Adela's Prairie Suitor (The Annex Mail-Order Brides Book 1) by Elaine Manders

I was grateful they gave me a place to stay.” He didn’t miss the way she put it. Surely a child needed more than a place to stay.
    Having gotten herself under control, Adela visibly relaxed. “I was working in my uncle’s law office one day when Carianne and Ramee came in. Carianne was a client, or rather her English grandmother, Lady Gaylenshire, was. They told me Lady Gaylenshire was sponsoring four young ladies to go to Harvard—the first women to do so. And they were short one lady.”
    A few moments passed with her looking down at her lap, her lips set in a pout. A desire to kiss those lips hit him hard. The only thing keeping him from doing so was the creak of his mother’s rocker.
    Adela glanced at him from under her lashes, obviously unaware of his amorous thoughts. “I let Carianne and Ramee talk me into joining them. I suppose I saw it as a means of escape from the drudgery of living like a servant in my uncle’s house.”
    “But you weren’t satisfied with college.” He didn’t have to ask. Her tone said it all.
    She shook her head. “Oh, my friends were like sisters to me. But college was too hard, and I wasn’t learning anything that would lead to a job to support myself. It didn’t fit my goals.”
    “What are your goals?”
    “To find a home.”
    The simple statement was full of yearning. Any lingering doubts he had that she would make a perfect wife faded like frost in late spring . He reached out and took her small hand. “I think that’s a goal we all have.”
    She pulled her hand away with a laugh. “Going to Harvard was probably a waste of time, though no education is a waste, I guess. I undoubtedly brought away something. But after last term, I knew I couldn’t keep up, and I didn’t want to bring the other women down, some of whom are very smart, including my friends, Prudie and Carianne. Ramee too, though she enjoys the social gatherings a lot more than studies.”
    Her nervous tone, and the way she put some distance between them, told him she wasn’t ready for familiarity. He’d have to take things slowly. “I’m glad you told me. I was kind of surprised that a lady like you wanted to come out here to the prairie when there were so many rich and learned men to choose from back east.”
    He knew Adela would laugh at that, and she didn’t disappoint. “Harvard men don’t look for educated women. They have two requirements for women, and I’m afraid I didn’t measure up to either.” She held up one finger. “First of all, they expect their wives to be schooled in all the social graces.” A second finger joined the first. “And they must be beautiful.”
    “I think you measure up to both, especially the second.” He held her eyes in a long gaze, the silence only broken by an owl’s hoot.
    Even through the dim lighting, he could see her face turn ruby red. “It’s k…kind of you to s…say so,” she stammered. “I’ve never felt I could compare to gracious and beautiful women. Prudie is by far the most beautiful of our set, and she ruins her chances by arguing with the gentlemen. Carianne is quite pretty and very personable, but her grandmother has plans for her to find a suitor in England. Ramee is lovely and gracious. If any of us marry a Harvard man, she will.”
    “Do you always compare yourself to your friends?”
    Her shoulders rose on a sigh. “I suppose I do—not that we compete with each other, but they’re so ambitious and have such wonderful attributes, I feel I come up short in comparison.”
    “But you haven’t been treated very wonderful out here.” No, she’d been treated rather shabbily so far, something he should have foreseen. “You’ll be able to make new lady friends easily. You can’t use Hilda Jane as an example. Most of the women around here are already married, but, well…if…that is, if you stay, you will be too.”
    He decided he’d better bring up another subject. “What books do you like? I have a few books you might