A Bargain For A Bride: Clean mail order bride romance (Montana Passion Book 1) Read Online Free

took their seats in the two wooden chairs, their small purses clutched between their hands and placed on their laps. Gretchen shook noticeably as her nerves got the best of her; Moira, although excited and somewhat nervous herself, had a lifetime of talking to people beneath her in status, and therefore didn’t feel the worry that Gretchen was struggling to hold in.
    “Miss Brennan,” a loud voice said around the stub of a cigar he gripped between his teeth. “Oh, wait, I’m so sorry, I mean… Lady Brennan. Where are my manners?” Mr. Walsh came around the desk and dropped into the leather chair. “What brings a fine lady such as yourself to our humble land office?”
    Moira couldn’t speak for a moment, shocked as she was by the somewhat boorish Mr. Walsh. She’d never encountered a man who smoked in front of her, and a cigar at that, as the only men she’d known to smoke opted for pipes and took the activity to another room with the other men, to enjoy brandy and talk of business.
    “I’ve come to inquire about a parcel of land… in the West,” she began, recovering quickly.
    “Land?” Mr. Walsh returned, blinking rapidly and using his hand to fan his own plume of acrid smoke away from his face. “You want land?” He reached for a stack of papers and rifled through them until a piece of fine linen stationery stuck out from the pile. “Oh, I remember now! I got a letter that said you were coming.”
    “A letter, Mr. Walsh?” she asked, suddenly afraid. “There should not have been a letter…”
    “Yeah, here it is, from a Mister Ronan Brennan…” Gretchen and Moira exchanged a horrified look, but Mr. Walsh didn’t seem to notice as he continued to explain. “Says here you’ve left home with your family’s blessing, and that I should be expecting you. He’s asked me to help you in any way I can. So tell me what it is I can do for you.” He crossed his hands on top of the letter and looked between the two young ladies, waiting for an explanation.
    “Oh, I see,” Moira said, her thoughts several thousand miles away with her brother, now all alone in the world. She pushed aside the image of him drinking each night away in front of the fireplace, and took a deep breath. “Well then, I’ve come to inquire about some land, as I stated. I should like to place a homestead claim on a good-sized piece that can be farmed, preferably with enough acreage to lease out the property to tenants.”
    “Tenants, Miss Brennan?”
    “Yes, tenants. I myself have no knowledge, skill, or desire to farm, but I have years of experience in managing my family’s property and maintaining a relationship between the household and the farmers in the village. I should like to establish a farm here in America that will let me continue.”
    “You see, that’s the problem, ma’am. That’s not how it works here. People aren’t heading West just for the fun of working someone else’s land. They’re staking their own claims and living beholden to no one. We got immigrants every day, stepping off the boat like you just did, pardon my manners, and heading out West to make their own fortune. I hate to tell you this, but you’re not going to find anyone interested in signing on to work your land and pay you a portion of it.”
    “I see, Mr. Walsh. That is an interesting viewpoint. But our farmers in Brennan aren’t beholden to us, they rely on us for many things. They’re all too happy to return the favor.”
    “Well, this isn’t Brennan, and it sure isn’t Ireland, either. You go throwing your fancy title around and thinking people are going to line up to rent space on your farm, and it’s not gonna be pretty.” Moira blanched at his tone of voice and the threat in his words, while Gretchen slipped a hand protectively through her mistress’ arm. “I’m happy to help you with your homesteading, Miss Brennan, especially because I have this letter from your brother saying you’re clear to make your choice. And