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Marry Me! Inc. is the story of women and men who in 1898 were, in various ways – romantically, entrepreneurially, innocently, nefariously – involved in a scheme to ship unmarried women to the Yukon's Klondike. There they were to be auctioned off to Dawson's miners who were, by then, rich and hungry for them. Most were willing participants. One young and beautiful - and defiant - Scottish lass was not.
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Chapter 42, The Pot and Mr. Kettle. In the final chapter of Marry Me! Inc, Colonel Begg‘s and Lorcan‘s time on the woodpile is coming to an end, and friends gather near the NWMP post to have a picnic. There Billy Raven reveals what drives his sarcasm, Lorcan and Barabal face their last foe, and the young couple unwittingly act as a counterpoint for…
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Chapter 41, Never Has Just Arrived. The good news is that Lorcan gets a rather surprising reward for his efforts. The bad news is that he is charged with reckless endangerment and ends up on the infamous NWMP woodpile with a very surprised companion.
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Chapter 40, Part 2, Mineurs Audacieux. The cadaverous man with the black top hat and the revengeful stampeder, Silas Neto, converge on Lorcan, while the bidding for Barabal reaches its climax.
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Chapter 40, Part 1, Mineurs Audacieux. As the bidding for Barabal enters its endgame, two participants are still in the running: Otto Krych, the miner whose manner and appearance would turn any civilised stomach, and a mysteriously disguised Lorcan who seems to be bidding with money he does not have.…
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Chapter 39, Put a Collar on Me. To Colonel Begg's and all the awaiting miners' satisfaction, Barabal is finally on stage, and the bidding for the young Scottish beauty gets under way. From time to time it falters, but soon the heavyweights - and some surprising players - weigh in. Lorcan arrives to witness the results of his failed attempt to save …
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Chapter 38, Fresh from the South Seas. Barabal is now in the clutches of Colonel Begg's men, being dragged back to the Opera House after her failed escape. She is in no mood to give up, however, as the Colonel and his men are about to find out. The resulting delays do not sit well with the packed house now all anxious to see the one who is without …
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Chapter 37, Oh, My Lord, Billy! When Lorcan‘s attempt at saving Barabal succeeds only in returning her to her personal hell, Malvina and Colonel Begg have quite different reactions, though they do have in common their trepidation at the news that Lorcan apparently tried to use some sort of letter to accomplish it. As for Lorcan, he now has compound…
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Chapter 36, Everyone Pretends. Lorcan, as seems to be his fate, finds himself destitute and without options. Though full of good intentions, once again he has fouled Barabal's plans. Then his new friend, Billy Raven, tells him about Ptarmigans.
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Chapter 35, Mon Dieu, She Dances. The much-anticipated auction gets under way. Colonel Begg is in high spirits until Malvina whispers to him just as they are about to start that Barabal, his star and the first one on the schedule, is missing.
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Chapter 33, Going South. Although Lorcan is at first dejected in thinking about his prospects, he suddenly has an idea about how to find out just who Clarence is. Meanwhile, Barabal's new ally has arranged for her not to join the parade of Colonel Begg's hopefuls as they wind their way through town toward the Opera House, but instead to head for th…
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Chapter 32, Do Not Ask Me. The day of the auction has arrived! Most are looking forward to it, none more so than Colonel Begg and Malvina. Our Barabal, however, is anticipating her escape, while Lorcan is about to arrange what he believes will be Barabal's salvation using Frenchy Rimbaud, a plan which just may turn out to be as flawed as his others…
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Chapter 31, Who's Clarence? Things get turned upside down when the presence of a man called Clarence becomes known, and Colonel Begg suddenly finds himself more at odds with Malvina than before. Lorcan's star wanes as the two heavyweights battle it out... though perhaps not.
