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

with that ship going down a couple of weeks ago with its banking cargo on board, the whole city is struggling for gold. If you’ve got the funds to pay the fees and the credit to secure the rest of it, the land is yours. But you have to know you’ll be in for a surprise when you finally get there.”
    She thought about his offer quietly, but finally nodded. This wasn’t how she envisioned the process, but it was a small setback, one she could overcome. He left the room to gather the necessary paperwork, and Moira had to put a hand up to stop Gretchen from crying.
    The clerk from the window was the one to bring the stack of papers for Moira to sign. She began reading the official documents, but eventually the strange version of English and the legal talk had her already exhausted and disappointed mind swimming. She reached the final few pages, signed them, and stretched her weary fingers before handing the stack to the still-grinning clerk.
    “Thank you very much, Miss Brennan… I mean, Lady Brennan, of course,” he said in a voice that sounded very much like he was mocking her. He took the papers and placed them inside his ledger book, then produced another bound packet of papers for her to look over, plus a small bound volume on what she would need to purchase and know in order to homestead her claim. “You’ll want to read these over before departing for the claim. As Mr. Walsh said, the last thing you want is any surprises.”
    The clerk chuckled at his own joke and left the office, leaving Moira to stare after him in confusion. She turned to the papers and glanced at them, but decided to wait to read through them until she was less tired.
    “Now to find lodging, and plan our trip West. We’ll travel by train, now that the line extends all the way to California.”
    “Pardon my asking, m’lady, but how is it that you know all this? Homesteading and train travel and this Mr. Walsh… how ever did ya manage it all?”
    “Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Moira began, pulling Gretchen closer and linking elbows as they walked out of the office and out onto the sidewalk. “I had a good mind to speak to my father and my brother about expanding to America someday. I’ve been planning on it for years. I knew that whomever I married would be a hanger-on to his own family’s fortune. Our land and holdings aren’t so vast that I would make a good match. I wouldn’t be an asset to some of the larger families, so I have always known that my husband would likely be a second son, even a third, and therefore not stand to inherit his own estate. And with Ronan and his wife—God willing, he should marry soon—inheriting Brennan, I’ve always thought it prudent to marry and have my husband be appointed to see to the family’s interests abroad, either here or in India. We would have our own holdings and our own household, but still be contributing to the Brennan estates.”
    “That is quite brilliant, my lady! You should have been born a man, if it’s not too bold of me to say.” Gretchen ducked her head at having been so outspoken, but Moira only laughed.
    “Oh, think nothing of it, Gretchen. You’re right, after all, ‘tis not fair that a woman with a good head on her shoulders is barred from succeeding due to her ‘delicate’ nature and the way ladies are viewed. But that’s all behind us now! We’re in the land of opportunity and there is a bounty of options open to us. The West awaits us, as does our future!”
     

Chapter Five
     
    Moira was not quite so optimistic once she saw the accommodations. Their temporary lodging, while far less than Moira could easily afford, would have to do until the train departed the following Tuesday. She was already carefully budgeting for the items they would need upon their arrival in Montana; extravagant luxuries like lodging in the Aster House, which would have eaten away at her remaining funds, especially because Gretchen would have required a separate