Mail Order Bride: Rescued By Resolve: Rescued Western Historical Mail Order Brides, #6

By Kenneth Markson

Mail Order Bride Rescued By Resolve: A Historical Mail Order Bride Western Victorian Romance (Rescued Western Historical Mail Order Brides Book 6) is an action packed clean inspirational western romance. A pretty young woman is working as a maidservant in the home of a socially prominent family in Philadelphia, when she is falsely accused of stealing by a corrupt butler. Unable to find employment, she becomes a mail order bride hoping to have a better life with a rancher in Napa Valley, California. Then tragedy strikes. Will the rancher's handsome brother rescue her from the clutches of a greedy criminal? Will she have the resolve to right the wrong that has been committed, and will she find the love that she truly longs for? 

If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy Kenneth's Redeemed series or the other books in the Rescued series; "Mail Order Bride: Rescued By A Rascal," "Mail Order Bride: Rescued By A Rogue," "Mail Order Bride: Rescued By A Rake," "Mail Order Bride: Rescued By A Rover," and "Mail Order Bride: Rescued By A Romantic."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Markson
• Release date: Mar 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9780986252839

Kenneth Markson

While an English major at college, I wrote a column which was published weekly. I have been writing ever since. The old West and Los Angeles in the forties are eras which lend themselves to tales of romance, courage, and fast paced adventure. I particularly enjoy writing stories about the mail order brides who fearlessly took a chance and traveled West, hoping to find love and a better future. Many of the locales that I write about are places that I have either traveled through or actually lived in. I try to make my works richly accurate. My desire is to provide you with an entertaining and fun read. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children.

Book preview

To my wife and children, always.

Chapter 1

Madeline was sitting on a bench in Rittenhouse Square Park taking a brief lunch break from her job as a maidservant for John and Marion Hutchings, one of Philadelphia's socially prominent families.  Known originally as Southwest Square, this richly green park filled with many trees, had once been pasture grounds for local livestock.  But that was long ago.

Now the park was the playground for Philadelphia's upper crust.  Elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen strolled through the grounds as Madeline sat there, and their children happily played on the grass.  The park had been renamed after David Rittenhouse, a clockmaker and noted astronomer.

Rittenhouse Square itself was the most fashionable neighborhood in the city.  Bounded by Chestnut Street to the north, and Pine Street to the south, this area was the center of life for Philadelphia's business and banking aristocracy.  Walnut Street, where the Hutchings's mansion was located, was the most prestigious address of them all.

None of this history was on Madeline's mind, as she enjoyed a sunny Spring day in the park.  She smiled as a group of young children raced by her.  Madeline was just happy to feel the warmth of the sun, and smell the sweet scent of flowers and foliage in bloom.

Madeline Rogers was a pretty young woman of nineteen, with long blonde hair, honey brown eyes, and a sweet smile.  Madeline's mother died when she was very young, and she had been raised by her father.  Their relationship had been a strong and loving one, which ended four months ago, when Madeline's father died of a sudden heart attack.

Her father had been a poor but thoroughly decent man.  The legacy of his love helped sustain her through a period of intense grief.  Madeline's pain had somewhat subsided, but not a day went by when she didn't miss her father.

She was thinking of him, when she suddenly saw a sight which disturbed her.  The butler in charge of the Hutchings's household had walked quickly passed her bench.  Jerome, a tall man in his early forties, had dark brooding eyes, a hard face, and aquiline features.  He was so engrossed in his conversation with another man, that he failed to notice her sitting nearby.

There was something about Jerome that made Madeline uneasy the moment that she first saw him.  She couldn't put her finger on it, but then, she didn't need to.  Jerome's command was the law for the staff at the mansion.  Therefore, Madeline quickly put her misgivings aside.  Hers, she figured, was not to reason why, but just to do as she was told.

Madeline turned her body sideways, and concealed her face with her hand, trying not to be seen.  Jerome was not more than twenty feet away, with his back to her, as he spoke to the other man.

Here is what is owed you, Madeline heard the other man tell the butler. 

Madeline shot a glance at the short, stubby, rapidly balding man who was talking with Jerome.  Where had she seen that face before?  He looked awfully familiar.

Jerome took an envelope from the man's hand.  He pulled out some bills, quickly counted them, and then shoved everything into his pocket.

Good, he muttered audibly, with a smile.

The two men quickly parted ways; the short man heading towards the opposite end of the park, while Jerome walked briskly back in the direction of the Hutchings's mansion.  Jerome moved quickly past her, to her right, as Madeline concealed her face again with her hand.  Fortunately, the butler looked straight ahead with a contented look on his face, and wasn't at all concerned with the surroundings near him.

Madeline watched the short man departing quickly in the distance.  Then, it suddenly dawned upon her.  That man was the local grocer.  She had walked by his shop on several occasions in the past, and had seen his face from the window.

Why she thought to herself, was Jerome receiving money from the grocer, and pocketing it?  Why were they meeting clandestinely like a pair of criminals in the park?  She got up a bit unnerved, from the park bench.  The pleasantness of the afternoon which she felt earlier, had largely dissipated.

Chapter 2

Madeline walked back to the Hutchings's mansion on affluent Walnut Street.  She approached the fancy wrought iron gates surrounding the grounds.  The mansion was a grand piece of architecture; complete with marble stairs, an extended portico supported by columns, beautiful gardens, and elaborate window treatments with wrought iron details.  It was a far cry, she thought to herself, from the cramped quarters where she and her father had resided for years in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood.

Someday, Madeline hoped to be a school teacher, and work with young children.  But that would take more learning and education, than she currently possessed.  Right now, she was happy to have this job as a maidservant, which she needed desperately. 

Work was waiting for her, the moment that she walked through the door.  Jerome's hard face looked up at her sternly. 

Madeline, he barked, go clean my office, and be quick about it!  I want everything shining!  See to it, that nothing is disturbed!

Yes, sir, Madeline replied.

John Hutchings's grandfather had founded one of Philadelphia's preeminent banks.  As heir apparent to the throne, John was mainly away from the home throughout the day, heavily involved in the bank's affairs.  He was a tall, well dressed man with black hair, and somber dark eyes.  Based on her few encounters with him, Madeline did not find him terribly unpleasant.

Marion Hutchings was a tall, willowy woman with finely coiffed brown hair, and pale blue eyes.  She was always elegantly dressed, and nothing on her body ever seemed to be out of place.  As one of the arbiters of Philadelphia society, she was totally involved in social affairs and the whirl of society balls and parties.  Any conversation between her and Madeline, had been brief and minimal. 

She would hardly deign to be involved in the mundane matters of the household.  That left the day to day management of the affairs of the Hutchings's home in the hands of Jerome, the head butler.  Jerome oversaw the staff, and the procurement of all the goods and foodstuffs necessary to keep the household running.

Madeline went about her chore of cleaning the butler's small office.  She was in the process of dusting and polishing the furniture, when she noticed a ledger lying open on the desk.  One look at the figures on the