Little Horn, Texas, August 1896
“And which of our fine gentlemen have you chosen to be your husband?”
Elizabeth Dumont tried not to cringe at Mrs. Arundel’s question. Instead, she picked up one of her three precious charges and handed a triplet to the lady. One look at little Theo, and Mrs. Arundel’s stern face melted like snow in the sun.
“I’ve actually advertised for a position,” Elizabeth said, bending to pick up the second baby as another woman—Mrs. Tyson, if she remembered correctly—pressed closer, the scent of her lavender cologne like a cloud surrounding them.
The snug boardinghouse room felt even more cramped with her three visitors this morning. How much nicer it would have been to receive the ladies in her own home, as her aunt had done as Cambridge’s most famous hostess. Elizabeth could picture the babies playing on a rug at her feet, tea and cakes waiting on a side table. But right now, this room, with its flowered wallpaper, chintz-covered iron bedstead, porcelain washstand and sturdy walnut dresser, was the best she could do. She was just thankful David and Caroline McKay had given her the three high chairs and large crib they had used when caring for the boys.
“You don’t need a position,” insisted blond-haired Stella Fuller, wife of the local sheriff, as she came forward to take the last baby. “There are plenty of men in this town worth marrying. You just have to pick one. I did.”
Elizabeth had heard Stella had been a mail-order bride, just as Elizabeth had planned to be.
As Stella laughed, little Jasper grinned in her arms. Eli was looking up at Mrs. Tyson, brown eyes wide, as if trying to memorize her kind face. Theo wasn’t nearly so sure about Mrs. Arundel, for his lower lip trembled. He glanced at Elizabeth as if afraid the woman was about to make off with him.
Elizabeth knew the feeling. Ever since she’d been given charge of the boys three days ago, she’d wanted to gather them close, smooth their dark hair, whisper comfort in their ears. Maybe it was because they were so little and helpless, maybe it was because they were orphans like her, but Jasper, Theo and Eli touched her heart more than any of her other charges in her four years of being a governess.
“I hear Clyde Parker is looking for a wife,” Mrs. Arundel offered. “He has a fine ranch not too far from town. He might not object to red hair.” She bounced Theo on her hip, and he frowned at her.
Elizabeth tried not to frown as well. She’d never had anyone complain about her long red hair, now carefully bound up in a bun at the top of her head. Until the time her uncle had been sent to prison for swindling others, she’d received nothing but compliments on her looks. After that, people tended not to want to look at her at all, as if she’d somehow been tainted by the scandal.
“James Forrester needs a wife too,” Mrs. Tyson put in. “His two boys have settled down nicely since they joined the Young Ranchers program.”
“His boys are nearly grown,” Stella pointed out. “I’d think you’d want someone younger to be father to the triplets.” She bent and rubbed her nose against Jasper’s, and he squealed in delight, winning a smile from all the ladies.
Mrs. Tyson looked to Eli and sighed. “I simply cannot understand a mother giving away a child. Has no relative come forward since Bo Stillwater found the boys abandoned at the fair?”
“Not
