"That's quite possible. Personal wealth was the only criteria he ever considered important in a suitor. The same goes for my sister, actually; at least, she won't even look at a man unless he's well-to-do. And some of those suitors would have followed her, to the ends of the earth if it meant they could win her. She's very good at keeping men dangling—and from finding out what she's really like."

"Is one of them coming then?" Kathleen asked. "That might be a solution."

"No. The one who offered to come, she cut him to the quick. And we departed so soon after the funeral, the others didn't even know she was leaving town."

"Well, we have good men here for her to choose from, a few who are even quite rich," Kathleen replied. "I can think of at least four offhand that I could easily approve of. She already knows one of them."

"Chad?"

"Yes, he's probably considered the best catch around these parts."

It wasn't going to be easy for her to talk about Chad and Amanda as a pair. She tried to be unbiased in doing so, without revealing her own feelings in the matter.

"She hasn't exactly been nice to him, since she had the impression that he was just an employee of yours, and that put him beneath her notice. Which doesn't mean he's not already smitten with her. Most men who meet her usually are. And now that she knows he's more than that, she might even consider him as a last resort."

Kathleen chuckled. "Chad would probably be highly insulted, to hear himself called a 'last resort.' "

Marian felt the blush starting. "Please don't repeat that to him. It's certainly not my opinion. It's just that Amanda isn't going to want any man from this part of the country when she has her mind set on forcing you to send her home so she can do as she pleases. But if she doesn't get her way in that, then yes, she'll probably pick a man here just to get it over with."

"Just to get it over with?" Kathleen repeated.

"If she does marry someone here, she'll badger him and make his life miserable until he agrees to take her home to Haverhill because she wont stay here any longer than she has to."

"I hate to say it, sweetie, but it would be a rare man indeed who would uproot himself for his wife's convenience. I turned down a half dozen proposals back home waiting for a man who didn't want to stay in Haverhill; I knew all those others would never consider leaving. A wife doesn't exactly have a choice in the matter."

"I know that, and you know that, but Amanda views things only from her own perspective, and that doesn't include being told she can't have what she wants."

"Yes, but she's gotten away with that because my brother let her. A husband isn't likely to tolerate that sort of nonsense."

"I hope you're right, Aunt Kathleen. I'd still pity the man if she has to marry one here. Actually, I'd pity any man she marries, no matter where. It's unfortunate, but I really don't think she will make a good wife. She doesn't have it in her to make someone else happy. She's too self-centered."

"Now that's too bad. Sounds like I'd be doing a man a disservice to allow him to marry her."

Marian groaned to herself. She hadn't wanted to give that impression. She wanted Amanda to get married just as much as Amanda now did.

"Not if he knows what to expect and wants her anyway," Marian offered.

"I suppose," Kathleen agreed reluctantly.

Marian sighed. "I didn't tell you all this to make your job seem impossible, merely to warn you about what to expect so you aren't manipulated into doing something against your better judgment."

"I understand that, sweetie, and I do appreciate it." And then Kathleen chuckled. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that giving me guardianship of Amanda was Mortimer's way of getting even for my taking myself out of his sphere of influence. He didn't like me, but he did like rubbing my nose in how useless he thought I was.

"I'm sure he didn't the before Amanda was settled in marriage just to spite you."

Kathleen grinned. "I know."

Marian smiled back, understanding now that her aunt had just been trying to lighten the mood some. She still had to caution her, "If you'll keep in mind that what you've seen so far is nothing compared to how bad it can get, you'll have an easier time dealing with it."

"What about yourself? It doesn't bother you that you have to wait on your inheritance until you marry?"

"I haven't given it much thought, actually, but then it's not something I expected this soon anyway. I guess I don't see marriage as a form of independence the way Amanda does."

"You aren't hankering to go home like she is?"

"No, I could care less if I ever see Haverhill again. Besides, I kind of like it here in Texas. I probably would have made a good pioneer."

