Stepping out of the house, Mary took a walk, going nowhere in particular. With someone in the house, she couldn’t think things through calmly.
That Mr. Ethys had put it plainly enough, he simply wanted a wife, one who could stay here, and who wouldn’t be expected to bear children. Put that way, it really was rather tempting, if she didn’t think too hard about his enormous family.
But would things really turn out just as he’d said, with no problems at all?
Hmph, Mary wasn’t naive enough to simply take a stranger’s word for it.
Tomorrow, in London, she could more or less guess how things would go. With that mortgage document in hand, everything afterward should fall to Baring’s Bank, nothing left for any Richman to deal with. Tomorrow’s trip was really just to follow through on what she’d promised earlier in Meryton.
Once that matter was settled, Mary could give proper thought to what came next. Without Mr. Richman’s yearly losses dragging her down, earning 1,000 pounds a year, or even more, wasn’t out of reach.
The trouble was, once she had that money, how was a young, unmarried woman supposed to hold onto both the money and herself at the same time?
Finding a husband in name only, with a strict prenuptial agreement drawn up, that was one path. But this person couldn’t be Mr. Ethys. Hm, could it really not be him?
Mary circled around toward the carriage, the coachman wasn’t at his post.
She walked slowly around it, examining it carefully, and from this alone she could tell Mr. Ethys was a wealthy man. The carriage looked plain enough, with little extra decoration, but the materials alone made it clear this hadn’t come cheap.
Ordinary luxury carriages used wooden wheel hubs, only the truly wealthy families used brass or other metal.
Perhaps Mary should go take a look at the Bennet household sometime, to see what kind of carriage Mr. Darcy rode in. That would give her some rough basis for comparison.
“Mary—” Mary Bennet came hurrying over, hardly able to believe what she’d heard and seen!
Mr. Richman going bankrupt and fleeing was already hard enough to believe, and now, this other Mary had apparently been hiding a handsome fiancé at home?!
Oh, this couldn’t be real!
“Mary.” Turning her gaze from the carriage, Mary looked toward the woman who shared her name. Judging by her expression, word had clearly already spread.
“Mary! We only saw each other the day before yesterday, why didn’t you say you were engaged?” Mary Bennet stepped forward and grabbed the other Mary’s hand outright. “Goodness, this is huge news, and such happy news too, you should have told me!”
“When are you getting married? Lizzy’s wedding is next month, and Jane’s is at the start of next year’s social season. If your wedding date is set too, I’ll need to go home right away and start preparing my dress—”
Mary Bennet said all this in one breath, her eyes never once leaving the face in front of her. Her mother had told her, if she too wanted to find a good husband, she needed to learn to think of others like Jane, and to be clever like Lizzy.
She was trying, so she didn’t let jealousy show on her face. Instead she forced herself to smile, to make it look like nothing but surprise!
Mary had barely finished processing what this other Mary was saying, when she caught sight of Mr. Ethys, who was supposed to be inside, walking over.
And then it clicked. So the Bennets’ third daughter had already met him, no wonder she was blurting all this out.
“Mary, you’ve misunderstood—” Before she could finish, Bennet had also heard someone approaching.
She turned to look, and her first instinct, oddly enough, was to run?
“Don’t look at me like that, Miss Richman. I haven’t done anything, and I certainly haven’t said anything. That young lady let herself in uninvited earlier and saw me having tea inside.”
Octavius had seen plenty of girls like this before, the bolder ones would step forward to show themselves off, the shyer ones would simply stand at a distance and refuse to leave. Ones this reckless, this lacking in manners, were rare indeed.
Since this woman clearly wasn’t someone he knew, she had to be an acquaintance of Miss Richman’s. And Miss Richman didn’t know that many people, mostly just in Longbourn and Meryton.
Given Mr. Richman’s recent bankruptcy, plus that young lady’s poorly-hidden expression, Octavius could more or less guess what she’d come here to do. Even if he hadn’t guessed exactly right, he couldn’t have been far off.
Ahem, though there had been a slight miscalculation. That young lady had gone ahead and assumed he was Miss Richman’s fiancé, even asking when the two of them were getting married!
If Miss Richman had already agreed to marry him, he’d have had no problem letting that pass. But since she hadn’t, this wasn’t a topic he could let continue.
So Octavius had stepped outside.
“Mr. Ethys, since you’re capable of getting the mortgage contract from Baring’s Bank, and can afford a carriage with brass wheel hubs—” As the other woman ran off, Mary finally turned to look at the approaching man properly. Before, her attention had all been on his face, and she’d forgotten to notice his bearing.
Looking at him now, it was clear Mr. Ethys had been very well brought up. Even in these few simple steps, he walked easily, yet with an unmistakable air of good breeding.
Mary reconsidered her approach, there were some things she needed cleared up.
“I’d like to know, besides being able to stay here, and not having to bear children, is there any other benefit to becoming your wife?” Mary put it more directly. “After all, in most marriages, aside from keeping her own dowry, everything about the wife afterward, including her very person, belongs to the husband.”
“Mr. Ethys, is that how you see it too?”
“Asking it that way, of course I can’t agree to that.” Octavius had no idea why Miss Richman’s attitude had shifted so quickly in such a short time, but it didn’t stop him from answering. “As I said, I only need a wife. To put it more precisely, I need someone to occupy that position.”
“Miss Richman, since we’ve come this far, we might as well continue. Whatever requirements you have, I’ll agree to whatever I’m able to.”
Back in the parlor, the two sat down facing each other once more.
