Canon Fodder
Hatty Doran (Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton)
"Now this is cozy," the lady said, adjusting her skirt. "The way this room looks, you'd think you were right back in my time."
She sipped the excellent Red Rose tea I offered her. "Not that there's anything wrong with the rest of the place. It's bright and airy and tremendous big – like looking down the Grand Canyon – but this is my idea of a library. It feels … well, solid and important. Like there's a lot of wisdom gathered here."
"Do you like to read?" I asked.
"I do in the evenings, especially in the winter. I always was an out-of-doors woman. Am still. Ranch stock takes a lot of care, and there's keeping the kids healthy, happy and not too ornery. Reading a good tale in front of a warm fire puts the spirit back into a body." She blushed and her eyes twinkled. "Frank does too, but he's not as relaxin' as a good book."
I passed her the dish of assorted tea biscuits. "Did you ever regret not marrying Lord St. Simon?"
Mrs. Moulton laughed merrily. "Not from the second I saw my Frank looking at me from that church pew. I only married Lord Robert because Dad was keen set on it - and maybe because I sort of liked the idea of being called a lady." She smiled down at her teacup. "I'm glad Frank rescued me. Lord Robert and I wouldn't have fit together."
"Many rich American girls married peers …," I began.
"And many of them regretted it. Consuelo Vanderbilt's mom forced her to marry the Duke of Marlborough. He got the money and she got so much misery that she finally divorced him. It caused some scandal, but she didn't regret marrying that French aviator Balsan. Mind you, Jennie Churchill made good out of her marriage to Lord Randolph, and she put some drive and backbone back into that family. Winston was a credit to her.
"I know some heiresses did well from their marriages. Their husbands sure did, and so did their ancestral piles. But I think I did better. Robert was a stuffy old fogy really, with his talk of manners and living up to his exalted station. I don't know what possessed him to come out West, let alone court me. He was nice I guess, but so prim and proper. I would've been like Consuelo and divorced him after I gave him an heir – or I'd have been discreet. Frank and I married for love, and we've stayed in love through warts and bliss. We've had a long, good marriage and five of the nicest, smartest young'uns in the USA. I've no regrets."
"Did your dad accept your marriage to Frank?"
"He had to, didn't he?" She laughed. "But once he simmered down, he agreed we did right. All he wanted was the best for me, and being with him and Frank's been just that."