Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) Read Online Free Page B

might have cause to worry about. Sadie, having already bore a child and Belle with one on the way, wondered if Apple’s slight frame would hold up under childbearing. But they would deal with it when the time was right. Right now the only thing any of them wanted to deal with was supper.
    “Ladies,” said Sadie as she turned to a hutch and opened a drawer. “Would you mind setting the table?”
    Three heads snapped to attention.
    Belle giggled. “Come now, it's not as bad as all that.”
    Lena and her sisters glanced at one another with worry. “I'm afraid we haven't much experience with this sort of thing, at least not doing it ourselves. Our question, of course, is; do you Americans set a table differently than we do in England?”
    Sadie smiled. “ I hardly think so, and besides, no one around here really cares.”
    Lena, Fina, and Apple stared at her in shock. “What do you mean, no one around here cares?” asked Fina. “People do have manners in this country, do they not?"
    “C ertainly,” said Belle. “We just don't stand on them the way you do.”
    Lena stood up from the table. “ I suppose we should be grateful we’re not to take on any other tasks in your household tonight. Therefore I shall deign to set your table for you. But it will be to my satisfaction, not yours.” She went to the small pile of forks, spoons, and knives Sadie had set upon the table, scooped them up, and marched out of the kitchen.
    “S he's a funny one, isn't she?” Belle whispered to Sadie.
    “She's always like that,” said Fina. “ But you get used to it, after a while.”
    “ The sooner she gets used to the fact that this is not London, the better,” said Sadie.
    “She's not angry,” said Apple. “She's terribly frightened.”
    Sadie stared at the two remaining sisters. “I suppose that's understandable,” she said.   “Which is why the Duke and myself matched you with the best possible choice of husband.” She went to the table and sat across from them. “Trust me when I say, the men you’re to marry are good, honest men. They’re also hard workers with kind hearts. Those attributes go a long way out here, and will help you survive.”
    Apple and Fina stared at her as they both wondered the same thing. Coming from a world of servants at their every beck and call, would they come across as kindhearted and hard-working in front of their future husbands?
     
     
    * * *
     
    After dinner, the three sisters retired, each asleep as soon as their head hit their pillow. Imogene stayed up to speak with Harrison and Colin, something about marriage contracts, dowries, and other nonsense that men from a place like Clear Creek wouldn't care less about. But Imogene had seen them this far and protected them with not only her wealth, but her sharp tongue. According to Harrison, it was amazing she hadn’t been shot by now. But then, who'd be fool enough to do so? The woman would find a way to haunt the individual to his dying day, and make his life as miserable as possible.
    At least she stopped insisting that Lena and her sisters be called by their given names. Their journey had been bad enough as they endured constant laugher and tried to explain how their names came about. Yes, they knew their father and mother were eccentric like Imogene, and hoped her oddness didn't rub off on them. However, each of them did have their own strange way of doing things, and each also had their own interests and talents. Some talents they were born with.
    Lena for example, was articulate and a very good orator. She longed to be on the stage to act in a play or perhaps an opera, as her singing voice wasn't all that bad, and she had a good ear for music. Fina liked to paint, and saw the world as one huge canvas. Unfortunately, she also saw blank walls, linen napkins, tablecloths, and any other blank surface as her canvas, and often had to listen to her parents scold her on the proper use of the brush. Her strokes were too short, her lines