“Sure.” Frances did her best to give a nonchalant shrug. “Are you looking at Mendelssohn or Wagner? Or would you like something more modern?” She expected her future sister-in-law to choose something traditional.
“You’re the one who must play it, and you have the musical training.” Judith spoke the words slowly, as though she were choosing her words carefully. “Could you suggest something different and yet elegant?”
“I think I could do justice toPrince of Denmark’s Marchon the church organ, especially if we could get Edith here to play her violin.” Frances grinned. “Though, I don’t know how your English nobleman step-grandfather-in-law would take to that.”
The corners of Judith’s mouth twitched. So, shedidhave a sense of humor.
“Yes, Edith should play the violin,” Doris said.
“Why didn’t you perform at the Christmas Fair last month?” Maude asked.
“Because Abe only got me a new one for my birthday last fall.” Edith sank back into her chair, her cheeks flushing. “I hadn’t played it in years. I’m self-taught, and the cowhands are used to fiddling rather than classical music.”
“All the more reason we should expose them to how the instrument was meant to be played.” Judith shifted her gaze back to Frances and asked, “Would you suggest anything else?”
“I suppose it depends on what kind of entrance you want to make as you walk down the aisle. There’s Mouret’s Rondeau.” Frances stared at her sister-in-law, considering everything the woman had been through in the last year. “Have you ever heard ofDance of the Blessed Spiritsby Christoph Willibald Gluck?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Do you mind?” Frances didn’t wait for an answer but rose and went to the upright piano in the corner. She began to play and said, “Now imagine some strings doing a descant.”
She closed her eyes and lost herself in the song. Back in Indianapolis, when they were younger, her sisters would tease her that she knew songs so well she could play them blindfolded. Never one to pass up a challenge, she’d tried playing without looking at the keys—and discovered a new way to experience the music.
When Frances finished the song, she opened her eyes and found Judith standing near the piano, her eyes glistening.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered, looking at Frances then, as though seeing her for the first time. “You have a rare gift. Have you not considered seeking further training?”
An image of her father handing Frances the letter flashed through her mind again, followed by his collapse. She would never be able to think of studying music without remembering the pain of that loss. Her throat tightened so she couldn’t speak, and her eyes burned with tears she refused to shed in front of the others. She shook her head and strode to the window.
“I don’t understand,” Judith said.
“Our father’s last gift to her, the night he died,” Maude said quietly, “was the acceptance letter to a new school of music.”
“Then she must attend the school,” Judith cried. “Such a talent, especially in a woman, must not be wasted.”
Frances turned around to face them. “You know as well as anyone that our uncle controls our inheritances, and we haven’t seen a dime. Am I supposed to beg the money from Luke, who’s already done so much for us by taking us in?” When some of the ladies started to argue, Frances held up her hand. “That life is over. Besides, I can vote in Wyoming, when I’m twenty-one. I can’t do that in New York or Indiana. I’ll never go back to either of those places to live. Now you know what processional you want, you should consider your prelude music.”
* * *
Nick hammeredin another nail on the corral fence. It’d frozen hard the night before, and the air was beginning to feel like snow again. All the muddy footprints were now hard ridges which made walking treacherous. He’d thought he wouldn’t miss the freezing cold, but he decided the mud was worse. If Luke hadn’t assured him spring weather wasn’t usually bad, Nick might have been tempted to go back home to Texas.
Well, that and Frances being here.
“Hey, Reynolds, I did it,” Andy Pulsifer, one of the other hands at the Lucky L said, maneuvering his way around the frozen ruts.
“Did what?” Nick asked.
“Weren’t you listening last night?” The tall, skinny man grinned. “All these plans for Mr. Hamblin’s wedding got some of us older men talking. The parson pulled me aside at church on Sunday and asked why I hadn’t settled down yet. Then, when I went into town today to pick up the mail, I saw that Mrs. Champion heading to the train station to pick up some of them mail-order brides of hers. I made the decision right then and ordered one for myself.”
The corner of Nick’s eye twitched. It was a good thing Frances wasn’t there.
“What?” Pulsifer asked, looking defensive.
“Well, I ain’t about to tell a man how to find himself a wife. A couple of men back home got mail-order brides.” Nick picked up another board and held it out to see how badly it was warped.
“And?”
“Well, one got on right fine with the woman, and they have a passel of kids now. She’s a hard worker and doesn’t mind living out in the middle of nowhere. The other fella wasn’t so lucky. His wife come from a bigger city. He was able to give her a better living than what she’d had back there, but she couldn’t take the loneliness. After their second baby was born, her melancholy got so bad she just took off one day. Left him with those two little kids to raise on his own.” Nick shrugged. “All I can say is you should try to get to know the lady before she comes out here. Lilac City’s growing, and there’s lots more people. Maybe the right woman is on her way here this very moment, unbeknownst to you. Something else to think about, where are you going to live? In town or were you wanting to buy some land?”
