"Anne button me up." Anne rolled her eyes behind her book before looking
up. "Please Anne button me up?" The little boy looked up at her pleadingly
his mouth in a pout.
"Okay Peter come closer so I can do this properly." Anne said as she put down the book. She quickly buttoned up his waistband and gave him a pat on the bottom.
"Thanks Anne." Peter responded giving her a gap-tooth smile.
"You're welcome Peter." Anne said picking her book back up. She had only just gotten back into her book she was interrupted yet again.
"Anne do you really want to leave this all behind?" A gentle voice asked from the nursery doorway.
"What do you mean Mother?" Anne asked with a sigh.
"You know that you'll be leaving this all behind when you leave tomorrow. It is hard to believe that you could do that for a man you barely know." Gladys said sitting down next to her daughter on the window seat.
"Mother you didn't know Father before you married him. Your parents arranged your marriage. I have prayed about this, quite a lot. I think this is the best thing for me, I think it was a blessing that Father brought that paper home from New York with that ad in it." Anne tried to explain it all as best she could.
"I know you have prayed about this, as have your father and I. But this isn't like our marriage, in the most important difference is that we do not know anything about your young man, not even his name. He even has admitted that the name in the ad wasn't his. Your father is worried that you might not be as prepared as you think." Gladys explained as gently as possible.
"Mother, I don't think there is any more that I can do to be more prepared." Anne said silently thinking that there was probably no situation she had ever been less prepared for.
"Anne, are you sure about this? There are some very nice boys that live right here in Boston."
"Mother, I don't think that any of the nice boys here are the person that God had in mind for me. I'm going to Texas for this young man, and there is very little you can do to change my mind. Please just be happy for me, I don't want to leave Boston if you and Father are mad at me." While Anne was nervous about her decision and she still wasn't totally sure about leaving her family, she knew she didn't want to leave home without her parents' blessing.
"Anne I am not mad at you. I couldn't be upset with you because you did what you know is probably best. I just wish that we could have more time."
"Why would we need more time? My hope chest is full, I have all the books on housekeeping that anyone could ever need, and we have had the discussion. Mother I am as prepared as you can ensure." Anne said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Anne's mother nodded slowly as the clock in the hall chimed the hour. "Alright Anne we'll discuss this after dinner, the cook has made your favorite meal." She rose and walked out of the room.
Anne watched her go with a shake of her head. Her mother was trying, actually both her mother and father were trying but it didn't take a genius to realize they weren't totally behind Anne or her decision to marry the young man from the ad. It wasn't as if this sort of thing happened in their circle of friends. Of course Anne was a bit of an embarrassment to her parents. Thought it hadn't been mentioned lately, her parents had been very disappointed that she had yet to marry.
Anne really couldn't understand why they were so against this. They were the ones who had been pushing her to marry. They were the ones who wanted her to settle down. So she wasn't going to settle down with Alexander Howell Thurstien the Fourth, well she couldn't be a Thurstien. And if her parents couldn't understand that, then they would find out that they were going to lose their daughter. There was nothing that they could do to change her mind.
When the paper had arrived bearing the advertisement for a mail-order bride Anne had been intrigued. She had answered the advert on a whim, thinking that no one was going to write back to her. She had been quite surprised then when a letter addressed to her from the mysterious Jack Francis had arrived with the evening post a month later.
Anne's sister Claire was thrilled to say the least. "Good now I can seriously look at getting married." She had said cheerfully.
Sadly Claire had been the only one of her family pleased with the news. Her parents had been furious at the thought that their little girl had answered such an advertisement. What would their friends think, what would their church think? These were the first questions from Anne's mother's mouth. The next two weeks were the hardest for Anne. On one hand she was ready to be an independent woman. She had been sneaking out to suffragette meetings since she was fourteen and the idea of being an independent woman was appealing to no end.
But then again her family was very important to her, and their approval or disapproval did still carry a lot of weight. In the end Anne's independent spirit won out. And she had sent a letter to Mr. Francis agreeing to come out. His next letter told her how to get in touch with his solicitor, a Mr. Denton. Mr. Denton had sent her the money she had needed for the train ticket. She had packed and she was ready all that was left now was to face her family one last meal.
As she entered into the formal dining room she was surprised by the fact that all of her siblings were present, as well as her grandparents and a few of her aunts and uncles. "Mother what is all of this?" She asked as her mother lead her to the head of the table.
"Well dear, since your father and I cannot persuade you not to leave for Texas we decided to throw a bit of a going away party for you. We want you to be happy dear and if this makes you happy this is what we want for you." Anne's mother said softly as she gave Anne a kiss on the check. "I do hope that you and your husband will come out to visit us as soon as possible."
"By next summer Mother I promise." Anne said with a smile as she sat down to enjoy one last meal with her family. Suddenly Texas didn't seem so scary. This was going to be an adventure, and with her family's support it would be a great one.
