Educating Autumn

By Jane B. Night

Autumn is devastated when her father announces he has sold her to a complete stranger. Her mother and sister are heartbroken but their pleas do nothing to stop the wedding. Autumn is married to Orion Louis and taken far away to Roseway Farms to live on her husband's family estate.
Once there, she is shocked by his family and close friends. Their behaviors border on unlawful.
Then, she finds a journal from one of Orion's ancestors and learns that everything she's ever been taught was a lie.
Armed with the new information Autumn must decide who she will be. If she rejects the information she will never have a happy marriage. If she accepts the information she will be forever separated from the mother and sister she loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BZ Publishing LLC
• Release date: Feb 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301143351

Book preview

Part I: The Girl

Chapter 1

Suppertime in the Clare household was a busy time. Autumn Clare had just finished mashing potatoes when she heard the front door open, followed by the thump of boots on the wooden floor. Autumn turned to Katrina, her twin sister, and watched her empty a pitcher of water into a large basin.

I do hope the man I marry is not a farmer. I hate mopping up the muck they track in, Katrina said softly. There she was again, thinking about marriage.

Autumn never ceased to be amazed by how different she and her twin were. Looks-wise, Katrina resembled their mother. She was tall for a girl, and too thin. She had subtle curves and adequate breasts. Her most distinctive feature was her straight strawberry blond hair. Autumn, on the other hand, had been told that she resembled her father’s mother. Autumn had never met her grandmother, who had died shortly after her parents married. Autumn was shorter than her sister but not excessively for a girl. She was heavier than her mother and sister but not overweight. She had pronounced curves. Autumn had wavy auburn hair that hung just past her waist. Their looks were not the only thing that differed. Katrina was the perfect wife in training. She was quiet, efficient, and obedient. Autumn knew she was none of those things though she tried to be. Their last birthday had put them at the age of marriage, and ever since they had blown out their candles Katrina had been talking about becoming a wife. Autumn knew she wasn’t ready.

Autumn, Katrina, and their mother carried serving plates full of food out to the serving table then stepped to the side and waited for grace. Autumn’s father and four brothers were seated at the table. Josiah, Lawrence, Hamish, and Peter had all been named after Josiathan kings.

Josiah had been the first man to establish a country after the underground age. He was a boy still when the vaults opened releasing the people who had been saved from the wrath of God’s hands.

Hamish was the son of King Josiah who put it into written law that in Josiathan, only men could attend schools, be involved in politics, and in the military. He also wrote the property laws that allowed a father to sell his daughters to a man wanting a wife. Hamish was a staunch defender of women. The laws of Hamish also protected a woman’s virtues. The laws made rape a crime punishable by castration. The law made sex with a virgin who a man was not married to a criminal offense.

King Lawrence had written out the country’s welfare code that protected the poor. He had also written the laws regarding estates and property transfer throughout generations from fathers to sons. King Lawrence was best known for creating a strong military force to protect Josiathan.

Peter had been born just days after King Peter, who was the current monarch, took the throne.

Autumn’s father bowed his head and clasped his hands in front of him. Lord, we are thankful for this food which you have seen fit to provide us with. We are thankful for a good spring rich in lambs. We are grateful that you led our ancestors out of the underground to such a rich and fertile land. We are grateful for the second chance you have given our people. Keep us humble before you. Fill us with a desire to follow you. Amen.

Autumn watched her brothers unclasp their hands and attack the plates of food. She hoped they left some potatoes for her tonight.

I have an announcement to make, her father said. Lawrence and Peter sat back in their chairs at once. Hamish and Josiah looked up, but continued to load their plates.

David Snodgrass came to see me today. He made an offer to take Katrina as his wife. I have accepted his offer. Katrina, you are to be congratulated.

The breath caught in Autumn’s throat. She had not expected her sister to be spoken for so quickly.

Her father gave a nod excusing the women. They now had leave to go to the kitchen and prepare the desserts. After they had served dessert and after the men had eaten their fill and returned to work the women would be able to eat their supper. In the kitchen, Autumn and Katrina worked on dishes while their mother put the finishing touches on dessert.

You are lucky, Katrina, to have been chosen as a wife by such a well bred man. Life is much easier for a wife in the city than it is for one in the country. You will be lucky to have women nearby to socialize with, and your children will have plenty of friends, her mother said.

I am quite happy to have been chosen by David Snodgrass, Katrina said.

I will hope for as worthy a match for you, Autumn, her mother said.

I am in no hurry to be married, Autumn said quietly.

You are old enough to be starting your own family and making your own home.

Autumn yawned as she and her sister lay in the bed they shared that night and listened to their parents talking downstairs.

David and Katrina are a good match, Autumn’s father said.

