Minnesota Bride Read online

  North & South

  Minnesota Bride

  Lisa M. Prysock

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Minnesota Bride

  Book Description

  Dedication | For Dad | I dedicate this book with love to my dad | & my Minnesota family.

  Acknowledgements

  Theme Verse | ...a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

  Title Page | North & South | Minnesota Bride | Lisa M. Prysock

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  The End

  Author Note

  Mini Civil War Era Glossary

  Author Biography

  Which book is next? | Book 3, New York Bride in the ‘North and South’ series, by Christine Sterling.

  Coming Soon by Lisa M. Prysock

  A Contemporary Romance, also coming soon...

  Copyright

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means- electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the author.

  Minnesota Bride

  Copyright © 2020 by Lisa M. Prysock

  All rights reserved.

  Clip art and illustrations used are public domain and illustrations by the author noted by initials LP or by Lisa Prysock, if any. Any internet links, addresses, or contact information in this book are not guaranteed for the life of the book.

  Interior text edited and proofed by Tina Caudill Conder.

  Author Photo by Alaina Broyles.

  Cover Artist, Virginia McKevitt, www.virginiamckevitt.com.

  For information or to contact the publisher or author: Lisa Prysock, 7318 Autumn Bent Way, Crestwood, Kentucky, 40014, USA.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  This work is cataloged in the Library of Congress.

  Unless paraphrased, otherwise noted or indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

  Minnesota Bride

  Copyright © 2020 by Lisa M. Prysock

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN:

  ISBN: 9798612380931

  Imprint: Independently published

  Book Cover

  Book Description

  Melody Ramsey has a daring and dangerous thirst for adventure in this inspirational Civil War romance. A governor’s daughter, she is in the unique position of meeting President Abraham Lincoln when news of the war breaks out. In fact, her father, the Governor of Minnesota, is the first to offer troops to Lincoln in response to his proclamation to put down the Confederate rebellion.

  She has no idea how she’ll accomplish the mission in her heart, but she has a courageous if not overly zealous idea to become a spy before she settles down into becoming a teacher. Since she doesn’t see how it could happen, she tucks the idea away. When dashing military officer and Virginia mountain man, Captain Charles Trumbull, offers her a chance to meet the private secretary to Jefferson Davis by posing as his wife, she takes him up on the unconventional proposal. Can true love be found between the daughter of a northern Yankee politician and a man raised with southern tradition tearing a nation apart?

  From the private sitting room of Lincoln at the White House, to the halls of the Richmond mansion of Varina and Jefferson Davis, to rigorous battles fought in the Appalachian Mountains, to a Minnesota metropolis capital city in a new state entering the Union, readers are along for an adventure and romance novella they won’t soon forget. Get your copy today and enjoy!

  Dedication

  For Dad

  I dedicate this book with love to my dad

  & my Minnesota family.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you Lord for making me a writer. It’s a dream come true and I believe your anointing is on my work. It’s all for you and your glory.

  I’d like to acknowledge my middle school English teacher who was among the first to recognize my love for writing.

  I’d also like to thank my amazing editor and proofer, Tina. Thank you so much for your incredibly talented hard work. You always help to transform the pages into the best they can be.

  Christine, thank you so much for coming up with this awesome series idea and for inviting me to be a part of it. You inspire me each and every day. Virginia, I love this cover. You do such beautiful work. It’s everything I envisioned and more.

  Thank you to this wonderful team of writers who have been so fun to work with. You’ve each brightened my life on a daily basis.

  Thank you to my family for understanding when I’m pushing through on a deadline.

  Theme Verse

  ...a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

  Ecclesiastes 3:8

  Title Page

  North & South

  Minnesota Bride

  Lisa M. Prysock

  Chapter 1

  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6, NIV

  265 Exchange Street South, Irvine Park District, St. Paul, Minnesota, Late March, 1861

  * * *

  “Thank you, Kitty.” Melody Jane Ramsey tasted the scrambled eggs, brightening at the prospect of a letter from Cousin Lavinia. She opened the envelope the maid handed her and gave her a thankful, weak smile.

  She began reading the letter, barely looking up as Kitty slid the blackberry jam in her direction for the buttermilk biscuits. Melody placed the letter aside and reached for the tea pot. She poured a cup of the steaming English Breakfast tea. “Where is Mother today?”

  “Mrs. Ramsey had a women’s missions auxiliary meeting this morning, and the Governor said he’d be home in time for dinner,” Kitty answered sweetly as she placed a small goblet of orange juice at Melody’s place setting.

  “Oh yes, I remember now.” Melody nodded as she absent-mindedly stirred a few sugar cubes into her fine china tea cup with the little violet flowers. “She did mention the meeting to me yesterday. I’m so distracted these days.”

  “Now what could be going through that pretty head of yours, Miss Melody? At your age, you shouldn’t have a care in the world,” Kitty clucked as she began gathering up a pile of silver to polish.

