said, rigidly.
“How do you feel about eggs and bacon?” Justine asked.
“That sounds lovely,” Gemma said, although she was used to a far grander spread than simply two items.
“I like that everything is ‘lovely’ for you,” Justine said with a grin.
“What do you mean?” Gemma asked.
“It must be the polite word for you to use. You keep saying that things are lovely,” Justine pointed out.
Once more, Gemma was growing self-conscious. Was she really so limited in her vocabulary?
“I suppose we do say it rather a lot,” she replied.
They had a seat in the kitchen as Justine prepared Gemma’s food and said a prayer before they started eating.
“Lord, I thank you for Gemma and the fact that you have brought her here to marry Amos. May they have a wonderful marriage and may they live with a great love for you. Amen,” Justine prayed.
“Amen,” Gemma echoed.
“You pray before every meal?” Gemma asked.
“Oh, yes. I love to thank God for everything that he has done for us,” Justine replied.
Gemma nodded. She had always been the one in her family to pray the most, but she was not in the habit of doing it before each and every meal. It was something that she determined she would turn into a habit as she agreed that the Lord should be thanked for everything.
“How is it?” Justine asked as Gemma began eating.
“Lov—it is very good,” she said, trying not to overuse the word ‘lovely’ anymore.
“I’m glad. I didn’t know what you typically eat in England,” Justine said.
“Well, based on what I have had so far while traveling across America, we eat very much the same things. But we have a very lovely newer phenomenon known as fish and chips. It is very delicious and everyone eats it now,” she explained.
“Fish and chips? What is that exactly?” Justine asked.
“It is a lovely portion of fish which is fried alongside slices of potato,” she explained.
Justine’s eyes brightened as if she liked the idea of it.
“I will do my best to make it for you then,” she said.
“Well, I would love to learn more about America and what is common here. Not simply in terms of food, but in everything. I can see that the styles of hair and clothing are quite different,” Gemma said with disappointment. The new gowns that she had not wanted to waste on Lord Linton were, nevertheless, a waste here.
“We aren’t quite as fancy in how we dress as you are in England. We try to look nice, but it isn’t at all how beautiful you are dressed,” Justine said.
“I think your gown is quite beautiful,” Gemma said.
“This is just a comfortable, easy dress that I wear all the time. You look like you’re on your way to visit the king,” Justine said.
“Ha! Well, thank you, but this gown was meant for something quite different,” she said with a sad laugh.
“What do you mean?” Justine asked.
Gemma instantly straightened her back and pasted a happy smile on her face.
“Nothing at all. I only meant that I had not expected to be here, in America, with a husband to impress,” she said.
“I don’t think you have to worry too much about impressing Amos. You will need to take some time to get to know him, but he is a good man and an easy one to get along with,” Justine said.
Gemma hoped that she was right. It would have been very difficult if he had turned out to be similar to Lord Linton, but she could not imagine anyone being so bad as that man.
“Do you really think I shall not have a need to impress him?” she asked.
“He already thinks you’re beautiful and he definitely wanted a British wife,” Justine said, shrugging.
“Well, that is good to know,” Gemma said.
“Are you happy so far? I mean, you left your home and everything. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be,” Justine said.
“Yes, indeed, it was very difficult,” Gemma replied, trying to be vague. “But I am as happy as I can be for not yet knowing much about the life that I shall lead here.”
“Anything that you want to know, I’m here for you,” Justine said.
“Thank you for that. I am relieved to know that I shall have a friend amongst my new family,” Gemma replied.
“Oh, you will have more than just me. There are so many great people that you’re going to meet. Trust me, you’re going to be happy here,” Justine said.
Gemma was hopeful but remained anxious. And she wanted to know more about her husband. What she had learned so far was good enough, but it couldn’t be everything.
“What else can you tell me about Mr. Thompson?” she asked.
“Absolutely anything that you want to know. His favorite color is green, his favorite food is chicken, he works at a bank and does very well there. Most importantly, he is a good man who loves the Lord and can usually be found in the church,” Justine told her.
Gemma smiled at each of those. They shared a favorite color—one that she had been loath to share with Lord Linton. And she was fairly fond of chicken as well. Hearing that Mr. Thompson worked at a bank was important information as to how she would be provided for.
But the last part, learning that he was a man who took his faith quite seriously? That was something she had wondered about before coming. Miss Collins in England had told her that most Americans were people of faith and that she would not be alone in that. But she was still entirely relieved to find that it was true.
“Is there anything else you want to know about him? Anything that might bring you a bit of peace?” Justine asked.
Gemma nodded. She knew that asking this question could lead to Justine asking more about her in return, and Gemma was not prepared to answer questions, but she still had to know.
“Why did he choose to marry someone from England that he had never met before?” she asked.
Justine’s smile faltered and she looked away. It was clear that she was preparing her own vague response and Gemma wondered if Justine was going to be honest with her or not.
“My brother wanted to marry very badly. So much so that he deemed it the best idea that he should send for a wife from abroad because he had not found one here,” she said.