Mail-Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Turner Read Free

things.”
    “Pride cometh before destruction,” Zachary quoted.
    “Indeed,” Major agreed. “Apparently Rupert will pay off most of his debts, so long as he can have Pleasant as his wife.”
    “That’s diabolical!” Benedict said in shock.
    “I don’t think it sounds so bad,” Matt put in.
    His brothers looked at him, aghast. “And if it were you that had to marry Rupert, how happy would you be about it?” Michael asked.
    “Well … yes, I see your point.” Matt glanced at the double doors of the drawing room, then back at his brothers. “Maybe he’s nicer at home.”
    “From what I’ve heard, quite the opposite,” Benedict said. “But then, what else can we do? We’ll lose everything.”
    “Right you are,” Major agreed. He eyed them, his face an expressionless mask. “So do we sacrifice our sister’s happiness to continue in the life we’ve grown accustomed to, or do we stand by her side and refuse Rupert’s – as Benedict put it – ‘diabolical’ offer?”
    His brothers stared at him as they thought on their answer. It didn’t take them long to decide.

    * * *
    D enver , Colorado, later that same month …

    “ B ut Aunt Phidelia ,” Pleasant begged, “why can’t you listen to reason?”
    “Because there is no reason to this madness! Your father has clearly gone ‘round the bend, my dear, and lost all his mental faculties. I haven’t the faintest idea why he would write such an outlandish letter and demand I send word to him the moment I see you. Of course I haven’t. I won’t stand by and see you marry that sniveling Yankee weasel Rupert Travel!”
    “Jerney,” Pleasant corrected with a grimace.
    “Even worse!”
    “Yes, I know,” she agreed. It was bad enough her Christian name was Pleasant Comfort – to become Pleasant Jerney would be too much to bear. It was one of the reasons she’d run away in the first place. The only place to go was Denver to see Aunt Phidelia. Her mother’s sister was a kindly soul who would be willing to help Pleasant escape her current circumstances.
    “You realize, of course, he’ll send them after you.”
    “Them?”
    “Your brothers, you silly girl, who else?”
    Pleasant paced to the other side of the parlor and back. “Oh yes. Them .” She turned to her aunt. “Major, most likely. I can’t see the others coming with him.”
    “With what’s left of your family’s fortune draining away? Trust me, my dear, they most certainly will. And they’ll drag you back and use you to keep Comfort Fields going.”
    Pleasant cocked her head to the side, the action sending a dark, loose curl across her face. “How do you know all of this?”
    “Because your father wrote it in his letter!” Aunt Phidelia said, waving the missive in the air. “Your only hope is to keep going. You can’t stay here.”
    Pleasant’s eyes misted with tears. “But Auntie, where will I go? We haven’t any relatives west of here!”
    “True, we don’t,” she said solemnly. “Which means we’ll have to resort to drastic measures.”
    Pleasant paled. “What sort of drastic measures?”
    Her aunt narrowed her eyes. “You’ll have to learn how to work!”
    Pleasant fell into the nearest chair. “No!”
    “Yes!”
    Pleasant gripped the chair’s arms. She’d never worked a day in her life in any conventional sense. She was just a little girl when the War Between the States broke out, and an admittedly spoiled one at that. But after she’d witnessed the cruel suffering of others, the “comforts” of bearing the Comfort name didn’t mean much anymore. People had died all around her, and her father, God bless him, had done all he could to shelter her from that horrible storm.
    But this was something else entirely. He might as well march her out in front of a Grand Army firing squad and give the command to shoot her himself! Rupert Jerney, indeed.
    “There is another solution,” her aunt continued. “You’ll still have to work, but at least it would be