Dead Set Delphinia

She is dead set on being married before her father finds her.

He is dead set on muddling through life on his own.

Being pressured by her father to marry his New York business associate whom she detests, Delphinia Blakewell, using the alias Delia Brownlee, secretly starts a correspondence with two miners in Jubilee Springs she contacted through the Colorado Bridal Agency. After her letters are discovered by her father, her mother sees to it she is confined to her room for three months. Only when she agrees to the wedding they wish for her is she allowed more freedom—freedom that leads to a startling discovery about her fiancé.

Delphinia flees to Colorado, using another alias, Sarah Brown, only to discover one miner she wrote to married another bride, and the other was killed in a shootout. However, she is dead set on being married and in her own home to avoid what awaits her should her father track her down. She wants to find her own miner to marry, but the owner of the bridal agency has other ideas.

Bennett Nighy makes furniture for his store in Jubilee Springs. He also makes caskets, and, by default, has assumed the job of town mortician. He enjoys his solitude. He is dead set on not complicating his life by getting married. However, he is terrible at keeping books, helping customers choose the proper furniture pieces, and he could use some help with the town’s deceased. Still, he might have been able to continue muddling through life on his own if only he hadn’t attended the town’s harvest dance.