“Miss, I’d be mighty pleased if you did me the honor of becoming my wife.” The tall young man doffed his cap and rolled the brim in his hands. Even if his hair was overlong and his beard in need of a trim, his clothing appeared to be clean, his expression was earnest, and his eyes were tired but kind.

The stunned silence spread with murmurs of, “It’s Pioneer, the Cariboo miner.”

Mercy attempted to see which of the women had gained the proposal.

“Sophia Shaw,” Ann whispered the answer.

Even as two constables wound their way toward the miner, Pioneer pulled something out of his pocket and shoved it into Sophia’s hands. “If you take me up on my offer, here’s two thousand pounds to use toward buying yourself wedding clothes.”

At the generous offer, whistles and gasps filtered through the crowd. The constables stopped to watch Sophia, apparently as shocked as everyone else at the turn of events.

For a long moment, Sophia stared at Pioneer, then back at the wad of money in her hands. Mercy guessed Sophia had never held a single pound in her life, much less two thousand. She could only imagine the inner turmoil the young woman was going through. The man clearly wanted her if he was giving her so much money.

“These miners are a depraved lot,” someone directly behind Mercy said in an angry tone. She didn’t need to turn to know it was Joseph. “If any bloke tries that trick on you, I shall thrash him.”

Mercy was relieved the offer had gone out to Sophia and not her. Mr. Scott probably would have pulled out his prayer book and started the wedding ceremony before Mercy could’ve turned the miner down.

All around, everyone was watching Sophia, waiting for her decision. Even Mr. Scott seemed to be too shocked by the proposal to offer any words of protest or caution. Or perhaps he was anxious to see all his charges married and didn’t particularly care how it happened, so long as it did.

Pioneer’s expression was taut, and he continued to roll the brim of his hat in his hands. “I promise I’ll be the best husband you could ever dream of having.”

Sophia again studied his face. Then she nodded. “Alright.”

In an instant, the wariness evaporated from Pioneer’s face, and hope moved in to replace it. “You’ll marry me?”

“Aye, I’ll marry you.”

A roaring cheer rose from the men. When Pioneer held out his hand, Sophia gave him a tentative smile and placed her hand into his. With a wide grin and whoop of his own, Pioneer swept Sophia off her feet, climbed back over the rope, and strode away with her in his arms as the crowd parted and men slapped him on the back.