A Proper Marriage by Dorothy Love Read Free Book Online Page A

time for music and art and reading books when there were fields to plow, peaches to pick, a cotton patch to hoe? Not to mention—
    Olivia heard the rattle of harness and hastily wiped away her tears. The Millses’ horse and wagon appeared at the bend in the road. Moments later Samuel halted the wagon in the yard and helped Delia and Charlotte down. Seeing that Ben Thornburg, Charlotte’s young man, was with them filled Olivia with dismay. Now she would be expected to be animated during the noon meal, when all she wanted to do was escape into the oblivion of sleep.
    While Ben and Samuel tended the horse, Delia and Charlotte came inside, their cheeks pink from the cool April wind, their eyes shining. Evidently something exciting had happened at the meeting. Olivia heard snippets of conversation and bright laughter as mother and daughter hung up their cloaks and changed out of their good dresses. Another stab of loneliness pricked at her. Would she ever be reconciled to this strange, new life?
    Charlotte rushed into the parlor and grabbed Olivia around the waist. “Guess what?”
    “I can’t possibly guess, but I assume it’s something wonderful.”
    “Better than wonderful. My best friend, Suzanne Hart, stood up in meeting today with Charles Beal and announced their betrothal. They’re to be married in three weeks’ time. Please come, Olivia. And Luke too.”
    “That’s kind of you, but Luke hopes to be on the way to Laurel Grove before then.”
    The girl released a long sigh. “Oh, that’s right. Pa was asking around at meeting today about a horse and wagon. I will miss our talks, Olivia.”
    “I’ll miss you too. Perhaps you’ll come for a visit once we’re settled.”
    “Promise?”
    Delia hurried in. “Charlotte, please see to the fire in the cookstove and put the kettle on to boil. And get the good dishes from the cupboard.”
    “I can do that,” Olivia said. “I’m not much use in the kitchen, but I do know how to set a table.”
    “We all have to start somewhere,” Delia said. “I am happy to share my recipe for cornbread. I noticed it’s Luke’s favorite.”
    An hour later they were seated in the dining room. After Samuel’s blessing, Delia passed bowls and platters around the table.
    Olivia pushed the food around on her plate, listening to the men talk about the recently signed treaty that had ended the Mexican War and ceded vast territories in the south and the west to the United States.
    “Now that the Texas question is settled, people will be moving there by the hundreds,” Ben said. “But I’d rather head farther west.” He buttered his third hunk of cornbread. “They say it’s some of the prettiest country in the world, and I’m itching to see it while it’s still wild and beautiful.”
    Samuel nodded. “It won’t be wild for long. Settlers are sure to snap up the best pieces of ground for farming out there too.” He sipped his coffee. “And that, my friends, will mean nothing less than the spread of slavery.”
    “Not if I can do anything about it,” Ben said. “What does thee say, Mr. Makenzie, about all this expansion?”
    Luke chewed and swallowed. “Landholders will want cheap labor, all right.”
    “Then they can pay free men a decent wage.” Ben’s dark eyes flashed. “Mark my words. There’ll be bloodshed over this before it’s all said and done.”
    “Oh, Ben, let us pray not.” Delia rose and returned from the kitchen with an apple pie. “Let us speak of happier things.”
    “Sweeping unpleasant topics under the rug won’t make them go away, Mother.” Charlotte set down her water glass and smiled at Ben. “I admire a man who isn’t afraid to look at things squarely, even when they are controversial.”
    “Speaking of controversy, what about those women planning a convention up in New York?” Samuel asked, sinking his fork into his pie.
    “What convention, Pa?” Charlotte refilled her glass. “I haven’t heard a thing about it.”
    “It