Felicity felt her face heating up as she poured tea from the painted china pot which looked so out of place in the huge, rough kitchen… Would Mrs. Delano presume to give her instructions about the intimate aspects of marriage? she wondered, handing the widow a delicate china cupful of tea. Or could she tell that Felicity no longer needed such instructions?
"Have you heard the story about Joshua's mother?" Blanche inquired, noting the color in the girl's cheeks but unable to guess at the reason for it.
"No," Felicity replied, glancing at Candace, who was frowning in disapproval.
"It's Mr. Josh's place to tell her about it," Candace said.
"Nonsense," Blanche contradicted cheerfully. "He never speaks of his mother at all. If we wait on him to do it, this poor girl will go to her grave curious."
Torn between her loyalty to Candace and her desire to know more about her future husband, Felicity hesitated a moment, but only a moment. "I would like to hear the story," she said, taking a seat opposite Mrs. Delano.
"Well, Candace probably knows a whole lot more about this than I do, so you can get the details from her later. By the time I got here, the fascinating Mrs. Gideon Logan was long gone, but I've heard the story often enough. Seems she and Gideon Logan were acquainted back in Virginia, where both their families had plantations. He was a bit older than she was, but he convinced her to marry him and run off to Texas, where he was going to make his fortune. He was the second son and not likely to inherit much of anything from the family fortune. She lasted here for a while, long enough to have Joshua at least, but she just couldn't stand life on the frontier. Things were a lot more primitive back then, what with the Indians on the rampage half the time and all that."
"One day she up and left and never came back. About broke Mr. Gideon's heart from what I heard tell, and ruined Joshua for good. He don't trust women. Never has, and who can blame him? I only figured it out today, but the reason he's never married was because he never met a woman he was sure he could keep. And then he found you." Blanche considered Felicity thoughtfully.
"Mrs. Delano, I don't think we should be discussing Mr. Logan like this," Felicity said, too confused at the moment to judge whether these theories about her future husband were true or not, and increasingly uncomfortable under the other woman's scrutiny.
"I told you, call me Blanche," Blanche replied, undaunted.
"Blanche," Felicity corrected coldly, "we should not be discussing Mr. Logan this way."
Blanche grinned in approval. "Like I said, Joshua's in for some surprises. Don't you think so, Candace?" she inquired, her green eyes twinkling.
"He'll have his hands full, all right," Candace agreed.
Felicity rose defensively, not certain whether the two women were making sport of her or not. "Really, Mrs. Delano," she began.
"Oh, I'm sorry I offended you, honey," Blanche said, reaching across the table to catch Felicity's hand. "My manners aren't what they should be, I'm afraid. I don't spend much time with ladies, so I get a little rough around the edges. I didn't mean to offend you." She smiled apologetically.
Although Felicity was still not certain whether she could trust this woman, she accepted the apology and sat back down.
"What plans do you have for the wedding?" Blanche asked primly, only the twinkle in her eyes betraying her true character.
"Mr. Logan has invited everyone in the county, I'm afraid," Felicity reported unhappily. "We're going to roast a steer and have dancing and-"
"Sounds like quite a wingding. I'm a little jealous. When Sam and me got hitched, it was just us and the preacher." She patted Felicity's hand comfortingly. "It'll be lots of fun."
Felicity was not quite so sure. She didn't say so, but Blanche seemed to know anyway. "Shell have fun, won't she, Candace?" Blanche asked, looking for support.
"Oh, yes, ma'am. She'll have barrels of fun." Candace did not sound too sure either. "She'll need someone to stand up with her, though. She don't know any womenfolk around here."
"Stand up with me?" Felicity repeated, uncertain exactly what that meant.
"Yes," Blanche explained. "You need a woman to stand with you for the wedding, and Joshua will have a man, the best man and the maid of honor."
Felicity turned to Candace, the only female friend she had in the world, but Candace shook her head slightly. No, a Negro servant could not witness the wedding. "Mrs. Delano might do it, if you asked her real nice," Candace suggested.
Blushing slightly, Felicity turned back to Mrs. Delano. "Would you?" she asked.
"Would I ever!" Blanche agreed, vastly pleased. "Won't that set the tongues to wagging? Poor Blanche Delano had to stand up at Josh Logan's wedding! I can hear it now!"
Not quite able to understand why Blanche would be so happy at the prospect of being gossiped about, Felicity managed only a thin smile. "Thank you," she said, but Blanche waved her gratitude away with a sweep of her elegant hands.
"Well, I reckon you've got lots to do, so I'll be on my way. I haven't even had time to unpack from my trip yet! Thank you for the tea." Blanche rose, leaving her untouched cup behind.
Felicity walked her out, still feeling a little overwhelmed. Blanche paused at the front door and took Felicity's hand again. "I know all this must seem a little frightening to you. If you need a friend, you can count on me. Candace will take good care of you, too, I know. Just remember not to let Joshua have things his own way all the time. That spoils a man faster than anything."
"I won't," Felicity promised, smiling in spite of herself. She vividly remembered how she had refused him the night before and began to feel a little better about herself.
"I'll come early on Saturday to help you get ready. Do you have a dress?" Blanche asked.
"I'm going to town today for one," Felicity replied.
"Good. Then I'd really better get going so you can be on your way. Good luck!" she called over her shoulder as she sailed across the porch and down the steps to her waiting buggy.
Feeling slightly exhausted from her encounter with the amazing Mrs. Delano, Felicity stood in the front doorway and waved as Blanche drove her buggy out of the ranch yard.
Standing in the yard, Josh watched Blanche leave with a feeling of relief. The woman was too forward by half. Imagine asking him outright why he'd never taken her to bed. And the things she'd said about Felicity. Josh shook his head in wonder, wishing Sam Delano had taken a firmer hand with his outspoken wife to cure her of her boldness. Since it was now far too late for such a remedy, Josh shifted his attention to the woman who would be his own wife.
She was still standing in the doorway looking slightly dazed from meeting Blanche. Meeting Blanche could do that to a person, Josh knew, recalling that Blanche had actually mellowed through the years. When he had first met her, twelve years earlier, she had smoked cigars and cursed like a man. Blanche was not the type of woman he wanted to influence his wife. He took the porch stairs two at a time.
"What did she say to you?" he demanded of Felicity.
Felicity blinked, startled at his tone. "We talked about the wedding," she said, extremely conscious of how close he was standing and loath to tell him what else they had discussed. "I asked her to stand up with me."
"You did what?" Josh exploded.
But Felicity did not flinch. She remembered what Blanche had warned her about. Straightening to her full height, she looked right into his gray eyes. "I asked her to stand up with me. Who else was I supposed to ask? I don't know a single other woman except Candace."
Josh scowled at her, unable to argue with her reasoning but unwilling to accept it either. This wedding was turning into a regular circus. People would be talking about it for the next hundred years. He changed the subject. "If you're ready, let's go. I'll tell Gus to hitch the wagon." Again, he added silently. Maybe this time they would get away without incident.