Free Mail Order Bride: The Master: A Historical Mail Order Bride Story (Mail Order Brides) by Lily Wilspur Page B

worshiped him and hung on every compliment and encouragement he could wring from him. After years of torture from the previous School Master, in which his education suffered from the pure agony of going to school, Matthew blossomed under the Master’s steady kindness and praise. He loved learning now as passionately as he loved the Master. Learning and the Master became inextricably intertwined in Matthew’s mind.
    The Master’s one conceit was his black frock coat. He wore it every day and everywhere. He kept it immaculately brushed and had a habit of flipping its skirts around his legs when he turned around. When he did this in the silence of the classroom, the hem of the coat snapped before it settled back into place.
    The Master’s mail-order bride was the talk of the village. Everyone, from the oldest crone to the youngest child, kept their eyes on the train station for her arrival. Like Matthew, even those who studiously avoided the church planned to attend the wedding. It promised to be the event of the decade in that small town.
    Before that day, Matthew rejoiced at the Master’s upcoming happiness. No one deserved a wife to make him happy more than the Master. And he was a handsome man with neat brown hair and clear green eyes. His sturdy body filled the shoulders of his frock coat and cut a fine figure when he strolled around the village.
    Now that he knew Noah Bartlett planned to ambush the Master’s bride and disrupt the wedding, Matthew quaked in his heart. Even without the bride, the Master should flee the town to get away from the predations of Noah. Timothy was right. Someone ought to warn the Master. Someone should tell him he and his bride were in danger. But who?
    Matthew lost himself in his reverie. The next thing he knew, the Master was staring into his eyes. The other children filed out of the schoolhouse. Matthew looked around in confusion. The whole second part of the day must have passed without his realizing it.
    “Is everything all right, Matthew?” the Master asked.
    Matthew floundered in search of an appropriate response that would allow him to escape, but nothing came to him. He could only stare at the Master. He panted and gasped, opening and closing his mouth again and again.
    “Matthew,” the Master said again. “Is anything the matter? You don’t look well. You should go home. Your mother will see to you.”
    “Sir…” Matthew began.
    The Master cocked his head, listening. Matthew struggled to get away, but he found himself rooted to the spot. The Master let a trace of a smile creep over his face before he turned back toward his lectern.
    Matthew couldn’t let him get away. He had to act. “Sir…”
    The Master looked at him again. “What is it, Matthew?”
    Matthew tried again. “Sir, I just wanted…”
    “If there’s anything I can do for you,” the Master told him. “ you have only to tell me. You know that. Whatever it is you want to say, I’m listening.”
    “Sir,” Matthew blurted out. “It’s about that mail-order bride you got.”
    The Master raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”
    “She arrived off the train this morning,” Matthew stammered.
    “I know that, Matthew,” the Master replied. “What I don’t understand is how you know it. You’ve been here at school all morning, just as I’ve been.”
    “Alan saw her there on his way to school,” Matthew confessed. “He told us out in the yard just now.”
    “All right,” the Master replied. “So she arrived off the train. What about it?”
    “It’s just that…” Matthew stopped again. Didn’t he realize he was taking his life in his hands by interfering with the Bartlett’s business? Didn’t the Master realize it?
    “Yes?” the Master prompted. “It’s just what?”
    Matthew broke into a sweat. “Well, Sir, Felix overheard us talking about her. He said that his father was riding over to the station to get to her before you.”
    The Master went absolutely motionless. Matthew