“Then I won’t hold back, Mr. Ethys.” Now that they’d both sat down, Mary meant to ask everything in detail. “Suppose we marry, would our marriage be a real one, or one in name only?” This point mattered a great deal, only once it was settled could anything else be discussed.
“Hm, that would depend.” Octavius didn’t expect Miss Richman to be quite this direct. He needed a moment to think of a more tactful way to put it.
Did this question really need hesitation? Mary had assumed this gentleman would have a quick answer for everything.
“I won’t hide it from you, if my father weren’t forcing me to marry, there’s almost no chance I would have married at all in this life.” Octavius began with this. “In my plans for my own life, I never left room for a wife.” He said it plainly.
Now that circumstances had changed, what did he intend to do?
“Wait, I need to confirm something, you don’t like men, do you?” Mary interrupted, she needed to consider every possibility.
“No, I don’t like anyone that way at all, no offense intended.” Octavius paused for two seconds before continuing. Privately, he adjusted his earlier impression of Miss Richman just slightly.
Listening to what she was saying now, not a single word of it was what he’d expected.
“So then, if we married, this would be a marriage in name only.” That was something Mary could accept quite well.
“It could be a marriage in name only, but if in the future both of us changed our minds, it could also become a real marriage.” Having seen enough of how things can change, Octavius didn’t want to speak in absolutes.
“If that’s the case, I’d need more clauses added to the marriage contract, assuming we do marry.” The nature of it had changed, so it was better to spell things out beforehand than regret it later.
“That’s fine, you can list whatever you like.”
By the time candles were lit in the parlor, the two of them were still not done talking.
“It’s getting late, let’s eat first. We can finish the rest tomorrow, once we’re back from London.” Mary noticed the plump steward appear, with Molly standing beside him. “I usually eat quite simply, I hope Mr. Ethys won’t mind.” Best to set expectations early.
But when she got to the dining room, Mary almost thought she’d walked into the wrong house. Was this really the Richman family’s dining room?
She had no idea how many candles had been lit, the room looked as bright as daytime. And their dark solid-wood dining table was now draped in a satin-like tablecloth, set with an entire matching set of fine silverware.
“The house has suddenly gone quite grand, I’m not used to it.” Having said that, Mary simply walked over and pulled out a chair to sit down.
It wasn’t as though she’d never seen grander scenes than this, this was nothing much. Besides, they weren’t even married yet, what was there to say? And even once they were married, she still wouldn’t have much to say about it. As long as it wasn’t her money being spent, she wouldn’t feel a pang about it, nor would she interfere.
So as one dish after another arrived, seemingly from nowhere, Mary didn’t offer any further comment. Eat what you like, skip what you don’t, filling her own stomach was what mattered most.
Steward William was fairly satisfied with his own arrangements. His Highness’s chosen bride was a bit ordinary, but her table manners were passable enough. Once they were properly married, some practice would bring her up to speed.
The two of them had spent a long stretch of time in the parlor. Although he hadn’t gone in, he’d caught glimpses of the two of them discussing things face to face.
The whole scene looked more like a negotiation. Oddly enough, Miss Richman hadn’t given ground the whole time. This clearly wasn’t how a proper wife was meant to behave, yet His Highness had no complaints, so what was there for him to say?
“William, clear this away. There’s no need for this sort of thing here from now on.” Once dinner was finished, Octavius gave his steward this instruction.
He’d actually meant to say it before the meal started, but Miss Richman had claimed to be unaccustomed to it while sitting down at a perfectly ordinary pace, so he’d swallowed the words.
“Actually, an occasional treat like this isn’t bad. I’m rather looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.” Passing by, Mary caught the remark and gave the plump steward a nod. Being able to arrange all this in such a short time, that was rather impressive.
“Happy to serve you, Miss Richman.”
“That’s all for today, then. See you tomorrow.” What a dramatic day it had been. Having said goodnight, Mary went straight upstairs to her own room.
Once inside, she locked the door first, then bolted it, and finally braced a wooden bar against each corner behind the door. A young woman living alone in a small village always had to take extra precautions, she didn’t like the idea of regretting it only after something had happened.
After checking the doors and windows, Mary washed up quickly, then lay down in bed to go over the day’s events. Especially the discussion that had taken place in the parlor, she needed to be sure she hadn’t left anything out.
Mr. Ethys had said their marriage could be one in name only. He’d also agreed that, should it ever become a real marriage, both sides must remain faithful to each other. If one broke that faith, the other could seek a divorce.
On the matter of property, Mary had asked for a clean division, whatever came before the marriage or after, there would be no dispute about it. She had no designs on his money, and he wasn’t to have any on hers.
That particular point, though, they hadn’t yet fully agreed on.
Mr. Ethys had insisted on providing living expenses, and had also mentioned some jewelry down the line, but Mary hadn’t agreed to that.
Still, for the time being, Mary was satisfied with Mr. Ethys as a possible husband. At least, so far, she couldn’t find much fault with him.
It was simply about sharing a household and getting by, the bar didn’t need to be set that high. The fact that he’d be gone most of the time, in her eyes, that could even count as a point in his favor!
All right, the rest could wait until tomorrow.
Mary reached over and touched the bow beside her bed, and only then did she blow out the candle, at ease.
A few walls away, Octavius found himself unable to sleep. It wasn’t that the bed here was uncomfortable, or that the blankets weren’t soft enough, he’d stayed in far worse places than this.
He simply kept wondering, why did Miss Richman insist on drawing such clear lines? Come morning, he’d have to ask her properly.