Nellie (The Brides of San Francisco Book 1) (2 page)

“Because she wasn’t mindin’ Bertha.”

Bertha was their cook, nursemaid and all-round helper. Nellie didn’t know what she would do without the woman and truly thought of her as a friend not a servant.

“I see. Violet? Were you misbehaving for Bertha?”

She watched her little girl think about it and then shove her thumb in her mouth.
A sure sign of guilt.

“Uh huh,” her baby mumbled.

“Why were you being naughty?”

“It wasn’t nothin’, Nellie,” said Bertha, a short, round woman with an abundance of gray hair that she barely kept secure under a white cap. “She was just stealin’ a cookie.”

“Now, Bertha, it was not cookie time and she knows better.” She turned to her daughter. “As punishment, you will not get any cookies at cookie time today. You may have your milk, and you will sit at the table until Henry finishes his cookies and milk.

Lip trembling, Violet started to cry.

“I don’t want to hear it, young lady. Your tears will only get you more punishment, so if you want to stay in your room for the rest of the day, go ahead and cry.” Nellie kept her voice soft. Violet was still a baby in many ways, being only two, but she needed to know the rules and the punishments were real. Setting boundries was the only way, Nellie could be sure she’d mind.

Violet stopped crying immediately and sniffled. “Henry be in room wit me?”

Nellie snorted and locked her lips together so she would not laugh. She took a deep breath and swallowed before she could answer. “No, Henry will not be playing in your room. If you want to play with Henry, you have to do what I say.”

Violet looked up at her mother, her sweet face total innocence. Her green eyes so like Nellie’s own, it was almost like looking in a mirror. “What you say?”

Nellie smiled and Bertha hooted. Henry just shook his head. She guessed when you’re only two years old, you’re allowed to forget punishments for things that happened so long ago as five minutes.

“Never mind, angel. You go upstairs to your room and play until Mommy comes and gets you. Okay?”

“Okay.” She skipped and hopped and then ran out of the room.

“She’s not going to remember at cookie time,” said Henry sagely as he shook his head.

“I know,” she sighed. “For now, being in her room will have to serve as her punishment.”

“It’s not fair,” pouted Henry.

“I know it’s not but you were two once, too,” she reached out and stroked his hair, uncovering his eyes.
She must remember to get his hair cut. “
and you got the same punishments or lack of them that she does. You just don’t remember. Now go get a cookie and go play outside.”

He brightened at the prospect of an extra cookie. “Thanks, Mama.” He turned and rushed away toward the kitchen.

“You spoil those children,” Bertha said, with a slight smile.

“No more than you do.” She needed to talk to Bertha, who’d been with Nellie since she was Violet’s age. “Bert, I found a man who wants to marry me. He’s in San Francisco.”

“That’s a
long
way away, Nellie,” said Bertha, a frown creasing her brow.

That was all that Bertha said, but the statement spoke volumes. Nellie would not leave without Bertha, who had no family. Even though Nellie would give her a good reference there was no guarantee she’d find another position. And…she was family.

“I’ll tell her I’ll accept.” She reached out and clasped Bertha’s hand. “but only if I can bring you. The matchmaker said, he’s a wealthy man and has already sent money for the ship passage for ‘the woman and any children she might have’.”

“That’d be wonderful,” said Bertha with watery eyes. “You’re my family, too, Nellie. The only family I have.”

“Good that’s settled. I’ll go back and see Mrs. Selby tomorrow. In the mean time, we can start packing. The ship leaves for San Francisco on April first.”

“Less than a month away. That’ll cut it close, but I’ll see it’s done,” said Bertha as she hurried off toward the kitchen.

Relief and excitement coursed through Nellie. As long as she had her children and Bertha, she could face anything.

The next day, first thing, she went to see Mrs. Selby. She wore her black wool shirt and jacket, a white shirt with standing collar and a small black hat with a veil. She was still in mourning, though she would end that as soon as they set sail. Three years might be the traditional time of mourning according to her mother-in-law, but she was tired of wearing only black and longed to wear an ensemble like Mrs. Selby’s emerald-green one. Anything but black.

She was practically bouncing when she entered Matchmaker & Co.

This morning, Mrs. Selby was standing at her filing cabinets. She turned toward the door when the bell rang at Nellie’s entrance.

“Mrs. Wallace, how nice to see you back this morning. Have you made your decision?”

“Yes, I’ve decided to accept Mr. Malone’s offer, with one proviso.”

Mrs. Selby, put the files she held on top of the file cabinet. “And what would that be?”

“I want to bring along my servant, Bertha. She is my nanny, my cook, my housekeeper and my friend. If she can’t come, then I won’t be accepting Mr. Malone’s offer.”

“No need to worry.” Mrs. Selby smiled. “Mr. Malone sent a substantial sum of money for his bride. Passage was to be purchased first, and the remainder was to be used to buy new clothes for his bride and her family. More than enough money is available for everything, including passage for Bertha.”

With that worry handled, Nellie smiled broadly and sat in the chair in front of the desk. “Wonderful. I’m even more excited to meet Mr. Malone.”

“Good. Let’s get this paperwork started.” She dipped a pen in an inkwell and wrote notes. “I’ll purchase your tickets. Four on the Southern Star for San Francisco. You can pick up your tickets next week. At that time I’ll give you the remainder of the money so you can outfit your family appropriately. The weather in San Francisco, I’m told is cold in the winter and warm in the summer. The temperatures sounds like they’re somewhat milder than New York. They don’t get snow like we do.”

“I don’t believe we’ll need much, with the exception of myself. I’ve been wearing mourning since my husband died, and I have nothing fashionable in anything except black.”

“Then you’ll have quite a good time purchasing clothes.”

