Lilly: Bride of Illinois (American Mail-Order Bride 21) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hair and a gaudily made–up face. Lilly was embarrassed to look at the woman because of all the cleavage showing in her low–cut, dark pink dress.
    “I’ll handle her, Mrs. Mason. Go tell Mr. Hardesty she’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.” The woman pushed Lilly back into her room and shut the door, holding a finger up to her mouth to signal to be quiet. After five seconds she yanked the door open, and Lilly saw Mrs. Mason was standing there, looking caught and uneasy.
    “I said I’d get her ready,” the woman raised her voice, and leaned against the doorframe until Mrs. Mason reluctantly moved down the hall.
    “Keep quiet while I talk to you and we get you ready for your first night. I’m Fannie, but don’t talk to me when you see me elsewhere. Understood?”
    Lilly looked at Fannie and realized she was serious. “First take off your dress so we can get this corset on you. Whether you like it or not, you need to show your assets tonight, then I’ll apply your makeup.”
    “ No! Then I’ll look like a ‘painted lady’!”
    “Honey, whether you like it or not, that’s what you are now,” Fannie said as she helped Lilly undress.
    “I came here as a mail–order bride for Mr. Hardesty! The matchmaker agency checks the references of all the men who put an ad in the Grooms’ Gazette . I corresponded with Miss Miller, and she said Mr. Hardesty was an upstanding businessman in the shipping industry.”
    “ A ‘Mr. Hardesty’ and his business may have been checked out, but it was someone else Mr. Hardesty paid to represent him. I’m guessing he has several ads in that paper under different names. One or two women show up each month thinking they will be Mrs. Whoever.”
    “That can’t be legal!” Lilly whispered, then grunted when Fannie yanked on the corset strings. “Why don’t the police do something about his scams?!”
    “Cops get paid ‘on the side’ for taking care of Mr. Hardesty’s business. Suck in your stomach again for one last pull of the strings.”
    Lilly looked down at her chest. Oh. My. Word …besides not being able to breathe, I’m exposing my breasts to the world !
    “Sit down on the chair so I can fix your face. You need kohl around your eyes and rouge on your cheeks and lips.
    “Listen closely because I’ll only say this once, and we’ll never talk about it again. If you want to survive, I suggest you do what Mr. Hardesty says.”
    “I’ll take my pay for tonight and leave. Mr. Hardesty tricked me so I won’t stay here. I’ll find a church and ask for help.”
    “You aren’t paid to sing , Lilly. You’ll only get a small cut of the fee the men pay Mr. Hardesty for your female services upstairs , after you’ve been here a month or two to prove your loyalty to the Emporium.”
    “ I will NOT be a prostitute !”
    Fannie paused before saying, “The last ‘mail–order bride’ disappeared the same night she refused to take a man upstairs. Two days later her beaten body was found floating in Bubbly Creek. That nearby stream is the ‘dump’ for the slaughter houses in the Yards. I hope she was dead before being thrown into the stinking goo of dead animal parts.” Fannie gave a little shudder as she spoke about the animal offal.
    “I…I can’t do this! What should I do?!”
    “Get through your songs, then look around and find the safest man you see. Go sit on his lap, put your arms around his neck, talk to him—and look like you’re enjoying yourself—or you’ll be the next ‘bride’ floating in the creek.”
    Fannie went to the door and opened it. Lilly wasn’t surprised to see the woman standing outside. Did she hear us talking? Fannie didn’t say another word before she slipped past Mrs. Mason and walked down the hall to her own room.
    Mrs. Mason practically dragged her out of her room and handed her over to Mr. Hardesty at the top of the main room stairway. Lilly wished she could have covered her chest, but her white shawl had conveniently