Steadfast Heart Read Online Free Page B

Sunday was quite substantial, and it saw me through until today.”
    â€œI’m so glad that nothing is amiss.” Mrs. Gibson waved a handkerchief to her face. “I do worry in these difficult times thatthere are things amiss for which I have little knowledge.” She leaned forward rather conspiratorially and added, “It troubles me deeply.”
    Wade might have chuckled had the woman not been so serious. The three ladies were sometimes amusing to him in their unfounded frets and concerns. It seemed to Wade that if anyone could create a situation of great apprehension and despair, it was the ladies of the Madison Bridal School.
    â€œSo what do you hear around the city?” Mrs. Madison questioned. “I read in the paper that there were problems with the steam pipes at the Spring Hill Water Company. I do hope that matter was resolved.”
    â€œOh dear, yes,” Mrs. Gibson said in a most foreboding manner. “A city without water is a frightening thing.”
    Wade didn’t bother to point out that there were other sources of water. Instead, he offered a smile of comfort. “It has been resolved, and water is once again being pumped. I have that on the best authority.”
    â€œWhat a relief,” Miss Poisie said, both hands covering her heart. “Bless the Lord for His favor.”
    â€œIndeed, Sister,” Mrs. Madison replied.
    â€œMr. Gibson used to find such things quite fascinating,” Mrs. Gibson said as she began settling back into her seat. “You know he was a man of science—”
    â€œGod rest his soul,” Miss Poisie interjected, as she always did when mention was made of the dead.
    â€œAmen,” the other women replied in unison.
    It was an act Wade was familiar with and had come to expect. He nodded, as if approving their prayer.
    â€œOf course, he dabbled in things he would have been better to leave alone,” Mrs. Gibson said in her ominous way. “Heread those things written by Robert Chambers and”—again she leaned forward as if to share something that her present company had yet to learn—“that Darwin man.”
    Miss Poisie gave a shudder.
    It was always the same. Wade wasn’t annoyed by the repeat performance at all. To the contrary, the consistent presentation amused him and endeared the older women to him more each time.
    â€œI’m certain that it grieved our God in heaven.” Mrs. Gibson shook her head.
    â€œAmen,” the sisters agreed.
    â€œI hope you will never partake of such things, Mr. Ackerman,” Mrs. Gibson lectured.
    â€œNo, ma’am. I have no desire for such things.”
    â€œThat’s wise of you. Very wise. Mr. Gibson should have been blessed with such wisdom. He wasn’t at all given to reading such nonsense when we first married. I believe in truth it’s why he suffered apoplexy—bleeding on the brain, don’t you know. It was to my great shame and embarrassment.” She looked very much the martyred soul. “He was unable to speak or move in his final months, and I am certain that was visited upon him for his promiscuous affair with such dark sciences as evolution and astronomy. I endeavored to save him for God, however, until the day he passed on.”
    â€œGod rest his soul,” Miss Poisie murmured. She looked as if the sorrow was too great to bear.
    â€œAmen.”
    Wade found himself murmuring the word in unison. Their conviction that this was a most troubling situation was sincere, and he would never tell them that he questioned some of their beliefs.
    â€œI read the Bible to him every day of his remaining life,” Mrs. Gibson said with a look that suggested she’d gotten the upper hand in a game of cards. Not that the old ladies would ever allow for such items in the house, much less to partake of their purposes. “I read the Scriptures from cover to cover until the day I found him passed on to glory. To