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Chapter 29, Gladys and Jimmy Smiles. Barabal's next move toward escape is to make use of her portion of the supplies, but as she and her friends bring the kit to Jimmy Smiles, the miner who has agreed to buy them, two things happen to Gladys Bullock, one auspicious, one ominous. Chapter 30, This Is My Salvation. Colonel Begg and Malvina have gather…
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Chapter 27, Who's Magna Carter. Barabal, with Letta Belli's help, has brought Colonel Begg and Malvina to court to test the contract, knowing what the likely outcome would be, but having an ulterior motive. And Chapter 28, Billy Raven and Little Berry. Barabal needs to find out more about the country she is planning to leave. She discovers an answe…
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Chapter 26, Colonel Mesmer. Lorcan hopes his plan to provide baths for the women will curry him favour with Barabal. For his part, Colonel Begg hopes Lorcan's baths will pacify the women and deliver him a pliant crowd, one which will be receptive to his charm, his eloquence, his charisma.
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Chapter 25, What About the Privies? The women are wilting under the heat. The lack of amenities only adds to their discomfort and irritation. Into the hornet's nest goes Colonel Begg. Barabal is not the only one ready to challenge the Colonel. And just when all seems to be lost...
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Chapter 24, So Close to Paydirt. Colonel Begg bolsters Lorcan's spirits following the meat market disaster, then Malvina arrives to inspect Begg's new office. She is ready to take as much control as she can.
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Chapter 23, The Meat Market. Surprises abound in the Fairview Saloon when Lorcan leads Barabal into the bar, ostensibly to meet a couple of friends. He has brought her to a meat market, in her view, a room of excited, salivating miners. In Colonel Clement E. Begg’s expert hands, her appearance breathes even greater life into the fires of that excit…
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Chapter 22, To Hunt with the Hounds. Malvina finally comes clean with her motives for her bizarre behaviour in the Fairview Hotel Bar the previous evening. Colonel Clement E. Begg finds her amusing. At first. Then Lorcan, too, has his chance to explain himself to the Colonel. Will either Malvina or Lorcan measure up?…
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Chapter 21, Daddy, Daddy. Malvina appears at the bar where, with Lorcan as her accomplice, she launches her scheme to gain some control over Colonel Clement E. Begg's auction. The problem is that no one understands what on earth she is doing; not the gambler with the walrus moustache who becomes her target, not the North West Mounted Police, and no…
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Chapter 20, Just a Farm Girl. Colonel Clement E. Begg, while making preparations to meet "his Women", is interrupted by Count Ozera with threatening news about his and Barabal's plans. When they later meet in the Fairview dining room, Lorcan is next door in the bar. There, he and the rest of the Fairview's patrons witness the explosive aftermath of…
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Chapter 19, Hide or Wear Armour. In good spirits the women - and Lorcan - finally arrive in Dawson, where the women are to be auctioned off. Lorcan says "goodbye" to Captain Zhukov and hops off the sternwheeler to find his way among the throngs and chaos of newcomers. But the women get a shock when they see where they are staying. Colonel Clement E…
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Chapter 18, The Marooning of Silas Neto. Although Letta Belli and a few of the other women heading to Dawson know it, Barabal, Malvina, and the Count have no idea that Lorcan is onboard with them on the sternwheeler, the SS Monarch, as it is about to head up the Yukon River toward the gold fields. Lorcan's immediate problem is that he does not have…
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Chapter 17, I Am Not in Love. As he now sees Barabal slipping away, for help Lorcan turns to Yoska, the man who helped Count Ozera in the latter's scheme to discredit him. Yoska, a man who does not lack generosity or compassion, offers him a solution, but it is one that requires Lorcan's continued presence in a place only next door to hell.…
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Chapter 16, A Phoney Is a Phoney. Lorcan becomes convinced that Count Cezar Emil Ozera, with whom Barabal seems to have become infatuated, is not who he says he is, and devises a plan to take advantage of information which has come his way.
