"Fortunately, you are not your family," Jonah pointed out, "So there is no need to worry on that account." Shaking his head, he chuckled. "And there is the advantage to not having family to sidestep or placate. I know it can be lonely, but forging your own path eliminates all sorts of complications, and opens options."
He knew that well enough, not that he'd had to worry about family since he left 'home'. But he was glad that he didn't have to be his mother's son, nor fret over what his sister thought of him.
"As for marrying..." he couldn't help but grin, "I pity any man who would have the audacity to marry you for anything but love. You are very much your own woman, and I can't imagine you having to submit..."
Or in the kitchen cooking, mending, tending to dozens of children...No, Miss Leah Steelgrave was meant for better things.
"You know Jonah, you may have something there. I mean, no I don't have to placate anyone about anything, yet I need to be vigilant where my father is concerned." She admitted. "I am sure he is not happy about what I'm doing, because he is not in control of it." She smiled thinly, "Too damned bad! Excuse the French." Heads turned when she uttered that phase.
"Marriage, at some point. I expect to become a wife and a mother, though it may not be here in Kalispell, or even Montana, I can't really say, it seems too far in the future for speculation, but I appreciate your kind words about it. I am probably not as strong as you portray me, but then again, I might be,"
It was not something she thought about, the project had been the last ten months or so of planning, research, manipulation when called for, and just plan hard work to get it to it's current status which had not improved in the last few months.
"I do think that you have the advantage where marriage is concerned, that it will be your free choice, and not something you have to do to please someone, or stop the whisperings of society, or because it's expected."
Women weren't the only ones who faced the expectation of getting married and settling down, although there was the attitude that women needed a man to function and guide them. Of course, Leah was a good example of how that wasn't at all true.
"At least you can do things in your own good time, and wait for the right time." He grinned. "I seem to have that advantage as well, no one is pressuring me to find a wife, save for a particular young lady who is far too young." And that was the least of her awkward traits!
"I'm content as I am, and work keeps me occupied, as well as this project, and if I get lonely, I can adopt a kitten!"
"It would seem, in this world we inhabit that a woman, and perhaps a man, are expected to wed early, but I have been sequestered in privet schools since the age of six. Oh I was able to to live a home depending on where we were living at the time, but as I aged, I became a boarding school resident. From private schools to finishing school. That was where I learned that for the most part, I hated being a lady."
She smiled, "Marriage was not exactly pressed on me, no, that was not my fathers main concern for me. However, at present I am just short of twenty-five years of age, well past being an old maid in most peoples eyes. My marriage is to the hospital and the orphanage, at present at least. I have learned that anything might happen at any time, so I'll not say I will remain single, nor, that I will marry." Then she laughed.
"So long as you are content and happy, or have the means to be that way, you are miles ahead of most people." While he was willing to admit that there was something to be said for love, too many people were made to feel that you had to have love, even if it wasn't really love and would eventually turn sour.
"Your project will keep both of us busy for a long time, and you have no need to fear, you are every bit a lady, and know how to use that to your advantage." Men could be pretty stupid when it came to women, and a lady who knew how to use her femininity was a formidable foe!
"Content and happy, now there's a misnomer, well as far as I'm concerned. I'll be happy when we have the land, and content when the building is finished, staffed and open for business. Until then, it's waiting and wanting the project to-to get underway." Leah said, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
What was it a woman had to do to get something as necessary as a hospital started? She alone had pushed to get this thing going. Came up with the funds so Kalispell was not obligated. True, she had misappropriated a great deal of money from her father, but then, he owed her that which he could never repay.
Her investment came into play to aid where needed, and they would ensure that the Kalispell Community Hospital, he name for it, would be able remain solvent. She had thought of everything, or close to it, except for the Town Council and men like Richard Orr, and Judge Ben Robertson, and yes, he father.
"I'll be frank, Jonah, I'm about advantaged out. I might have gotten farther faster with a gun. But, damn it, I am far from giving up, even if I have to drag Governor Samuel Thomas Houser back here to jerk these people up short!" A flare of the Steelgrave temper.
Jonah laughed and shook his head. "Oh, dear lord, the World would be more dangerous, albeit more interesting, if you chose a gun for your primary weapon!" She'd certainly get her way, but run the risk of winding up in prison, and the World would be a sadder place. Of course, prison would be more lively!
"I'm sure you have plenty of advantage left, and after tomorrow, you'll have that in ten-fold!" Certainly, signing those papers would invigorate her, and she'd be ready to take on the next phase.
"Then, one day soon, there will be a hospital and an orphanage, and you won't know what to do with yourself!"
"Well, you might be right about that, Jonah. A gun would have solved a number of problems along the way, but, you would have seen me hung and no hospital, no orphanage, nothing, just a dangling corpse." Then she laughed, tossing her head back, and then suddenly, looking dead serious, "But there would be no more Elias Steelgrave, with his plans and schemes."
Then she smiled, breaking the momentary tension. "I can hardly wait. Of the five members of the Town Council, there are but three left. Matthew, Mister Anderson, and Cole Latham. I'm not sure that Marshal Guyer might not be temporarily appointed to the council. I suppose we will see what happens in the morning."
"Well, until morning you can celebrate and stay positive." It was sad that there still might be opposition, but it seemed like that was becoming less of a problem. "If you'd like, I can get you some powders you can slip into their coffee to make them...more agreeable."
He grinned, although there was a bit of seriousness to his offer...not that he expected her to take him up on it, nor that he would actually follow through.
"I'd make a million if I could design a potion that would put some sense into people," he chuckled, "and save us all a good deal of misery." Although, he supposed, 'sense' was a subjective thing, but he was more than happy to judge!
"Yes, until the morning I can believe that everything will go as Matthew said it would. But I believe I've had enough champagne, no need to end up over indulging and showing up disheveled and late as happens to those who are not careful." And then she laughed, there was no way that she would allow herself to drink more than a moderate amount.
She cast a sober eye at Jonah, "Yes, Jonah, that would indeed make you a very rich man. Something of the sort is sorely needed. Common sense seems to run in short supply in these parts. But, should all go as planned, well, perhaps there will be at least some with some sense.