Eddie took the bundle of mail and untied the strings. He flicked through the correspondence.
Recognizing Margaret’s handwriting, she touched the envelope. “That one.” Her own message lay inside, unseen by the man she thought had invited her to join him. She sucked moisture from the corners of her mouth and swallowed hard.
He slit the envelope and pulled out the pages in which she’d offered to take Margaret Sear’s place. I look forward to being part of the new West. He read her letter then Margaret’s, his fingers tightening on the paper as he understood the message. A flash of pain crossed his face before he covered it with a harsh expression.
Her heart twisted. He expected Margaret and instead got his hopes and dreams shattered. If only she’d known. But what could she do about it now? Except prove she was better suited to be a woman of the West.
Thankfully he did not read the letter aloud, which would have added to her growing embarrassment as the three men listened intently—one peering from the inside of the coach, one standing at its side where he remained after helping her alight, the other pretending to check on the horses though he made certain he could hear what was said. Even so, her face burned at their curiosity about an obvious misunderstanding of mammoth proportions.
Eddie jammed the pages back in the envelope. “This is unacceptable.”
Her muscles turned to warm butter. It took concentrated effort to hold herself upright, to keep her face rigid. She would not let him guess that the ground threatened to rise up and clout her in the face.
One hand clasping the mail bundle, he jammed his fists to his hips and turned to the driver. “You can return her to the fort.”
The man tipped his hat back on his head and shook his head. “Ain’t goin’ a mile more’n I have to. It’s about to snow.”
The wind bit at Linette’s cheeks but the cold encasing her heart was not from the wintery weather. She could not, would not, go back to London and her father’s plans.
The coach driver went on in his leisurely way of speaking. “I’m taking these two gentlemen to the OK Ranch then I’d hoped to make it back to Fort Benton where I intend to hole up for the winter. I don’t fancy being stuck in Edendale.” He made a rattling noise in the back of his throat. “But it looks like I’ll be stuck at the OK for the time being.”
Linette cared not whether the man was returning to the tiny cluster of huts bravely named Edendale or back to Fort Benton. She wasn’t going anywhere.
The gentleman who’d helped her down still stood at the steps, waiting and watching. “The girl is strong. Tough. Takes a special kind of lady to take care of travel arrangements and her traveling companions. Not a lot of young women are prepared and able to do that. You could do worse than have her at your side in this brave new frontier.”
Linette gave the man a fleeting smile of appreciation then turned back to Eddie.
Eddie met her gaze. He must have read her determination though she hoped he hadn’t seen her desperation. “We need to talk.” He grabbed her arm and marched her around the side of the house, out of sight and hopefully out of earshot of the others, where he released her to glare hotly at her.
She tipped her chin and met his gaze without flinching even though her insides had begun to tremble. Where would she go if he sent her away? Not back to the marriage her father had arranged. Perhaps money would convince him. “I have a dowry.”
“Keep your money. I have no need of it.”
“I came in good faith. I thought you’d received my letter.” Come before winter. The words had seemed so welcoming. She’d made preparations as quickly as she could. How was she to know he didn’t respond to her letter? Hadn’t even received it. She stood motionless. She wouldn’t let so much as one muscle quiver.
“Obviously I hadn’t.” He stared at the bundle in his hand, sounding every bit as confused as she felt. A contrast to the anger her parents had expressed when she’d informed them she would not marry the man of their choosing and meant to go West. Only after she showed her father the letter from Eddie and only because the Gardiners were a well-respected family had he agreed. With many constraints. Her father knew her too well. Knew she would avoid this marriage, too, if she had the means to strike out on her own. Knew she would not flinch before the dangers nor shirk from the challenges. That’s why he’d allowed her barely enough money to keep from starving to death on the journey and made sure her dowry would be held until he had proof she was married. He’d made her understand he would allow her only enough time for the necessary documents to cross the ocean. Should they not arrive in a reasonable time he would send one of his henchmen to bring her back. She’d used the limited funds he’d provided caring for the sick and destitute she’d crossed paths with. She had not so much as a penny to her name.
She shuddered as she imagined one of her father’s cruel servants poised and ready to pursue her.
There was no escape from her father’s plans apart from this marriage.
She understood Eddie’s shock. It couldn’t feel good to realize Margaret had refused to come, refused his offer of marriage. She swallowed back a swell of sympathy, and resisted an urge to pat his arm. She brought her thoughts back to her own predicament. “I’m prepared to care for your home.” As soon as she and Margaret agreed Linette should take her place, Margaret had reluctantly arranged for their cook to teach Linette to prepare food and run a house. She hadn’t dared to ask for such instructions at home. Her father had often enough said they were rich and had servants to do menial work. Only the death of some distant relative of her mother’s who’d made a fortune in India had changed the family circumstances from penniless to well off before Linette’s birth. Father wanted everyone to believe they were landed gentry, but she often wondered how much of the inheritance still existed and suspected her father’s plans for her were meant to add to the coffers. But how much was enough to satisfy her father? She wondered if enough existed.
“He should have servants to do those things,” Margaret had fumed when Linette badgered her to arrange instruction.
“It will be an adventure to do something useful.”
Unless Eddie changed his mind, her lessons seemed destined to be useless. She stiffened her spine. Failure was not an option.
Eddie turned his gaze back to her then with a great sigh eased toward the stagecoach.
She followed at his heels. “I’m a hard worker.” She would press her point but she wouldn’t beg.
The driver stood at his horses, staring at the horizon and shifting from one foot to the other. “Eddie boy, the wind has a bite to it. Winter is likely to clutch us by the throat any moment.”
She’d wondered at the earliness of the snow, but the man in the coach had explained it was due to being in high country. “Snow can come early and stay or leave again. There’s no predicting it.”
Eddie turned to speak over his shoulder. “I’m to be stuck with you then. But only until the weather moderates then I’ll send you back.”
“Stuck? Seems you’re getting the better part of this bargain.” She had no intention of staying one day more than she must, but she silently prayed the winter would set in early and be long and cold, preventing travel. That would give her sufficient time to persuade Eddie to change his mind.
She would not—under any circumstances—return to her father and his despicable plan for her.
Despite her lack of funds, she considered setting off on her own but she must acknowledge the facts—her father would not let her escape his clutches. He had ways and means of tracking her wherever she went. And he wouldn’t hesitate to use them. She knew she couldn’t hide from him even if she found a means of surviving on her own.
Eddie still provided the only answer to avoiding her father’s