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Chapter 15, A Sad and Tortured Life. Count Cezar Emil Ozera, after welcoming the women, sends Barabal and Malvina on a mission to Seattle to satisfy an urgent need. This trip changes the two women's relationship to each other and their view of their grand adventure, at least for the time being, and spills over into a special event the Count has arr…
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Chapter 14, Count Cezar Emil Ozera. Lorcan is off to meet the man in charge of Marry Me! Inc.'s affairs in Seattle, Cezar Emil Ozera, the twelfth Count of Ploiesti, as Tavish McIsaac, the somewhat dull-witted employee of Marry Me! Inc. cannot quite understand what Lorcan is doing with the group. But when, on Tavish's recommendation, the Count meets…
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Chapter 13, And Out of His a Briar. We left Lorcan on the Glasgow, Montana, train station platform looking for Barabal, with Malvina and the group's new acquaintance, Letta Belli watching with great interest from the train. In this first episode of Part 2, Under the Gun, we discover whether Lorcan was successful in finding her, and we follow the gr…
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Chapter 12, The Great Northern Flyer. Barabal and Malvina board the Great Northern Flyer, one of the trans-continental work-horses, heading for Seattle and beyond and what they hope will be a brighter future. Lorcan is in tow in his new role, but discovers soon enough that life with Barabal is not simple -- she is not one of the bumpkins to whom he…
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Chapter 11, Man-Servant. After the convolutions of Chicago -- the Collision, the neighbourhood toughs, the Italian grocer, the glimpse of the cadaverous man with the black top hat, and the eye-opening respite in the Gilded Parrot -- Barabal's and Malvina's -- and now Lorcan's -- futures become enmeshed once again, but in a manner surprising to all.…
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Chapter 10, The Gilded Parrot. Barabal and Lorcan, have found temporary refuge in a seedy quarter of downtown Chicago, in a house which Barabal believes might be a refuge for homeless young women, like herself. There, in the Gilded Parrot, Madame La Douceur and her girls, Yvette, Georgia, and Nadia, take Barabal in hand and open her eyes wide. But …
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Chapter 9, The Return of Father Jim. After becoming separated from her Aunt Malvina, and after the collision with Lorcan, Barabal finds herself abandoned and alone in the grip of two Chicago toughs who have more on their minds than hospitality, while Lorcan, his own needs in mind, has run off with his ham under his arm. But what is this of Father J…
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Chapter 8, Chicago. Barabal and Malvina leave new York heading west as they begin what Malvina hopes will be their escape from poverty, and on the day of the collision (Chapter One) they arrive exhausted in Chicago. Meanwhile Lorcan, already in Chicago, starts his day in a manner to which he has become accustomed.…
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Chapter 6, Father James O'Doherty. We now shift to Montreal to where Lorcan grew up. There we see what role Father James O'Doherty played in shaping Lorcan's (and Barabal's) fate. Chapter 7, Lorcan's Luck. Lorcan's life took a turn after leaving Father Jim's care. It was during this time of brushes with the law that the saying "Lorcan's Luck" came …
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Chapter 5, Rev. George Carring and Col. C. E. Begg. Reverend George Carring and Colonel Clement E. Begg meet by chance on a ferry while crossing beautiful Lake Champlain. They are each just reading about fabulous gold discoveries in the Klondike, which is in an unheard of corner of the Yukon Territory in Canada's north -- and this coincidence creat…
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Chapter 3. Barabal and her aunt, Malvina MacPherson embark in Glasgow on their grand journey to fulfill the dreams each has about New York and a new life. On the ship they meet Marvin and Mike, one of whom has a profound influence over their futures. Chapter 4. Barabal and Malvina settle in New York, with Marvin's help. However, reality seldom matc…
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Introduction to Marry Me! Inc. Chapter 1, The Collision. We begin Marry Me! Inc by witnessing the sudden and fateful meeting of two of the principal characters, Lorcan Farrell and Barabal Abbot. Each is on the run. Each impedes the other's escape. Chapter 2, Reverend Bryce MacAulay. After Lorcan and Barabal meet, we retreat to Scotland, Barabal's h…
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