Trinity: Bride of West Virginia (Amercan Mail-Order Bride 35) Read Online Free PDF Page B

possible.
    When things did not finish as quickly as I liked, I desperately sought something to distract myself, an image popping into my mind. A man’s face appeared then, his disapproving scowl firmly fixed. When he spoke, his richly timbered voice sounded insulting and callous, his barbs hitting close to the heart. But, why did I think of Nathanial at this particular moment?
    The deed over, my husband fell to his side, panting. I stared at nothing overhead, seeing deep shadows where the canopy hung. Snores resonated a moment later, my heart sinking. He wouldn’t sleep in this bed, would he? To compound matters, I needed to wash. Slipping from the mattress, I dressed quickly, wrapping the robe around myself. I hurried from the room, yearning to escape.
    In the water closet, I filled the tub, finding tooth powders, horsehair toothbrushes, face cream made out of orange flower and olive oil, and rose water, using the latter to scent the bath. Stepping into the heated water, I lathered my skin with soap, wanting desperately to wash away any trace of my husband, hating the way his perspiration lingered on me. I cleaned my hair as well with bicarbonate of soda, which had been mixed with fragrant herbs.
    Emerging clean and refreshed, I dressed, sliding my feet into the slippers. Combing through the wet hair, I let it hang down my back, dampening the fabric. Having a bath to myself was a luxury, because I had to share a communal one at the boarding house, often with little privacy and bathing with women and their children.
    “It wasn’t so bad, was it?” I whispered, thinking of what had happened not that long ago. No. It hadn’t been as horrid as I thought, but I dreaded having to repeat the experience, although I knew I would.
    Turning off the light a short while later, I left the room, traipsing down the carpet to my bedroom, waiting by the door. I heard snoring within, the sound quite loud. I leaned my forehead against the door, not wanting to go in. What would I do? How could I sleep with such noise? I left then, taking the stairs in the dark, although a light or two had been left on.
    Wandering around aimlessly, I listened to the sound of a clock ticking in another room, the snoring from upstairs still audible from where I stood. Entering the parlor, I escaped into the shadows, the darkness welcome. Approaching the curtains, I moved them aside, staring at the vast expanse of the lawn, the light of the moon barely visible. A dog barked somewhere, a light flashing in the distance from another house.
    “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” asked a voice directly behind me.
    Stunned, I gasped. “You scared me.”
    “I thought I heard someone in the bath.”
    I faced Nathanial, seeing a man in shadow, who loomed imposingly, the breadth of his shoulders filling my vision. For some odd reason, I had thought of him earlier, when I had been with my husband, the image inappropriate, yet comforting.
    “Are you all right?”
    “No,” I whispered, startled that I had answered honestly, tears filling my eyes.
    He drew me into his arms, where I went willingly, inhaling the lightly floral scent of him, which came either from cologne or the freshly laundered nightshirt he wore. He had insulted me terribly earlier, treating me with cynicism and distrust, yet I found solace in the embrace, tears falling freely.
    “I’m not sure it can be annulled now,” he murmured.
    “I don’t know.”
    “You overheard our conversation earlier, didn’t you?”
    “Yes.” I sniffed.
    “You must understand why I question things. It came as quite a shock to discover my father was about to marry a woman younger than myself.”
    “I realize that.” I soaked up his warmth, pressing my nose to his shoulder.
    “Why on earth would anyone agree to become a mail order bride?”
    “The factory I worked in burned down. All of us girls were without jobs, and there was little hope of finding new ones.”
    “Don’t you have family?”
    “No. I’m an