I am pleased with the husband you have found for Katrina, her mother replied.

David Snodgrass will be one of the wealthiest men in Willow Springs after he inherits his father’s business.

I will be sending Katrina to Mr. White’s store later this week to get fabric so I can make a nice dress for the announcement of her engagement.

Remind her that she doesn’t belong to a rich man yet. I cannot afford something overly fancy. We had a good lambing this spring but not as good as I had hoped.

I was going to have the girls get a few things at Mr. Snodgrass’s store as well, Autumn could hear her mother’s caution. When she married, would her husband view a bit of lace or some extra seasoning a squandering of his hard earned money?

Remind Katrina to act her best. I wouldn’t want David to change his mind. He offered a good price for her.

Katrina always acts properly, her mother replied softly.

Be sure Autumn is reminded to act properly also.

She does try. She is just spirited.

Spirited girls don’t get husbands. She is old enough to marry and I want to find a husband for her as soon as possible. I will even take less than she is worth. I don’t want her being another Laurie Rothman. That girl reached her age two years ago and they still haven’t found a man to take her, Autumn’s father declared. Laurie Rothman was Autumn‘s best friend next to Katrina. Autumn was sure that Laurie’s lack of a husband was not due to her being spirited, but being plain and a bit dim.

I am sure you will find a husband for Autumn soon enough. Then there was silence.

Autumn rolled over to face her sister. Are you happy about your engagement? Autumn whispered. She and Katrina always had to whisper when they talked because they shared a room with their brothers. The room was separated in two by a large quilt, but the quilt did little to absorb sound. Even as they spoke, Autumn could hear her brothers snoring.

You know that I am. I will have a wealthy and handsome husband, and maybe in a year or two, a baby, Katrina said.

I don’t think David is all that handsome, Autumn said.

I do. And I don’t see how you can say that. Are you jealous?

Jealous?

I will be marrying a well bred man in town. You are not yet spoken for. You could end up married to a poor farmer like father.

I hope I marry a man with more wit and intelligence than our father, Autumn said.

That is unkind. You should hope you marry at all. It is no secret that people think you are peculiar. It is like they know that you can read just like a man. Katrina said the word read too quiet even for Autumn to hear clearly.

No one knows that other than you.

People may not know, but they can sense you are different, Katrina said.

Of course I am different. I am not nearly as content as the others to cook and clean. I want to be a part of the adventures I have read about. I want to see a mountain and sail the ocean. I don’t understand how other people cannot want those things. Still, like you I will probably die in Willow Springs having never seen or done anything in my life.

Then you might die a respectable woman. Once you are married your reading days will be over. You will be much too busy running your household to waste time with books. Plus, I bet your husband will not be as absentminded as our brothers and leave his books strewn about so that a missing one will not be noticed.

Perhaps.

What kind of wife will you be if you are reading a book all day instead of tending to your chores. You will not have me there to tell you to put the book down and hurry to your chores before someone notices. If it were not for me, you would have been found out by now, Katrina said.

I know and I love you for helping me even though you disapprove.

I would not want to see what father would do to you if he found out. I also would not wish that shock on mother.

No. Neither would I. Autumn had been afraid of being discovered since the day she made up her mind to learn to read. She had nightmares from time to time of being found out. Nightmares in which her mother died of shame.

Chapter 2

The morning fog started to clear from Orion’s brain as he yawned lazily. He did not yet have the motivation to open his eyes and view the new day. He would finish the journey to his uncle’s home in Willow Springs carrying the handkerchiefs to his uncle from his mother. He was still adjusting to the solitude of the journey. Until four years ago, he had made the journey with the companionship of his brother. Then, William had left home to attend the University of Retois.

Orion finally opened his eyes and after a quick period of adjustment looked over the room. He was not in his bedroom at his parent’s house in Catseye Valley. He was at Madame Valentine’s inn in Venitia, a port town, directly between Catseye Valley and Willow Springs. The towns were all in the country of Josiathan, but to step into Venitia from Catseye Valley was like stepping into another world.

William had explained that the king had ordered certain moral restrictions lifted in the country’s two port towns, Venitia and Baston. The king had felt that by doing so he could encourage commerce with the other heathen countries in the world.

The history books Orion had been taught from at school declared that in the days of calamity, God had destroyed the earth after using the great prophet Nasp to rescue a few chosen people. The most righteous of those people and their descendants lived in Josiathan, which explained the demanding laws the citizens were expected to uphold, even though neighboring countries often scoffed in disgust at their way of life. The other countries in the world did not share Josiathan beliefs and so were considered heathen by the people of Josiathan.

