Mail Order Mix Up (9 page)

“Why?”

“I told you the banker came to our house and told us we only had a few days to get
out.”

“Right?”

“Well, that’s the day we responded to your letters.  We met Harriett Long, and explained
the situation, and she invited us to live with her until we heard back from you.” 
She looked down at her hands for a moment.  “I hated doing it, but we have nowhere
else to go.  Malinda loved it.”

He ran his hand down her arm.  “Why did she love it?”

“Harriett had servants and Malinda liked having others do
the chores she doesn’t care for.
  I did everything I could to earn my keep, but Malinda?  She just enjoyed her time
there.”

“What was Harriett like?  I corresponded with her, of course, but I never really got
a feel for her as anything but a businesswoman.”

Ellen thought carefully about how to answer that.  She didn’t want to betray Harriett
by revealing what she’d heard the night she’d gotten up, but she wanted to give a
true picture of her.  “She was a mystery.  She’s a widow, but never mentions her late
husband.  She’s generous to a fault.  If she met someone with no shoes on the street,
she would remove her own and give them away.  She is obviously very wealthy and she
walks with a pronounced limp.  I genuinely liked her as a person, and would have liked
to get to know her better, but she seems to close people out.  I never saw her entertain,
and she spends almost all of her time working for her ‘brides.’  She takes a personal
interest in every woman that she places.”

“She sounds like an interesting woman.”

“She is.  Once we received our letters from you and Wesley, she gave us this little
talk she said she gives to all of her brides about how we shouldn’t feel like we have
to stay in a situation where we’re treated badly.  It was strange, because she obviously
believes in what she does.  She works so hard to find the right man for each woman,
and yet she seems to worry about every woman she sends off.  I wrote to her yesterday
morning about what happened when we arrived, and how we’re not married yet, but I’ll
write to her as soon as we are.  She truly seemed to care what happened to us.”

Patrick sat silently for a moment.  “Maybe someday we’ll find out more about her. 
I don’t know.  You’re right, though.  That is strange.”

“She was truly one of the best people I’ve ever met.  I miss her.”  After she’d said
the words, she was surprised.  She hadn’t realized how much she’d miss Harriett after
they left. 

They sat quietly for a few minutes before he stood up.  “I need to get back to Wesley’s
house.  I have some work that has to get done tonight.  I’ve been trying not to work
in the evenings this week, but I don’t have a choice right now.”

Ellen stood with him, going into his arms to hug him tightly.  “Thank you for making
time for me.”

He laughed softly.  “I’ll always make time for you.”

Chapter Five

Ellen was on a mission the following day.  She’d decided they’d waited long enough
and it was time for Malinda to make a decision.  It wasn’t fair to make the men wait,
and interrupt their lives.  Besides, it was Friday.  Saturday would be a wonderful
day for them to marry.
  She didn’t feel the need to wait another minute.

She waited until Malinda came down for breakfast, and although she’d eaten hers hours
before, she sat at the table while Malinda ate.  “I think we need to make a decision
today.  We can’t keep the men waiting for an answer.  It’s not fair to them.”

Malinda shrugged.  “I just can’t make up my mind.”  She put down the muffin she’d
been happily munching on as she looked at her sister.  “I don’t have any feelings
for Patrick at all.  I won’t deny that.  But what happens if Wesley dies and I’m left
with nothing?  Where will I go?”

“I’m sure you’d move in with me.  Just like you would if you married anyone else. 
Patrick and I wouldn’t leave you destitute.  Please, Mindy.”  She used her sister’s
childhood nickname in hopes it would get her to choose quickly.

“I have four days to decide.  You can’t
force me into an early decision
just because you’re in a hurry to get married.” 

Ellen squeezed her sister’s hand.  “I think you know as well as I do that you need
to choose Wesley.  Nothing else would be fair to anyone involved.  Wesley cares for
you, and Patrick and I care for each other.  Please do the sensible thing and just
decide now.”

Malinda ate the last bite of her muffin and stood up.  “I’m not going to sit here
and listen to this.
  You gave me a week, and I’m taking a week.
”  She pushed her chair in and left the room with her chin in the air, mumbling under
her breath about how it was unfair to her to have to decide before she was ready.

Ellen bit her lip as she watched her go.  She had a right to make her own decisions,
didn’t she?  She went up to Patrick’s bedroom where she’d stayed the past
three nights, and pulled out her wedding dress she’d worked so painstakingly on. 
She took it down the stairs to iron it.  She was going to give Patrick a decision
that night whether Malinda liked it or not.

By the time lunch rolled around, she’d cleaned Patrick’s room from top to bottom,
the only part of the house the housekeeper let her clean.  She’d ironed all her clothes
and put them away in Patrick’s closet.  She was there to stay
, and she really didn’t care what Malinda said at that point.

Over lunch, she kept the topic on simple things.  “It’s a beautiful day today.  We
should walk over to the park and spend some time there.”

Malinda eyed her skeptically.  “You’re just going to try to talk me into making a
decision before this evening.  It’s not going to happen, you know.”

Ellen shrugged.  “That’s fine.  I just wanted your company for a walk.”

After lunch, Ellen left Malinda to change into some more comfortable shoes for their
walk and went into the kitchen.
She hated sneaking around behind her sister’s back, but she didn’t want to have to
listen to her complain about what she was doing all day.
She spotted Alice at the stove, working on their dinner.  “Alice?”

The woman turned to her.  “Yes?”

“I’m going to tell Patrick tonight that I’ll marry him.  I’m sick of waiting on my
sister.  It’s not fair to make him wait, when he expected to be married the day after
we got here.  It’s inconveniencing him too much to make him stay at Wesley’s house.”
 

Alice blinked a few times and then a smile slowly spread across her face.  “What does
Malinda have to say about this?”

