him was the woman who’d asked him to marry her. Nora’s thick hair was carefully bound in a coil at the nape of her neck, and a cloth hat of lavender silk sat on her head, a white feather pinned on it with a green glass broach. Gone was the embroidered dress from yesterday. Today’s creation boasted a sleeveless green overcoat embroidered with darker green leaves and scalloped along all the edges over a white wool bodice fitted to her form. It was as impractical as it was beautiful. Simon found himself staring.
“Everything ready?” she asked, setting a carpetbag on the floor by the door and draping a gray wool cloak over it.
He managed a nod. “Yes. The minister will be here shortly, and the ship arrived right on schedule.”
Beside him, John cleared his throat, then nudged Levi aside to take Nora’s hand. “Let me be the first to wish you happy. I’ll soon be your brother John.”
“Nora Underhill,” she said with a curtsy that made her skirts poof out around her. “We’ve met before. I attended the weddings when Miss Stanway married your oldest brother, when Miss Fosgrave married your brother James and when my friend Maddie married Michael Haggerty. You were all there.”
“Funny,” John said with a charming smile. “I thought I’d danced with every pretty girl at the receptions.”
“You did,” Levi said, earning him an elbow to the gut from John.
Nora’s cheeks brightened in a blush, and Simon fought the urge to scold his brother. The youngest boy in the family, at eighteen, Levi had been spoiled by their doting mother and was only starting to realize he needed to take responsibility for his words and actions.
“I didn’t mean anything by that,” he muttered now, rubbing his ribs. He nodded to Nora. “I’m Levi. Thank you for marrying Simon. Somebody should.”
Simon shook his head, but her blush deepened. “Your brother is doing me a favor,” she murmured.
Simon was just glad to see Mr. Bagley hurrying through the door at the back of the church. A slight man with a head of bushy hair and an equally bushy beard over his chin, he nonetheless managed to exude a certain sense of propriety as he stopped before the altar and motioned them forward.
“Mr. Wallin, Miss Underhill,” he greeted with a look over his spectacles. “I know you are both of age. Are there any legal impediments to this marriage?”
“None,” Simon said with a look to Nora, who shook her head.
Mr. Bagley nodded. “And are you both in agreement to wed?” His look shot to Nora too.
Simon held himself still. If she had any reservations, now would be the time to state them. “Yes, Mr. Bagley,” she murmured, her face paling.
The minister nodded again. “And are you certain you must marry now? I believe I heard your brother and his wife will be arriving soon. Surely you’d prefer that he give you away.”
He made it sound as if Simon was dragging her to the altar. She positively squirmed; Simon could see her finery quivering. He was going to lose her, and while that might not have seemed such a bad thing when she had first made her bold proposal, now he was determined to win his family those acres.
He took her cold hand in his. “Nora has agreed to be my wife, Mr. Bagley. I don’t care who gives her away or who attends this wedding.”
The minister positively glowered over the top of his spectacles. “This is highly irregular, Mr. Wallin. I see your own mother and sister declined to attend. Is there some reason this wedding must be so rushed?”
Nora flamed, pulling her hand from Simon’s. “No, no reason. Really. I...” She glanced at Simon, her eyes pools of misery.
Simon had too much experience with people arguing with him to quail before the minister’s annoyance. He drew himself up to his full height, dwarfing everyone else in the room. “You have the information for our marriage certificate, Mr. Bagley. We are both of age and willing to wed. If that’s not enough for you, I’ll go to the justice of the peace. Assuming Doc Maynard is still in the law’s good graces, he can marry us.”
Nora gasped, John took a step back and Levi grinned as if applauding Simon’s boldness at challenging the renowned minister.
Mr. Bagley tugged on the bottom of his plain blue waistcoat. “See here, sir. I will not have the members of my congregation married by that charlatan. Besides, you should know that it will do you no good to claim land in Olympia for your wife if the state does not consider you legally wed.”
“So,” Simon returned, “marry us.”
For a moment, the minister met his gaze, his eyes narrowed as if he would see inside Simon. He could look all he liked. Ma always said Simon had been born with an iron rod for a spine. He did not bow, and he did not bend. If the minister thought he could cow him, he had better think again.
Mr. Bagley shook his head as he lowered his gaze to his book of prayer. “Very well. But this is highly irregular.” He shook out his arms and began reading the ceremony. Her hands still visibly trembling, Nora bowed her head and clasped her fingers together.
Simon only half listened. He was too relieved to have won. His mind immediately began working out crop yields, considering directions to draw the furrows, determining which crops to plant depending on when he cleared the acreage. Once he dealt with Nora’s brother, there would be no impediments to his work, except the cold winter weather and Christmas.
“Simon Wallin.” His name as well as the tone of Mr. Bagley’s voice made Simon meet the clergyman’s gaze. The minister’s eyes could have been arrows over the silver of his spectacles.
“Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife,” he demanded, “to live together under God’s ordinance in the Holy Estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her as long as you both shall live?”
Love and comfort her? Live together, forever? That wasn’t what Simon had intended. He wasn’t offering Nora a home or a place in his life.
“Mr. Wallin?” Mr. Bagley prompted sternly.
Nora dropped her gaze, shrinking in on herself as if she’d been struck. She must be wondering why he didn’t speak. She’d just heard him declare he’d be married or else. She’d laid out the terms of their bargain. She wasn’t expecting undying devotion. He wasn’t offering anything more than to protect her from her brother. And he gained the land his family needed.
“I will,” he said. But the twist in his gut belied the confident words.
* * *
Nora nearly collapsed in relief. For a moment there, she’d feared it was all a horrid joke. He’d turn and shout, April Fools’! even though it was early December. Her life had been like that.
But this marriage would put an end to that life. No more must she please her brother and Meredith. She drew in a deep breath as the minister asked her the same question, then she firmly said, “I will.”
Mr. Bagley took both their hands and held them together. She could feel Simon’s calluses rubbing against her skin. Could he feel the nicks and scratches from her sewing? Did he care?
The