Sensibly, the kings of Josiathan didn’t let heathen status hurt economics. Orion felt fortunate that the rulers of Josiathan, Pacifican, and Retois had reached an understanding about travel and trade. If they had not then he would not have been preparing to go to school on Retois. And, he would not have spent the evening in Venitia with such pleasant company.

Thinking of the journey ahead, Orion sat up hesitantly and pulled on his clothes. He knew he must get started on his journey and the sun was already visible in the sky. He decided he needed breakfast first to regain his strength. Then, he swore to himself he would head to his uncle’s and not let the seductive promise of another night in the warm arms of a woman keep him. It wasn’t a matter of money. Orion could have afforded to spend the rest of his life at the Inn and still have adequate coins left. Time, though, was of the essence. He had much to do before he left for Retois.

The restaurant beneath the inn was only half full. It was much too early for men who had no plans to be roused from their sleep after an exhaustive night. Orion sat at a small table in the back corner. He gently ran his fingers over the blue and white checkered tablecloth as he waited for one of the girls.

A slim girl modestly dressed in a pink frock came to his table and took his order and poured him a coffee. Orion was about to savor his first sip, when a woman wearing a black silk dress with a slit up one leg and a V-neck that revealed the tops of her breasts, breezed into the room. Orion watched as she glided from table to table and chatted with the different people, mostly men, as they enjoyed their breakfast. He had noticed from his first visit that she rarely stayed long at the table of any man from Josiathan. She must have known her Pacifican ways seemed unwomanly to them as she spoke freely and laughed casually. Women on Josiathan rarely spoke to men. Women on Josiathan, with the exception of the Venitian and Baston women, knew their place. Seeing a woman such as Madame Valentine act so freely was utterly discomforting to the traditional Josiathan men. Madame Valentine did not wish to cause her Josiathan patrons discomfort so she spent much more time being friendly with the foreign tradesmen who stayed at her inn on their business trips.

It did not take long for Madame Valentine to arrive at Orion’s table. She pulled up a chair and sat across from him. He had grown fond of her on his visits and he looked forward to her matronly company.

Off to Willow Springs to see your uncle and cousins again? she asked.

Naturally, Orion said.

How are your brother and his new bride?

Not yet back from their honeymoon.

I hope I will get to meet her. I have always liked Retois women, Madame Valentine said. And when do you start at the University?

In four months. I have already been accepted into the University of Retois animal medicine program.

Are you planning to bring home a bride like your brother did?

I wish to marry but I do not think I will find the girl I am looking for there. Retois women are much too wild for my taste. There is nothing wrong with women being equal to men, but on Retois and Pacifican women drink with men, smoke pipes, and have sex freely. I just can’t see them being decent wives.

I can understand why you see things that way. I was an educated woman with ideas about changing the world for the better and helping women in underdeveloped countries. Because of my dream I never made Ethan, God rest his soul, much of a wife. Perhaps a Josiathan woman would be more pleasing to you?

Except for my mother, Josiathan women are mindless submissive creatures. I want a companionable woman who wants to be by my side and who I can make a life with where we are equals in love and working towards a common goal.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

I’m not sure if a woman like that is even real in this world.

Make her real then, Orion. I see the changes my girls have gone through after being freed from their prisons of miserable marriages. People do not have to stay who they are born. I did not. I am Madame Valentine but before I set up this inn I was Roberta Manning. Take a woman as a wife and let her become Mrs. Orion Louis.

I am not sure it is that simple, Orion objected.

Nothing good ever happens to a person without their effort. You will never know until you try, Madame Valentine said. She gave his hand a squeeze before moving on to the next table.

Orion finished his breakfast and then went out to the stable where Sam, the stable boy, already had Orion’s horse, Rusty, ready for the day’s ride.

When Orion arrived at Mr. White’s clothing store it was evening. Orion was tired from his journey and relieved to finally be at his destination. He tied Rusty to a post and then he walked slowly into his uncle’s store. The shop was basic with the walls on each side filled with wool, thread, fabrics, and other sewing supplies. About seven feet directly across from the door was a counter. Behind the counter stood a man who was busily jotting in a ledger.

Uncle, Orion called to him.

Nephew, it is good to see you, Mr. White said as he closed the ledger and stepped forward to shake Orion’s hand.

It is good to see you also.

Did you bring the handkerchiefs? Mr. White said with what Orion felt was a slight mocking of his mother’s hobby.

Of course. They are loaded on my horse out front.

Your father wrote to me that you needed clothes for college. Mr. White said. Orion nodded as he thought how ridicules it was that his father had to write his mother’s brother. His father had taught his mother to read and write before Orion was born. How sad that her own brother would feel shame if he knew.

That is correct. I will be departing this fall. I will have to ride to Baston and take a ship there to Retois, Orion explained.

"Your father insists on sending you boys away to that heathen school. Why can’t he send