Page 133 of Conveniently Wed
“Of course, sir. Now, if I could have your name, please?”
“Robert Talbert.”
5
Robert Talbert.
That had to be Simon’s brother. Had he come all this way to find her? She knew Simon wanted her inheritance, but was he really this desperate? How had they been able to track her? She’d been so careful to appear as a common traveler.
Questions swirled through Leah’s mind as she watched Robert climb the staircase, following the bellboy to his room. They continued past the landing for the second floor and disappeared around the wall as they climbed toward the third level. Leah’s room was on the second—at least they wouldn’t be on the same floor.
“Excuse me, miss, but we have a table prepared for you.”
Leah turned quickly to see the waiter, bowing slightly, with his hand gesturing for her to precede him. She had completely lost her appetite. The last thing she wanted was to run into Robert Talbert taking his evening meal.
“Um…I’m not feeling well at the moment. I believe I’ll take my meal in my room, instead.”
He dropped his hand to his waist and deepened the bow. “As you wish. I will send a tray to your room then, Miss Townsend?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Very good then.”
As soon as the man turned away, she shot a glance toward the top of the staircase. Seeing no one, Leah squared her shoulders and made her way upstairs, moving as quickly as a genteel lady was allowed.
For the next several hours, Leah paced the floor in her hotel suite. What now? She couldn’t stay in her room for weeks until he went away. Finding work required getting out. But staying in the same hotel with the man meant he was sure to see her coming or going.
Should she find different lodgings? That was an option, but if he was able to track her from Richmond all the way to St. Louis, he would surely find her at a different hotel in the same city.
Should she try to find Emily’s friends, the Barnetts? Leah moved toward the desk and found their address in the papers Emily had given her. Wash Avenue. She didn’t recognize that street name from her wanderings over the last few days. Maybe she could find the address tomorrow.
Leah allowed a long sigh to escape. She really did want to make it on her own. Maybe she should move to a different city. Perhaps south to New Orleans? Or she could find a new city on the East Coast. But the thought of another week-long train ride made her sink into the desk chair.
She absently rifled through the papers on the desk, picking up the Richmond Enquirer. Her eyes landed on the curious request for a wife in the Montana Territory. Wasn’t that where the man with the emerald eyes on the ferry had said he was from? But it was surely a huge place with thousands of men.
She read the advertisement again.An intelligent young rancher of twenty-five years, six feet height, red hair, green eyes.An image of an auburn-haired rancher came to mind. Interesting that he mentioned his green eyes. Age, height, andhair color seemed to be normal enough information for a man to use to describe himself, but eye color?
The young lady should be between eighteen and twenty-five years, pleasant, and God-fearing.This Abel Bryant must be God-fearing, as well, for him to seek that characteristic in a wife. What would make a man seek a wife through a newspaper advertisement? Were there really so few women in the Montana Territory?
She herself fit the description requested in the ad. She was twenty-two years old, tried her best to be pleasant, and sought God’s will in every area of her life.
Guilt washed over her as she realized she’d not sought God’s direction that evening, since finding that Simon’s brother was in town, searching for her. With a penitent heart, Leah bowed her head.
After pouring out her heart and fears to her Heavenly Father, Leah finally changed to a nightgown and snuggled her weary muscles under the soft covers. She descended into an exhausted sleep.
Leah wasn’t sure when the dreams began, but she found herself running through the darkness. The cobblestone street beneath her slippers tossed up rocks to sabotage her flight. Simon Talbert stood a stone’s throw behind her. He just stood there, arms locked over his tailored suit, a greedy look on his middle-aged face. Even though he never moved a muscle, Leah couldn’t outrun him. She pushed her legs faster, her side and lungs on fire. She could hear Simon’s ominous laughter behind her.
Finally, the dream changed and she was standing near the top of a mountain, looking out at the most beautiful sight she’dever beheld. A herd of cattle grazed in a distant valley, looking like brown and black dots on a pallet of green. Beyond them, more mountains rose up majestically, their sides covered with trees around the bases, but the color gradually changed to white caps of snow on the peaks. She stood there with the wind gently ruffling her hair, filled with the most amazing sense of peace.
She jerked awake, her heartbeat loud in her ears. But as she lay in bed with sunlight filtering through sheer curtains, the feeling of peace lingered. She stretched and sat up in bed. When she rose and padded to the desk to retrieve her Bible, memories of the evening before flitted through her mind. The recollection of Robert Talbert wasn’t enough to completely steal her peace, though.
Underneath the Bible lay the Richmond newspaper, and Leah again saw the advertisement for a bride in Montana. She picked up both the Bible and paper, then moved back to snuggle cross-legged in her bed. As she fingered the paper, glimpses from her dream wandered through her mind. Mountains, cattle in a valley, a sense of rightness.
Did God want her to go to the Montana Territory? Surely not. What was in Montana anyway? Ranches, apparently. She pictured a vast field with hundreds of cattle, a two-story ranch house in the distance with a wrap-around porch and friendly lanterns in the windows, welcoming her home. The scene felt warm and homey—a place she would like to be.
But was she really thinking about marrying this man? A perfect stranger? Hadn’t she learned her lesson yet? But the “God-fearing” part was a promising sign. She couldn’t remember a time that Simon had ever brought up the subject of God.
But to agree to marry a man, sight unseen? Maybe she could stay at a hotel for a few months while they became acquainted. She didn’t have to commit to anything until she was sure he wasn’t a secret wife-killer. If she didn’t feel comfortable with theproposed husband, she could find another situation in that area—far away from Robert Talbert or anyone else Simon sent after her.