“Just a few. There’s not enough time for much from the dressmakers. Perhaps they will have something ready-made.” She leaned forward. “That would be the perfect solution.”

“Here, take the address of my dress maker. She will help you out and she’s very fast. She has several Irish girls working in her shop, and I’ve sent clients her way before. She knows the deadlines you are under.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Selby. For everything.”

Nellie left the office, a new lightness in her step. Things would work out. Her children would not be thrown out into the street because she could no longer pay the rent. Her in-laws had graciously allowed her to stay in the guest house where she’d lived since she and Robert got married. Being indebted to them always rankled. And they never let her forget that if it not for the children, they would not have been so accommodating.

Well, they didn’t need to accommodate her any longer. She would take care of herself and her children. She was starting a new life. An exciting life.

If only she wasn’t scared to death.

CHAPTER 2

They set sail on April 1st 1867 and now it was June 2nd 1867. They’d been on a ship for two full months and all of them were glad to be back on dry land. They would take a while to get their land legs, as the sailors like to say. The sway of the ship was now ingrained so that when they walked they sort of swayed as though still on the ship. She was assured the wobbliness would go away in a few days.

It didn’t seem to bother the children much at all. Her ten-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, ran around the dock like a couple of hooligans. Nellie almost wanted to just let them run, but they needed to stop and so she put her foot down.

“Henry! Violet! Stop that and come here. Now.” Her voice was loud, almost a shout, in order to be heard over the din of the port workers loading and unloading the ships as they docked.

The children, came immediately.

“We’re sorry, Mama,” Henry said with a non-repentant smile. “It’s just so nice to be off the boat”

“I understand, but we have to get our cab for the hotel. Go and find Cora and Annie, please Henry.” She held out her hand until her daughter approached. “Violet, you stay with me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Henry, before he ran off toward the rear of the ship and the stairs to the cabins below deck.

Cora Jones and Annie Markum were also mail order brides from Matchmaker & Co. The three women befriended each other almost as soon as they met. Nellie took the two younger women under her wing, and during the long voyage, they formed a fast friendship.

Cora was a seamstress and helped teach Nellie how to alter her children’s clothing. Nellie might have to wait for two months for her new life to begin, but that didn’t mean the children stopped growing. She’d tried to bring several sizes of clothing but Henry was growing out of everything. One of the first things she’d have to do once she and Mr. Malone married, was to get Henry all new clothes.

Before their departure, she’d managed to purchase four new ensembles from Mrs. Selby’s dressmaker in the short time available. She got a lovely dress in pink satin with a bib of bright white lace, a dark blue velvet dress, and a black evening gown, done in the latest fashion. The fourth outfit she’d saved for today. It was an emerald-green skirt and matching jacket with black lapels. She wore it with a lacy white blouse with a tall, stand-up collar. She loved all the beautiful gowns, but this suit matched her eyes and she thought it was also business-like for her first meeting with Mr. Blake Malone.

The ladies all had accommodations at the Golden State Hotel, guaranteed, if necessary, for two months. Mrs. Selby said that would give them enough time to know if they still wanted to marry their chosen grooms. She was adamant that no woman feel she had no choice on the topic of marrying the man.

Nellie had to take a separate cab from the other two ladies. There were four of them, and with all of their luggage, the cab was completely full. Cora and Annie were able to take a conveyance together and their cab followed Nellie’s to the hotel.

The Golden State Hotel was something—grand and gaudy at the same time. Whoever had decorated it was very fond of the color red. The lobby carpet, drapes and furniture where all varying shades of red. She supposed the color was supposed to be luxurious, but to her it was atrocious. Thank goodness she would only have to put up with the accommodations for a short while.

Nellie stepped up to the registration desk and got the four of them checked in. Before she left the desk, she was handed a letter by the clerk.

“This was left for you, Mrs. Wallace.”

“Thank you.” Curiosity got the best of her and she glanced at the letter’s return address. It was from Mr. Malone and could wait until she got her family settled. She took the letter and stuffed it into her reticule. The accessory was now stuffed with her mints, all the money she had left in the world, and the remaining money from the amount Mr. Malone had sent. She intended to return his money to him prior to their marriage.

She was gathering her brood together to follow the bellboy to the room when she noticed a commotion around Cora. Two men were there—both quite handsome, both were being very vocal.

“Cora, are you all right?” asked Nellie, ready to aid her friend if needed.

“Yes, thank you,” she responded, though her voice sounded like she was crying.

Nellie was curious but decorum demanded that she respect her friend’s wishes. Besides, she would find out what was happening later.

“Come on then, family. We are in a suite of rooms. Let’s go see what it looks like.”

Their assigned rooms were huge, and a living area sat in the middle of two bedrooms. Bertha and the children would take the larger of the two rooms and Nellie would take the smaller.

Both bedrooms were richly furnished, and thank heavens, not in red. Each of them were done in varying shades of blue, from dark indigo in the drapes to the color of a pale sky in the bedspread. The linens themselves were stark white, and the beds were already turned down. Two double beds stood in the larger of the two bedrooms and one in the room Nellie would occupy.

“Bertha, will you get the children settled? I have some correspondence to take care of.” She sat on her bed, took the letter out of her bag and slid a finger under the seal.

May 15, 1867

My dear Mrs. Wallace:

I have sent this letter over with instructions that I be notified as soon as you arrive to collect it. I will come to your room the evening of your arrival, assuming the ship arrives as expected with the afternoon tide. I see no reason to put off our getting to know each other. Toward this endeavor, I propose that I take you and your family out for dinner the night of your landing in San Francisco.

Of course, you may decide that after being so long aboard ship, you only wish to rest and recuperate your first night in San Francisco. I can understand that. We can discuss it upon meeting.