"Okay Peter come closer so I can do this properly." Anne said as she put down the book. She quickly buttoned up his waistband and gave him a pat on the bottom.
"Thanks Anne." Peter responded giving her a gap-tooth smile.
"You're welcome Peter." Anne said picking her book back up. She had only just gotten back into her book she was interrupted yet again.
"Anne do you really want to leave this all behind?" A gentle voice asked from the nursery doorway.
"What do you mean Mother?" Anne asked with a sigh.
"You know that you'll be leaving this all behind when you leave tomorrow. It is hard to believe that you could do that for a man you barely know." Gladys said sitting down next to her daughter on the window seat.
"Mother you didn't know Father before you married him. Your parents arranged your marriage. I have prayed about this, quite a lot. I think this is the best thing for me, I think it was a blessing that Father brought that paper home from New York with that ad in it." Anne tried to explain it all as best she could.
"I know you have prayed about this, as have your father and I. But this isn't like our marriage, in the most important difference is that we do not know anything about your young man, not even his name. He even has admitted that the name in the ad wasn't his. Your father is worried that you might not be as prepared as you think." Gladys explained as gently as possible.
"Mother, I don't think there is any more that I can do to be more prepared." Anne said silently thinking that there was probably no situation she had ever been less prepared for.
"Anne, are you sure about this? There are some very nice boys that live right here in Boston."
"Mother, I don't think that any of the nice boys here are the person that God had in mind for me. I'm going to Texas for this young man, and there is very little you can do to change my mind. Please just be happy for me, I don't want to leave Boston if you and Father are mad at me." While Anne was nervous about her decision and she still wasn't totally sure about leaving her family, she knew she didn't want to leave home without her parents' blessing.
"Anne I am not mad at you. I couldn't be upset with you because you did what you know is probably best. I just wish that we could have more time."
"Why would we need more time? My hope chest is full, I have all the books on housekeeping that anyone could ever need, and we have had the discussion. Mother I am as prepared as you can ensure." Anne said resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
Anne's mother nodded slowly as the clock in the hall chimed the hour. "Alright Anne we'll discuss this after dinner, the cook has made your favorite meal." She rose and walked out of the room.
Anne watched her go with a shake of her head. Her mother was trying, actually both her mother and father were trying but it didn't take a genius to realize they weren't totally behind Anne or her decision to marry the young man from the ad. It wasn't as if this sort of thing happened in their circle of friends. Of course Anne was a bit of an embarrassment to her parents. Thought it hadn't been mentioned lately, her parents had been very disappointed that she had yet to marry.
Anne really couldn't understand why they were so against this. They were the ones who had been pushing her to marry. They were the ones who wanted her to settle down. So she wasn't going to settle down with Alexander Howell Thurstien the Fourth, well she couldn't be a Thurstien. And if her parents couldn't understand that, then they would find out that they were going to lose their daughter. There was nothing that they could do to change her mind.
When the paper had arrived bearing the advertisement for a mail-order bride Anne had been intrigued. She had answered the advert on a whim, thinking that no one was going to write back to her. She had been quite surprised then when a letter addressed to her from the mysterious Jack Francis had arrived with the evening post a month later.
Anne's sister Claire was thrilled to say the least. "Good now I can seriously look at getting married." She had said cheerfully.
Sadly Claire had been the only one of her family pleased with the news. Her parents had been furious at the thought that their little girl had answered such an advertisement. What would their friends think, what would their church think? These were the first questions from Anne's mother's mouth. The next two weeks were the hardest for Anne. On one hand she was ready to be an independent woman. She had been sneaking out to suffragette meetings since she was fourteen and the idea of being an independent woman was appealing to no end.
But then again her family was very important to her, and their approval or disapproval did still carry a lot of weight. In the end Anne's independent spirit won out. And she had sent a letter to Mr. Francis agreeing to come out. His next letter told her how to get in touch with his solicitor, a Mr. Denton. Mr. Denton had sent her the money she had needed for the train ticket. She had packed and she was ready all that was left now was to face her family one last meal.
As she entered into the formal dining room she was surprised by the fact that all of her siblings were present, as well as her grandparents and a few of her aunts and uncles. "Mother what is all of this?" She asked as her mother lead her to the head of the table.
"Well dear, since your father and I cannot persuade you not to leave for Texas we decided to throw a bit of a going away party for you. We want you to be happy dear and if this makes you happy this is what we want for you." Anne's mother said softly as she gave Anne a kiss on the check. "I do hope that you and your husband will come out to visit us as soon as possible."
"By next summer Mother I promise." Anne said with a smile as she sat down to enjoy one last meal with her family. Suddenly Texas didn't seem so scary. This was going to be an adventure, and with her family's support it would be a great one.