Ellen shrugged.  “I’m beyond caring what she thinks.  I’ll tell her after I talk to
Patrick tonight.”
  She did care, of course, but she just couldn’t let her sister keep all four of their
lives on hold any longer when the decision had been made.

“What can I do to help?”

“Would you plan a special wedding lunch for tomorrow?  And a big cake?  I can help
you with it if you want.”

Alice shook her head adamantly.  “You will absolutely not help.  I’ll take care of
it.”  She turned back to the stove and stirred again for a moment.  “I’m going to
invite a
young
friend of mine over to fix your hair for you in the morning.  Every bride should look
her best on her wedding day.”

Ellen smiled and nodded.  “I’d really appreciate that.  Thank you!”  On impulse she
hugged the older woman before rushing to the front hall to meet Malinda. 

Malinda was waiting, tapping her foot on the floor.  “Are you ready?  Or do you need
to spend another hour talking to the
cook
?”

Ellen sighed.  “I’m ready.
”  She opened the door to talk outside.
 
“
I like Alice.  She reminds me of Mom in a lot of ways.”

Malinda gave her a quizzical look.  “Why does she remind you of Mom?”

“I’m really not sure.  It’s something about the way she moves in the kitchen.  Being
with her just makes me feel closer to Mom.”
  Ellen shrugged.  It wasn’t really something she could explain, but the woman did
remind her of their mother.

“Okay.”  Malinda’s voice made it clear she thought her sister was crazy, but she didn’t
say anything else about it. 

The walk to the park took only a few minutes.  There was a large group of children
there with only two women watching over them.  After a few minutes, Ellen went over
to them.  She smiled at one of the adults.  “Are you on a picnic?”

The woman nodded.  “We try to bring the orphans here at least once a month during
the summer months.  It’s something they can all enjoy no matter what their age.”
  She was distracted as she talked to Ellen, her eyes moving all over making certain
the children were where she could see them and safe.

“Do you need help?  I’d be happy to sit with the little ones while you push the
others
on the swings.”  The woman’s companion was already off
organizing some of the older ones into a game. 

“I’m Ida.”  The woman held her hand out to Ellen.
  Ida seemed to be studying Elle as if seeing if she thought she was safe to leave
the children with.

“I’m Ellen.”  She scanned the park quickly and saw Malinda curled up under a tree
reading a book.  “That’s my sister, Malinda.”

“I’d love the help if you really don’t mind.”
  She quickly organized the children and had them walked toward the swings.

Ellen sank down onto the blanket and picked up a baby who had started crying.  “Well,
what’s wrong with you?  Hmm?”  Ellen didn’t have a lot of experience with children,
but she’d always enjoyed being around them.  The baby blinked up at her with huge
blue eyes and her heart was lost. 

She spent an hour with the children before the two women came back.  Ida smiled at
her slightly out of breath from playing with the children.  “Thank you so much.  You
made our outing so much more special than it would have been.”

Ellen looked down at the baby cradled in her arms, sleeping contentedly.  “I really
enjoyed myself.”  She carefully laid the baby on the quilt before standing and brushing
off her dress.  “Thanks for letting me hold him.”

“Her.  That’s Lucy.”
  Ida smiled as she looked down at the sleeping baby.

“She’s beautiful.”
  Bald, but beautiful.

“Thanks again for your help.  Do you live here in town?”

“My sister and I just moved here.”
  She didn’t add her connection to Patrick, because she didn’t want Ida to think he
would be easy to get donations from.  She wasn’t sure how he felt about that kind
of thing.  She knew he was extremely generous, but that didn’t mean he wanted every
charity in town knocking at his door.

“Well, welcome.  We hope to see more of you!”

She walked over to get Malinda for the walk back to Patrick’s house.  She wouldn’t
be able to think of it as “home” until after they’d married. 

“Are you ready to go?” Ellen asked looking down at her sister who was sprawled with
her back against a large oak tree.

Malinda looked up from her book.  “Yes.  Did you have fun with the children?”
 

“I had a wonderful time.”  She told her sister about how most of the babies had slept,
but she’d held a beautiful little girl who she thought was a little boy the entire
time.  “I guess I probably should have checked down the front of her diaper, but I
just assumed it was a boy.  The baby was bald.  I guess it never occurred to me that
girls are born bald as well.”
  She laughed at herself as they walked.

They chatted the entire way back to the house about the children and the book Malinda
was reading. 
When they reached the house, it was almost time for the men to arrive.  “I want to
change into a fresh dress before Patrick gets here,” Ellen told Malinda as she walked
to his room. 

She took pains with her hair and dress that evening, knowing she was going to talk
to Patrick and end the suspense.  Yes, Malinda should have a say in how things were
done, because she was originally engaged to Patrick, but he couldn’t be held to marrying
a stranger when he had feelings for someone else.

The only thing Ellen worried about was whether or not she’d find enough to do once
they were married.  She was certain she’d go insane if all she had to do all day was
read books and plan menus.  She’d been raised to keep herself busy and have a strong
work ethic, and that wasn’t going to change just because she’d married a man who employed
servants.  She’d thought about asking him to let the servants go and taking over the
household duties herself, but both women had similar stories that told her they’d
been incredibly blessed by the jobs he’d given them, and she wasn’t going to take
the jobs away from them.

She walked down the stairs just before the men were due to arrive and immediately
saw Malinda was still in her room preparing for their arrival.  She’d been very disappointed
in her sister during the time since they’d moved in with Harriett.  Yes, she understood
Malinda was worried about being poor for the rest of her life, but she also knew that
Malinda had been raised to have a strong work ethic as well.  Why did her sister suddenly
think it was okay to sit around and do nothing just because there were others to do
for her?  Had her upbringing completely disappeared from her memory?