He met the eyes of each of them in turn and each nodded assent, but Celeste vocalized it for all. “Unless either of the gentlemen objects, I for one would welcome Mrs. Richardson’s presence. She has already demonstrated to me an uncommon understanding and sensible attitude.”
The brothers met her eyes as she looked at them and nodded decisively, mumbling, “Agreed!”
A bit of the tension seeped out of the room with that brief sense of accord achieved.
Taking a deep breath, the pastor continued.
“All right, here is what I know and what I’ve surmised. For reasons best known to the brothers Hardwick it was agreed between them that Chip should seek out a mail-order bride. A correspondence was somehow initiated with a Miss Miranda Belden during which the parties agreed that she should travel west to marry Chip. Mrs. Clark intercepted the final letter and used the ticket contained therein to come to Green River. It that accurate so far?”
He looked around the room and received nods from all three, but both men had mouths open to speak. Raising his hand, he continued.
“Each of you will have ample opportunity to clarify the details, especially as they pertain to yourself, but first I would like to learn how it is that Miss Belden happened to receive Chip’s letters to begin with? In other words, I would like to begin at the beginning.”
Celeste was maintaining her silence. This was not her story to tell and she was capable of honoring a confidence. Her sister had shared with her that their man of business, Frederick Flanagan, had approached on behalf of a friend who was seeking a correspondence with an eligible young woman, with an eye toward matrimony. Freddie had admitted to conferring with his sister, Bridget, a classmate of Miranda’s and friend of Celeste’s as well, who had suggested he approach Miranda to see if she might be interested.
Sylvester’s Story
Sylvester raised his hand as if in school, and began.
“I guess to some extent it all begins with me. I knew you and Father Flanagan had successfully imported some mail-order brides from Our Lady of Mercy. I went to law school with his nephew, Frederick, and wrote to enquire if he might know any suitable young ladies. It was he who provide the name and direction of Miss Belden.
“Since my brother had agreed to the correspondence, he and I drafted the first letter to her. He does not trouble himself overmuch with his penmanship, so I wrote out the letter for him and mailed it. The correspondence proceeded quite nicely from there. Miss Belden proved to be an impressive young woman with a lively sense of humor and an unusual scope of interests, and soon our letters were flowing freely back and forth.
“Frederick had assured me Miss Belden was unexceptionable, of good moral character, and quietly attractive. The letters encouraged me to believe she, too, was interested in pursuing the relationship further, so on Chip’s behalf I proposed. When she accepted I arranged to send her a ticket, asking she advise which train she’d arrive on, and arranged that Chip wear a red shirt,” here he nodded at his brother’s garment, “so she could recognize him.”
“And such a wire was received?”
“Yes, it simply said, ‘arriving Thursday at 10:23.’ It was unsigned,” he stared briefly at Celeste, “but I assumed that was to save on fees.”
Seeing from faces that others wished to speak, Reverend Joe again raised his hand for continued silence so he could phrase his next question.
“You rather glossed over the letter writing, but only mention collaborating with your brother on the first one. In an earlier discussion he mentioned not having seen nor been involved with writing any of the subsequent correspondence. I just wish to clarify this point.”
Sylvester sighed. “He asked me to do so, and even when I tried to get him to at least read the responses he just said he was too busy and that he’d leave it all in my hands. I tried to be Chip in my letters, at least at first.” He looked chagrined as the realization of what he was saying struck home and buried his face in his hands for a moment. Looking back up, he met the eyes of each of the other four in the room. “I’m not sure when I just started writing for the enjoyment of learning Miss Belden’s response, but now I understand why I was both delighted and upset when she agreed to marry my brother. You are quite right, Chip, I have developed a tendre for her based on our correspondence.” This last was uttered with an air of amazement.
Celeste looked back and forth between the two gentlemen. Technically, her sister was engaged to Chip, but although they might one day become friends, she couldn’t imagine her sister really enjoying Chip’s light-hearted and somewhat careless attitude toward life, although she had to admit that, annoying as he could be, he was rather amusing.
On the other hand, Sylvester had a certain solidity to his character, as he had demonstrated quite clearly in his letters. Frankly, although clearly well-informed and with a good mind, she found him a bit, well, smug and self-satisfied. Stodgy, even. Possibly some of the very characteristics that had appealed to her very conventional sister. In fact, that is what had startled her in the first place about this whole venture. It was so unlike Miranda!
Celeste’s Turn
Celeste suddenly felt the weight of Reverend Richardson’s eyes upon her. This wasn’t kindly Pastor Joe, but a man with the
