The Marriage Barter - Christine Johnson Orphan Train

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her moving. Someone instructed her to breathe deeply. Another person fanned air toward her. The window squeaked as it was raised.

      Gradually, Charlotte came to her senses, but nothing had changed. The selection committee still sat in front. Curtis Brooks was whispering something to the mayor, who rapped on the table to recall everyone’s attention.

      “I’m sorry, Widow Miller,” she began.

      Charlotte knew what that meant. She knotted her hands together until her knuckles turned white. She bit the inside of her lip until it bled, but physical pain could not dull the pain of her heart. Tears streamed unhindered down her face.

      Pauline Evans gave her a look of sympathy, but her words still hurt. “I’m sorry, but Miss Sterling confirmed that the Orphan Salvation Society makes no allowance for widows or widowers. You must be married to take in an orphan.”

      “But Sasha,” Charlotte squeaked, her heart breaking more than she thought possible. “She’s talking and playing like normal now. She calls me Mama.” She choked, unable to continue. How could they do this? She fought to regain enough composure to speak. “I’ve just lost my husband. Now you’re taking away my daughter?”

      Not Sasha. Please, not Sasha.

      “There is one solution,” Curtis Brooks said calmly. “You could marry.”

      Virtually everyone gasped at the scandalous suggestion.

      “Marry just days after she buried her husband?” Beatrice practically shouted. “She’s in mourning. If she married now, she’d dishonor her husband’s name. You can’t be serious.”

      “I’m completely serious.” Mr. Brooks fixed his gaze on Charlotte alone. “In difficult times, convention must be set aside in favor of the greater good. Jesus himself ignored the rules when the situation demanded it. On more than one occasion he worked miracles on the Sabbath to heal those in need. If Widow Miller is inclined to wed, we shouldn’t forbid it, lest we be like the Pharisees.”

      That quieted Beatrice, though she looked none too pleased. But Charlotte couldn’t see how this helped. Who would marry her so quickly? Who would make Sasha a good father? She glanced around the room and saw only husbands and men too young or too elderly to take on a thirty-one-year-old wife.

      She drew in her breath. “How long?” The question trembled in the warm air like a butterfly just emerging from the cocoon, weak and unable to fly.

      Somehow the committee knew what she meant. Mayor Evans glanced at Mr. Brooks for confirmation before she spoke. “Three days. You would need to marry before the judge hears Greenville’s case.”

      Three days? How could she find a husband in three days?

      Chapter Four

      The meeting ended, and many of the women gathered around Charlotte in support. She struggled to regain her composure, but Mayor Evans’s words echoed in her head.

      Three days.

      Marry in three days.

      “It isn’t right,” one woman said.

      Others echoed the same sentiment. Amelia Hicks squeezed Charlotte’s arm in sympathy.

      Charlotte could only nod. Her eyes were so blurred she couldn’t tell one woman from another, but she did know that none was Holly. She desperately wanted to talk to her friend. Holly would know what to do. She had a cartload of smarts, sky-high faith and bone-deep courage.

      Unfortunately, Holly had darted out of the room as soon as the meeting ended. Mason was gone, too. They were probably discussing what to do about Liam. Then Holly had to return to the schoolhouse to relieve whoever was watching the children. Charlotte would have to wait until after school to talk to her friend.

      “Poor dear.” Mrs. Ingersman, one of Beatrice’s cronies, hovered over her. “Such a ridiculous idea. Remarry when you’ve barely begun to mourn.” She clucked her tongue. “I can’t believe that banker would even suggest it. It’ll be hard at first to say goodbye to the girl, but it’s for the best. How could you ever hope to support a child all by yourself? Whatever Charles left you won’t last forever, you know, and you’re not a young woman anymore.”

      Amelia Hicks paled, but Charlotte’s hackles rose with every word. How dare anyone think she would give up Sasha? She wouldn’t. She’d do anything to keep her.

      Even marry. Marry! And she had to do it within three days. The only question was who. Who would be brave enough to step forward? She again scanned the men in the room. Every one of them had gathered across the room around Curtis Brooks. Not one looked in her direction.

      No wonder. They were all married.

      “It’ll be easier to find a husband without a child,” offered another of Beatrice’s cohorts. “Men don’t like to take on someone else’s family. They want their own children. They sure don’t want some hand-me-down foreigner.”

      Charlotte’s ears rang. The insufferable comments, the women pressing around her and the mock sympathy left her light-headed. “I think I need some air.”

      “Of course you do.” Mayor Evans cut through the crowd and steered her out of the hall and into the sunshine and fresh air.

      Charlotte gulped but still fought the light-headedness. Though still morning, the day promised to be a warm one, and the muggy air closed around her. Only a faint breeze tickled the bright green spring leaves.

      “Now take a deep breath,” Pauline said firmly, “and keep breathing slowly until your head clears.”

      Charlotte fought the swirl of fear, anger and tears as she took her breaths. What was she to do? Her head cleared, but not her distress. “I can’t lose Sasha. Please help me find a way to keep her.”

      Pauline patted her back the way a mother would console a daughter before pushing her out to face her fears. “I wish I had a better answer for you, but Mr. Brooks’s suggestion is the only option we could find.”

      “But how can I marry? Who?”

      Giles DeGraw ambled down the street in their direction. He was helping rebuild the mill and was probably on his way to the general store. The twenty-two-year-old bachelor halted the minute he saw Charlotte and did an about-face, hustling away at double speed.

      “Oh, dear,” Charlotte said. “Is that how every bachelor is going to react when he sees me?”

      “Maybe for a day or two, but they’ll get over it.”

      Pauline’s encouragement didn’t help. A day or two was all Charlotte had. Clearly no man would step forward of his own account. That meant she had to convince someone to marry her. But how? Beatrice was right about one thing. A lifetime commitment shouldn’t be entered into casually. Yet, for Sasha’s sake, Charlotte must find a man willing to marry her.

      “Ah, good. Miss Sterling.” Pauline withdrew her comforting arm to wave down Rebecca. “Perhaps you can see to Charlotte. I need to speak with Mr. Brooks.”

      As Pauline left, the Orphan Salvation Society agent approached with Amelia Hicks trailing behind her. Rebecca looked just as stricken as Holly. It took a second for Charlotte to realize why. Rebecca would have to take Sasha away from her and return the little girl to the schoolhouse, where the unclaimed orphans were staying. Charlotte’s heart pounded. Rebecca wouldn’t take her daughter away today, would she?

      Rebecca wrung her hands, elegantly covered in white lace gloves. “Charlotte?”

      Charlotte felt the blood drain from her face.

      Rebecca averted her gaze and took a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am.” She nibbled her lower lip. “Mr. Armstrong—he’s the head of the Society—insists we adhere to the rules.”

      Charlotte waited for the rest to fall.

      Rebecca hesitated. “I—I just wanted

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