  “I suppose I shouldn’t, and ‘tis too fine a spring day to have any cares other than new hats and dresses.” She smiled at the maid’s implication that she was too young to have any problems, but privately she shook her head when the maid turned away, wishing it were true. Nothing could be further from the truth in her mind.

  “Now that’s our sweet Melody,” Kitty smiled. “’Tis a fine day, indeed. Oh, and I’ve got a blackberry cobbler in the oven, your favorite.”

  “Is that the delicious smell in the air?” Melody forced a broader smile and tried to look appreciative, but her heart was not to be remedied by an unpretentious, albeit delicious, blackberry cobbler. Determined to keep her secrets to herself, she lowered her eyes to her plate and made a mental note to remain busy to avoid wondering if she’d ever find someone she truly loved who truly loved her in return.

  Kitty had been a faithful and
loyal family servant to the Ramsey family for as long as she could remember, having arrived in Minnesota Territory from Washington, D.C. with her parents during the early years of their marriage, long before Melody’s birth. As she had family in St. Paul, she’d been delighted to return to the state. Melody never did know why Kitty Parsons had been in Washington in the first place, since the maid’s four younger sisters and parents had always lived in St. Paul. The maid had helped Melody’s mother, Anne Ramsey, adapt to the loss of her two little brothers, harsh winters, and Father’s ever-changing political career serving as the Territorial Governor of Minnesota, the Mayor of St. Paul, a lawyer, a Pennsylvania Congressman, and on the list went. Now Father had become the Governor of Minnesota. In fact, he’d brought Minnesota from a territory to a state.

  Her brothers, little Alexander and William, had died at age four and at nineteen months old. She’d never known them, but Melody frequently detected a deep sorrow in Mama’s eyes when she happened upon her looking at the daguerreotypes of her brothers. Perhaps it was partly why Father seldom denied his wife of any request or desire, including their recent trip to Europe and the completion of the construction of their new mansion on Exchange Street.

  Their new home was located in the fashionable, trendy St. Paul neighborhood of Irvine Park. All fifteen rooms were built on the same lot as their former one, now dragged across the street and attached to Judge Horace and Cornelia Bigalow’s home.

  Uncle Justus wandered into the dining room from the hallway and dropped another morning newspaper onto the table. Still wearing his lounging robe loosely over his vest, shirt, and trousers, he tucked his thumbs into his vest pockets, turned to the buffet, and stared at the coffee pot, then the chafing dishes of food. His blond hair looked slightly disheveled, as it usually did. He wore it a little longer than most men, and with his spectacles, broad chest, wide girth, and height, he still looked like quite the ladies’ man. The only telling sign of his age was the little bit of gray hair along the edge of his hairline, but something looked different about his hair that morning; although she wasn’t sure what. Nonetheless, he’d never married and seemed content to remain “a free man,” as he called it.

  “Good morning, Uncle Justus. How are you this morning?” Melody asked, looking up to observe him as he surveyed the breakfast foods on the mahogany buffet while pouring himself a cup of black coffee.

  “Hungry as a horse.” He placed his cup on the table, located a plate, and began serving himself a generous portion of bacon, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, and three biscuits.

  In spite of an occasional drinking and gambling problem that went farther back in the Ramsey family history than when her parents first arrived in Minnesota Territory, her parents adored him. It had all started when President Zachary Taylor appointed Father as Territorial Governor of Minnesota. When they’d arrived with Kitty and Uncle Justus, they’d only been able to find a place to live above a St. Paul saloon.

  In those days, Mama said St. Paul wasn’t very large and had little else available. Living above a saloon hadn’t been the best choice for father’s brother. In any case, although Father had rescued Uncle Justus from drinking a copious quantity of John Barleycorn and a number of gambling debts over the years, they’d fully embraced him. Justus Ramsey could bring in more votes for his brother than a bear on honey. People loved him everywhere he went, and Melody was no different, holding great affection for him.

  Thus, Uncle Justus was a permanent fixture around their home. So lovingly welcomed by the family, Father had asked for an extra bedroom to be built for him. St. Paul builders, Leonard & Sheire, had completed the project designed by architect Monroe Sheire, and contractor John Summers had supervised it.

  “Would you like some of the blackberry jam for your biscuits, Uncle?” she asked when he joined her, sitting at the other end of the table in his favorite chair.

  “Thank you, indeed I would,” he harrumphed.

  Melody knew she wouldn’t reach him by sliding it in his direction, so she took it to him and then sat down again in her customary seat.

  “Thank you, Mellie. I think the house is beginning to look moved into,” he remarked before biting into a bacon slice.

  “I agree. It is coming along nicely. Mother and I have worked very hard on making sure everything is just so.” She looked around again, studying the dining room with appreciative eyes. “Kitty and her sisters have been an enormous help.”

