It had rained heavily the night before, so Thomas and Henderson had driven with great care the whole way, worried something might go wrong with the 600 pounds of pork leaf lard they were bringing back. Just as they were nearly back to Longbourn, with the road looking reasonably even, a section of it had suddenly given way beneath them!
Fortunately, the cargo frame had been tied down securely, and the leaf lard was unharmed!
What had suffered was the cart itself, both wheels had sunk into the hole, and there was no pulling it free easily. So Thomas had run back through the rain for help, since the leaf lard needed to be unloaded first to lighten the cart.
“I’ll go get Old John and the others, and bring our own carriage over too.” Having heard the full account, Mary made her decision at once. “We still need people here, keep at it, I’ll be back soon.”
Telling her nominal husband where she was going, Mary hurried toward the entrance hall, where her rain gear was kept.
Before long, everyone was assembled, and off they went!
Listening to the sound of the group leaving, Octavius waited less than two minutes before Steward William appeared at the door.
“William, go fetch the two maids to take over here.” He wanted to go see for himself exactly what had happened. He’d only just mentioned the possibility of trouble, and here it was, a bit too convenient a timing.
Octavius had long since stopped believing in coincidences. Even Miss Richman’s appearance that day had been investigated thoroughly, more than once. Having run into enough incidents over the years, he always made sure not to be caught off guard.
One or two lessons were enough to learn from, any more than that, and it would simply be his own foolishness.
By the time he arrived, the cart had already been pulled free, and the cargo frame that had just been unloaded was being set back onto it.
“Go on home, get yourselves warmed by the fire, none of you should catch a cold.” Mary stood there holding her umbrella, choosing not to ride back in the carriage. Since she was already out, she said, she’d walk a while in the rain.
In fact, she was studying the hole in the road.
This was the only road in and out of Longbourn that could accommodate a carriage, the very spot where the Wickhams had argued the other day. The road wasn’t in the best condition, but it certainly hadn’t been bad enough to suddenly cave in like this!
They’d hauled load after load of potatoes over it without any trouble, could a single night’s rain really have ruined the roadbed?
Mary didn’t believe it. After kicking at the edge of the hole a few times, she grew even more convinced this had been done deliberately.
Years of soap-making had given her no small amount of strength, and yet, even pushing with real force, the ground beneath her foot barely budged, didn’t that say enough on its own? Still, she had no proof, nor had she spotted any tools left behind nearby that might have been used.
“Need any help?” Octavius had been watching from a short distance for a while now, and once he understood the situation, he stepped closer. “Don’t worry, someone’s already taken over the fat-rendering.”
“How exactly do you plan to help?” Since nothing important had been delayed, she might as well stay and talk it through, perhaps he’d notice something she’d overlooked.
“Ask around about who left the house yesterday after you got back, that should more or less tell you.” When Octavius had returned, he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with this road at all. Setting aside the possible victim standing in front of him, everyone else was a suspect.
“That’s quite the undertaking.” If this had been targeted at her specifically, Mary already had someone in mind. “Will you still be around in a couple of days? If so, come with me to church, the vicar will be preaching there.” That would make it easier to ask around discreetly, if needed.
“I will be, I’m here for the rest of this month. Should I practice a bit beforehand?” If the two of them went together, it would be the first time the Ethyses appeared in public together since the wedding.
“You need practice?” He’d managed to pull off playing a bread thief, surely asking around about a few things wasn’t much of a stretch.
“I meant you, Mary.” Octavius stopped walking, turning under his umbrella to face the wife walking beside him. “Look, you’re still not used to me calling you that. But in everyone else’s eyes, we’re already married, and we’re even supposed to have had a rather romantic first meeting.”
“Fine, what did you have in mind?” Longbourn was a small village, the whole place, tenants included, numbered only a few hundred people. It was winter now, and raining besides, so hardly anyone would be out. Which meant, right now, this road held only the two of them.
Being watched like this, Mary really wasn’t quite used to it. Fortunately, her hand holding the umbrella gave her something to hide behind, at least a little.
“Let’s start with you calling me by name, you can just call me ‘Tavi.'” That was Octavius’s nickname, he’d once heard that his mother used to call him that as a child. Unfortunately, he had no memory of it himself.
That felt a bit too intimate! Mrs. Bennet went around calling her husband “Mr. Bennet, Mr. Bennet” every single day, couldn’t she do the same?
Mary raised the hand holding the umbrella just slightly, and saw Mr. Ethys across from her, simply waiting. Beyond that, his face showed nothing else. So, she’d been overthinking it.
“Tavi.” Well, might as well say it, it didn’t mean anything, after all.
Amid the curtain of rain, the syllables of the name rang out briefly, then faded. The moment Mary finished saying it, she felt her own voice had come out a little too soft, so she said it again, just in case he hadn’t caught it clearly.
“Tavi!” Once she was sure he’d heard her this time, she even asked for his reaction. “Was that too stiff? Tavi?” This time it should sound much more natural.
“Quite good, call me that from now on. Once you’re used to saying it, no one outside will suspect a thing.” “Tavi”, Octavius turned and continued walking forward. Although his words came out calm, inside he felt something stir.
Such a simple form of address, and yet he felt it had brought the two of them noticeably closer. In just those few short seconds, Mary had gone from resistance to actually saying it, adapting quickly. Perhaps it meant nothing to her, but to Octavius, it carried a different kind of weight.
He thought, perhaps there was nothing wrong with letting this marriage become real.
Mary was independent enough, clever enough, able to handle whatever came her way with composure. A person like that, a wife like that, being around her wouldn’t be difficult at all.
