The Enchanted Land by Jude Deveraux Read Free Book Online

laughed. “I forgive you, sir.”
    “And to show my repentance, I shall ask Cook to prepare a picnic basket tomorrow, and we will go to my cabin—a pretty little place much farther upstream. Does that please you, my lady?”
    “Well, good sir, it does, except for one part.”
    A slight frown replaced Seth’s smile. “What part is that?”
    Morgan’s smile was winning. “That you allow me to prepare the picnic basket.”
    “You! You can cook?”
    “I’ll let you judge that tomorrow.”
    Seth returned Morgan’s smile. “It seems I got more than I bargained for. A wife who can cook! I hope Lupita doesn’t get jealous.”
    “Lupita?”
    “She’s my cook at the ranch in New Mexico.”
    “Tomorrow I want you to tell me about your ranch. I like being with animals.”
    They smiled at one another, returned to their horses, and rode back to the big house in a companionable silence.
     
    Just before dinner, Morgan heard the voices of her sisters-in-law.
    “Morgan, come look!” Jennifer’s plump face had broken into a very large smile. She pushed Morgan toward a table heaped with fabrics and trimmings. In spite of what Nora had told her daughters, all the fabrics were creams, pink, and pale blues. Nora was examining the things.
    “But, girls, I told you to get bright, clear colors. Morgan is too fair to wear these.”
    The three young women looked dismayed. Eleanor said timidly, “But, Mother, they are such beautiful colors.”
    Morgan felt the thin silks and satins. They would be totally unsuitable for New Mexico.
    “Well, I can see my little sisters have chosen well for a grueling trip to the New Mexico mountains.”
    Everyone turned to Seth. Jennifer tilted her head toward him. “Just because a lady has to travel to a forsaken land doesn’t mean she has to stop being a lady.”
    “Jennifer’s right,” Austine added. “When a lady wears silk, then she always remembers she is a lady.”
    “If a woman is a lady, then she is a lady no matter what she wears, including men’s trousers.”
    “Trousers!” Eleanor’s voice reflected disbelief. Deep down, she wasn’t sure her own plump legs would fit properly into a pair of men’s pants. The idea was appalling.
    The joking tone left Seth’s voice. “All right, sisters, since you have chosen completely inappropriate clothing for Morgan, then you must keep these fabrics for yourselves and supply her with some more suitablegarments from your own wardrobes. She will need the sturdiest fabrics you can obtain.”
    Morgan could readily see that the idea of several new dresses did not displease the girls.
    Austine was the first to speak. “Morgan, let’s go upstairs and we’ll go through the chifforobe.”
    As the three sisters ushered Morgan upstairs, she turned a backward glance to Seth. He was looking at the pile of silks and brocade with an air of disgust. No wonder he thinks all women are silly, she thought.
    Two hours later, Morgan emerged from the girls’ bedrooms, totally exhausted. She had tried on dress after dress. No matter what she tried, it was huge on her. The sisters had wanted to start immediately on taking things in, adjusting them so they fit her snugly. Morgan had considered this for only a second. She knew that Seth gave her those special glances only when she had her hair down and she sensed that she would have an easier time holding him to his promise of the morning if her dresses fit loosely. She made excuses to her sisters-in-law, saying anything she could think of to persuade them not to alter the dresses.
    At the dinner table, Austine tried to enlist Seth’s help in getting Morgan to change her mind about taking in the dresses. But, much to her chagrin, Seth sided with Morgan.
    “I think my little wife is right. Tight dresses with heavy corsets”—the girls’ eyes widened; they wondered how their brother knew of ladies’ corsets—“are not suitable wear for long hours in the sun, sitting on a jolting wagon seat.”
    The matter