  Mama had ordered two box-cars of furniture from one of New York’s finest Manhattan furniture stores, A. T. Stewart Company Store. Carved walnut woodwork, marble fireplaces, crystal chandeliers, hot and cold running water, hot water radiators, and gas lights graced the mansion with every possible modern convenience. Melody nearly tingled within to be dining in the mansion, beautifully decorated with wallpaper, carpeting, and fine lace panels and velvet drapes hanging in front of the windows. However, something else nagged at her soul on that early spring morning.

  As Uncle Justus slathered some of the butter and jam on his biscuits, she sipped some of the orange juice and then setting the goblet down, drummed her fingers softly on the fine white linen tablecloth. Would life ever offer her more than tea parties and shopping? At least Europe and settling into the new mansion had kept her mind off most of her concerns and woes. Now the decorating and unpacking was complete. What next? She wanted to teach, adventure, and a future of some sort.

  She could feel her uncle peering at her as she drummed her fingers. It wasn’t long before he commented. “You’re looking rather preoccupied this morning. Aren’t you going to an afternoon tea party or something with your mother today?”

  “No tea party today, I’m afraid,” she replied, avoiding looking at Kitty’s eyes as she entered the room to retrieve more silver items to polish. “Mother is off to a meeting already with one of her charitable mission groups.”

  No, tea parties weren’t exactly her favorite sort of thing. She wanted to travel, loved adventure, and yearned for a teaching career. Later, a husband and family. And she wanted it all in that order, or some resemblance thereof. Some deep part of her had a broken heart about Ned Bradbury, but she wasn’t about to admit the fact to Kitty, or any of her four sisters working as maids for the Ramsey family. Kitty, Alice, Mary, Beth, and Laura Parson were five lively sisters, and while Melody’s family loved them, she knew better than to tell them anything she didn’t want the entire family to know. And they were all about the mansion cleaning, baking, cooking, ironing, or organizing something today. It was hard enough to keep the news of her love life, or rather the lack thereof, from mother and father.

  Uncle Justus, however, could be trusted with almost any secret. At least, most of the time, but she wasn’t sure this was something she wanted to discuss with him. Nor did she think she could hide her broken heart from him.

  When Kitty reappeared and then disappeared into the kitchen again with a stack of silver trays to polish, Uncle Justus eyed her again as he stabbed a piece of fruit with his fork. “So why the glum look? Did you receive bad news in that letter you keep reading?”

  “Cousin Lavinia has invited me to spend some time with her in Pennsylvania.”

  “Ah.” He nodded and then drank some of his coffee. “Travel and companionship are good for the soul sometimes.”

  She didn’t say a word, but she nodded slightly, unable to appear too lively.

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with that Ned fellow, does it?” he asked, peering over his spectacles.

  Did she detect a few more strands of salt and pepper gray streaking his blond hair, giving him a decidedly grandfatherly appearance these days? Melody realized how he looked a bit older in that moment, and also that he’d stopped eating all together to wait for her response.

  She shook her head. “No, not exactly.”

  Seeing he wasn’t to be satisfied with her reply, she shrugged. Too late now. Her words began to tumble the truth out. “The fact my best friend, Ida Mollis, spotted Ned escorting Celia Johnso
n about town while I was away in Europe need not trouble me further.”

  “Why that two-timing rascal!” Uncle Justus looked about ready to pounce as he gripped his fork. Melody thought both his knuckles and face were turning a slight shade of red at an equally fast pace. “I wondered where he’s been hiding. Haven’t seen him hardly at all since you and your mother returned from Europe.”

  “If he shall not be loyal over a short span of a few months of travel, then he shall not be worthy of my affection,” she declared in an even voice. Ida had brought her up to speed with the details only three days ago. It shouldn’t have taken Ida so long to tell her, but then Melody had been far too busy helping Mama with the unpacking and decorating to receive callers anyways, had Ida come by the house sooner.

  “Where exactly did Ida see Ned escort Celia Johnson?” he inquired, keeping his voice low.

  She responded in a calm tone, not wanting him to know how much it had devastated her. It helped her to brush it off a bit and sound as though it mattered little to her. Perhaps if she pretended it didn’t matter, it finally wouldn’t. “Ida said she saw him escort Celia to the theater in downtown St. Paul on two separate occasions, and once to a fashionable dining establishment. Some kind of Italian restaurant or other, I think it was.”

  He bit into the biscuit with a robust approach, taking in a very large bite. It rather put her in the mind of a dog growling and tearing her beau apart. “Well, don’t let that no-good muggins ruin your day, Mellie.” Her uncle had nicknamed her Mellie years ago. “I’ll be sure to give him the evil eye on Sunday next.”

  She shook her vision of a vicious dog with the same salt and pepper hair as her Uncle growling at Ned from her mind and then chuckled. Her imagination was getting the better of her. “I knew I could count on you, Uncle Justus.”