Octavius admitted to himself that he’d been alone far too long, and felt a certain loneliness because of it. Now that they were already married, there was nothing wrong with turning his wife into a reality, turning her into someone who truly stayed by his side.
As long as the two of them reached an understanding, affection could grow slowly over time.
The only difficulty was, he still had no idea how to bring it up.
After all, he himself had once said that a wife had no place in his future plans. That had only been a little over a month ago, could changing his mind this quickly really seem convincing?
“Mary, if I told you I wanted to be your real husband, and to walk this path with you for good, would you believe me?” Arriving at the entrance of the Richman house, and with no one else around, Octavius finally voiced the words he’d turned over in his mind so many times already.
Mary hadn’t quite caught it, no, she had caught it, and simply found it unbelievable!
“Hm, what’s changed your mind?” This man had said, so firmly, not long ago, that all he needed was a wife to occupy the position!
He hadn’t ruled anything out entirely, but as far as she’d understood it, a marriage in name only becoming a real one would probably only happen if she ever found herself tempted one day. And if, afterward, both sides still felt good about it, then perhaps physical intimacy could follow from there.
Mary truly didn’t expect to have to face this question so soon. What she’d expected even less was that the very man who’d just had her practice a nickname would come out with something like this!
“To be honest, I can’t quite put it into words myself right now. Perhaps it’s this rain falling just so, or perhaps it’s that I understood why you didn’t come back with the others just now.” Octavius raised his umbrella, revealing his whole face. “As you know, aside from my two younger sisters, I don’t have a good relationship with my family.”
“I’ve been alone for too long, and sometimes it wears on me. Coming into this marriage, I’d only meant to find a wife who wouldn’t cause trouble. But that person turned out to be you.”
“Mary, you’re far more composed than I was at eighteen. No screaming, no fainting, since meeting you, I’ve felt a kind of calm I haven’t felt in a long time.”
“Whether it’s watching you make soap, or helping you render fat, I feel like I could keep watching forever, and keep talking with you forever.”
“Mary, please think it over.” Being stared at like this, Octavius found it a little hard to keep going. “I know my face isn’t bad to look at, if you’d agree to this because of my looks, then I suppose this face has finally been good for something.”
He ended by poking a little fun at himself.
“Could you give me some time to think it over? I need to consider this carefully.” If the man who’d just had her practice his nickname had shown no expression at all, then right now his face was anything but blank!
Even in the light drizzle, those deep blue eyes carried a visible seriousness within them.
Mary, worried that she might eventually find herself drawn in by that face, had always avoided looking at it for too long before. Now that she was looking, really looking, carefully, the feelings she’d been keeping tucked away in her heart began surfacing, bit by bit.
If this had happened in her old life, with a single, handsome man like this suddenly appearing beside her, she’d certainly have looked into it and made her move. Even with plenty of flaws, a face like that! For a face that good, everything else could take a back seat.
But in this new life, Mary had no choice but to be cautious. Still, the two of them were already married, at worst, the outcome would simply be going their separate ways.
Compared to any other risk, that was the least harmful, and the easiest to accept.
“Of course, take all the time you need.” Octavius knew he’d raised this suddenly, he certainly wasn’t about to pressure her.
“I’ll give you my answer as soon as I can. Here’s your umbrella, I’m heading to the workroom.” Handing over the umbrella she’d folded up, Mary walked straight down the corridor leading to her workroom.
She felt that, right now, half of her had already made up her mind. The remaining half was still caught in a struggle with her own good sense. She’d let time decide, if, by the time he left, her feelings had won out over her reason, then she’d say yes to him!
Being unfortunate enough to end up in this era was bad enough, what was the harm in a man being added to the mix? As long as it didn’t get in the way of making money, it wasn’t really a problem.
All right, enough staring, she needed to close the door.
Watching the door shut, Octavius only then looked down at the umbrella in his hand, was this a positive sign? The way she’d handed it to him had felt so natural, so effortless!
Might as well take it that way, at the very least, this was something that required his “help.”
“No need, I’ve got it.” Seeing William approach, the man instinctively tightened his grip on the umbrella. “William, from now on, there are a lot of things around here I’ll be doing myself.” Just like this umbrella in his hand, he wanted to put it back in the umbrella stand himself.
Mm, and he set his own umbrella beside it, right next to hers.
Steward William watched for a moment, and, deciding he simply hadn’t understood, chose not to press further. His Highness had a habit of doing strange things now and then, he really ought to be used to it by now.
It wasn’t until dinnertime that day that he noticed something: had His Highness and the mistress grown noticeably closer? His Highness had gone off to help earlier, could the two of them really have found that much to talk about in such a short time? Whatever they’d been discussing, it certainly hadn’t been entirely clear to him either.
“When the time comes, we’ll say it was our ‘first meeting.'” Dinner over, the two of them had more or less reached an agreement, about going to church.
“All right, and about that ‘first meeting’, is there anything you’d like to add?” Octavius nodded, he knew what to do.
“That day, on my way back from Richman’s Private Bank, your carriage accidentally bumped into me. And then, I simply couldn’t stop staring, how could there possibly be a face this perfect in this world!” Mary adjusted the story slightly from before. “Unfortunately, that encounter was far too brief.”
“A week went by, and I kept trying to find the owner of that coin purse. Then, that day, I happened to come to Meryton and saw you surrounded by that crowd.” Octavius picked up the story with a smile, since he still remembered clearly just how anxious Miss Richman had been to get away once her carriage had been stopped.
“And then, you came knocking at my door.”