Kathleen chuckled. "I know what you mean. I loved Texas from the moment I stepped off the boat. I'm glad those few mishaps you had on the way here didn't affect your opinion adversely."

Marian grinned. "I wouldn't exactly call train and stage robberies mishaps, but in reflection, they were probably more exciting than frightening, at least, certainly something I never would have had the chance to witness at home."

"It's too bad your sister didn't view them that way." Kathleen shook her head. "It's amazing that you two turned out so different."

"Not really. She's a result of our father's indulgence. I'm a result of his indifference."

"I'm sorry—no, actually, I'd say you were the lucky one. It probably didn't seem like it while you were growing up, but I'm sure you've realized it by now."

Lucky? Not yet. But soon—unless she had to stand back and watch Amanda marry Chad as a last resort. For her aunt's sake, though, she nodded. She'd given Kathleen enough to think about. The warning had been necessary. Discussing her own pathetic situation wasn't.

Chapter 27

MARIAN WANDERED OUT TO the stable later that morning. Her intention was to ask the first cowhand she came across if he wouldn't mind teaching her to ride. When Chad got around to setting up a time for his coerced lesson, she really hoped to be able to tell him no thanks, that she'd already been taught.

She was looking forward to being able to ride, even feeling somewhat impatient about it. Being so isolated out on the ranch had a lot to do with it. Spencer's carriage might still be taking up space in the stable, since he'd left too late to take it back to town with him, but it wasn't there for her use even if she knew how to hitch it up and drive it. Walking anywhere was out of the question, too, not that there was anything nearby worth reaching.

But unlike her sister, Marian already had it pretty much set in her mind that Texas was going to be her home permanently, and by choice. There wasn't a single thing that she missed about Haverhill. There was really nothing there for her but bad memories, so she had no desire at all ever to return there, or anywhere else back East, for that matter. And she rather liked this part of the country, despite the heat.

The openness, the raw, untamed nature of the place, traveling for days without seeing any form of setde-ment, the friendliness of the people—well, discounting the lawless element. It could be frightening, but it was also exhilarating. You simply never knew what was going to happen next. People didn't just live here, they adapted, they did without, they helped each other. They survived.

Yes, she would stay here. And whether she ended up living in a town or a good day's ride away from one like Kathleen did, she wanted to learn the things that everyone else seemed to take for granted out here. Riding a horse was at the top of that list.

She'd even borrowed one of her aunt's odd-looking riding skirts, or rather, breeches for the task. Made out of rawhide leather, the garment was so loose and wide, it looked like a skirt if she were just standing about in it, but once mounted on a Western-style saddle, they were more obviously very baggy breeches.

She was disappointed to find the stable completely empty, at least of people. There were four horses in stalls there, two of them Spencer's, and several more in the corral next to the stable. She decided to get acquainted with the horses, as long as she was there, and tried coaxing one to her for petting. It just swished its tail and ignored her. She tried another, but got ignored again.

She was hesitant to get any closer, with the stalls so narrow and the memory clear in her mind of seeing a horse gone wild on the street when she was a child. With its bucking, kicking, and biting, that horse had injured five men who tried to get it under control before its enraged owner finally shot it. She'd heard someone say how stupid the fellow was, that it was his own ill treatment of the animal that had caused it to rebel. None of these animals looked mistreated, but still, a memory like that was hard to shake off.

"Bring a sweet with you next time if you want to get his attention."

Marian turned toward the front of the stable. With the verbal coaxing she'd been doing, she hadn't heard anyone approach. And with such bright daylight directly behind him, he was just a dark silhouette there in the doorway to the stable, sitting quiedy on his horse, his hat tipped down low. But she knew that voice, knew it very well. Her heart was already beginning to pick up speed.

"I was just introducing myself," she explained.

He chuckled, rode farther in until the glare from outside was no longer obscuring his features from her.

"That's fine, except, without an offering, they could care less—which you've probably noticed."