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“I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs Stanton,” Benteen responded to the introduction
“It’s an honor, Mr Calder,” she replied She was a plain-looking wo with a no-nonsense air about her She was the kind who could wind up henpeckin’ a man if he wasn’t careful But there was a solidness about her, too, that Benteen liked “Mr Stanton has told reat deal about you If only half of it was true, you must be quite a man”
Ely sent her an impatient look to shush up, but Benteen chuckled at the bluntness of the woman—after all, he wasn’t married to her Mary Stanton wasn’t about to be intimidated by a man’s superiority
“Ely has mentioned you several times, too,” Benteen replied, and the woman looked a little uneasy, as if her outspoken nature was a trait that her husband found objectionable, but she concealed her feelings well
“I came to tell you that I have decided to take you up on the offer for Mary anda little bit of e his position as head of the house
“But only as far as Dodge City,” Mary inserted “Fro to Iohere I have relatives”
“Ely mentioned that before,” Benteen assured her, but suspected Ely wasn’t in favor of that journey Benteen hated to see a , but it wasn’t his life
“I just wanted to be sure you understood” But her reply was directed more to her husband than to Benteen
“I do” H
e pretended to be unaware of the interchange between husband and wife “We’re planning to pull out in three days You and your wife are welcoet loaded up”
“We’ll be there the day after tomorrow,” Ely stated, and his wife didn’t dispute it
“Benteen!”
He recognized Lorna’s voice and pivoted A smile broke over his features when he saw her wave to him from the middle of the street where she waited with her limpse of a well-turned ankle as she lifted her skirts to hurry a few steps out of the way of another horse-drawn vehicle There was a silent groan inside hied to his
“Hello” For all her ladylike demeanor, there was a vivid sparkle in her brown eyes “We stopped by the store on our way to theover here”
“I cao,’” he saidto all the embroidered linens and household articles she had accumulated for their new home