- twenty-four and fresh out of medical school in the year 1865. We know her to be beautiful in her mother's way: long auburn curls, expressive sea-green eyes, a beauty mark on her left cheekbone, small nose, and wide mouth. But her height, 5 feet 10 inches, made her feel awkward and "coltish," for not many women of that time were over 5'anything" feet tall.
Cheney grew up with Devlin Buchanan, some six years her senior, when her parents, Richard and Irene, took Dev and his mother under their wing. Dev's mother died, and Cheney's family "adopted" him. Irene especially had a fond place for the boy. To Cheney, he was her big brother, and mentor. When he became a doctor, and wrote to her encouraging her to be one herself, she found herself bored with her life. And so, deciding she wanted more, she promptly entered a women's medical school in Pennsylvania, instantly captivated by medicine.
And so when her adventures begin with Shiloh Irons, the pugilist fighter, penniless orphan, but gifted nurse, Cheney finds an exciting life: whether it is taking a ship around the States with a hundred or more women seeking husbands in the West, or traipsing to the mountains of Arkansas among feuding families, or perhaps investigating a fearsome mystery at her aunt's plantation in New Orleans.
Although Cheney's family is very rich and her own great uncle was a vicomte, she is almost embarressed to be shown off at elegant balls, or paraded around in jewels or silk dresses from Paris. She does like fashion, however, and does not shirk from dressing well and maintaining a refined appearance...if only to appease her mother and best friend, the society's darling, Victoria Steen de Lancie. But in no way does Cheney flaunt herself or her family's position and riches. She has a kind and generous heart, and helps many with her special medical skills and gentleness.
Her relationship with Shiloh is...well, somewhat of a mystery, even to her. He is difficult to understand, partly because he does not even know who, exactly, he is because of his lack of knowledge about his past. However, Cheney believes she is in love with Dev. But there is no denying the bond Shiloh and she form and their attraction to each other. But Cheney is a born again believer of Jesus Christ, and Shiloh is not. And the Bible specifically says not to be "yoked unequally." Which means, because Shiloh was not a Christian, she shouldn't give her heart to him. So she masks anything she feels towards Shiloh, giving him a mixed impression, leaving them both confused, and sometimes hurt. One wonders if they will ever stop building walls between each other. But Cheney knows that she may someday...only when Shiloh gives his life to God. Until then, she fights desperately to keep Shiloh as someone he ought to be: her nurse.
Cheney has been looked down on, mocked, and critized harshly for who she is. But she has a strong willed, confident demeanor, and is not afraid to stand up for who she is, what she is, and what she believes.
The only thing left to figure out, she knows, is how on earth Shiloh can read her mind and understand her so well...