Darby: Bride of Oregon (American Mail-Order Bride 33) Read Online Free PDF

and through the large city, she had little attention to spare
for the place. After all, she wasn’t going to be there long, so she needn’t get
attached. And she was far too busy trying to guess how much time Judge
Beauregard would have to spend in jail for throttling his wife, if indeed that
wife proved to be a bounder…

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    Rand stood on the rise behind his home and
followed the progress of the carriage that carried Miss Darby McClintock up
Burnside Street toward the west hills. He was too nervous to sit at his office,
and he’d already sent word that he wouldn’t be able to meet her until that
afternoon, at the church. But his curiosity was eating him alive.
    If he were at least prepared for the way the woman
looked, he might avoid making a fool out of himself later on. Short and stocky?
Tall and lean? Pretty or homely? Plain or fancy? With no idea of the color of
her hair, he hadn’t been able to imagine anything at all. But deep down, he
hoped that he’d know her when he saw her, that he would recognize her as the
woman he’d always pictured on his arm.
    His imagination rarely failed him, but it failed
him now. And so he was doomed to sit and watch from a distance with the spy
glass from a dead sea captain.
    Finally, the carriage arrived in front of the
house. He watched closely to see her reaction to her new home. Waited for Hardy
to assist her.
    Feathers emerged first. A hat. Shadows. Then
sunlight reflected off a generous head of hair. Red hair!
    “Damn it!”
    Hardy’s head turned in his direction before he
hurried the woman inside the house, as if he’d seen Indians gathering on the
hillside, damn him! Rand hadn’t gotten so much as a look at her nose!
    But that hair!
    He groaned and snapped the spy glass closed. Why
did she have to have red hair? A governor’s wife should be quiet and
unassuming, and he’d yet to meet a redhead that fit that description. Yes, he
wanted someone lovely to wear on his arm during social events, but not a woman
who would turn every head in the room.
    On the other hand…
    He took heart. At least there was still hope that
she was homely.
    ~ ~ ~
    The maid had a bath ready for her. After a bit of
hot water added at the last, Darby insisted she could undress herself and was
finally left alone in the large bathing room.
    “Dinna get used to this,” she whispered. “Don’t
you dare get used to this.”
    The bath was glorious and she stayed in the fine
claw-footed tub until she grew chilled. The dressing gown hanging on the hook
was silk and enchanting. It was bright gold with small black symbols along the
lapels and the hems of the sleeves. Chinese, she would guess.
    “Just borrowing it for now,” she murmured, and
wrapped the smooth gold around her body.
    The bathing room was located in one of two
pentagonal towers at the rear of the mansion. Four of the five facades were
filled with large windows that looked out upon the forest surrounding the
place. The drapes were pulled to one side, but there was little chance anyone
could see into the room from the forest beyond. And if the maid hadn’t thought
it necessary to cover the windows, Darby would trust her judgement.
    As she toweled her hair dry and looked out over
the mountain range to the west, there was movement to her left. But when she
moved to the next window, whatever it had been was gone.
    “A wild animal, no doubt.” And she determined
never to go outside alone—for as long as she was allowed to stay.
    ~ ~ ~
    Exhausted from her journey, she slipped beneath
the counterpane to rest her eyes for a little while. Just in case it was Mr.
Beauregard’s bed, she didn’t want to insinuate herself between the sheets, or
into his life for that matter. She simply had to assume her dishonesty would be
revealed in quick order, and she’d best take what little rest she could.
    The pillowcase was soft and soothing, just the
ticket to take her mind off her problems. And wrapped in smooth gold, as she
was, it