Well, this really did need explaining.
Having his sisters wait outside, Octavius closed the door and turned to face his soon-to-be wife once more.
“Miss Richman, as you can see, my family is quite large. I mentioned before that I have two older brothers and five older sisters, and there are also those two younger sisters outside.” His older brothers and sisters were all children of his father’s first wife, he and his younger sisters were children of the second. “After giving birth to Anne, my mother developed complications and didn’t survive.”
That year, Octavius wasn’t even three yet, understanding nothing at all. His eldest sister had already been eleven, and his brother had just turned seven.
“My relationship with the family isn’t good, and I have no claim to inheritance, so I struck out on my own early. As for the sisters you see here, my domineering father won’t let go of them, they have no choice but to stay dependent on him.”
“Miss Richman, my father does have a family fortune, but none of it is mine. Rest assured, Amelia and Anne have only come to attend my wedding, they’ll be leaving afterward. If you’d rather not get to know them further, feel free to simply treat them as two curious guests.”
Aside from not mentioning his father’s identity, Octavius had told her everything. This wasn’t really deception on his part, at most, he simply hadn’t said everything. Miss Richman needn’t worry, her future life wouldn’t be disrupted.
“Are you certain no one else from your family will suddenly show up in Longbourn once they’ve got nothing better to do? I won’t accept one, or several, strangers appearing out of nowhere to criticize me, let alone lecture me.” Mary spoke bluntly, but it was better to lay out the unpleasant truth beforehand.
“If any such person, or persons, do turn up, I’ll support you in fighting back. Of course, that’s assuming you’re confident you’ll succeed.” Octavius smiled, Miss Richman was proving different yet again. Her tone just now had been firm, allowing no argument.
Although this was somewhat different from what he’d learned of her before, this was exactly the kind of character that could survive well and not be pushed around.
“Since you’ve said that, I think this wedding can proceed.” Mary wasn’t one to fear trouble, what she feared was a bottomless pit, and endless, unshakeable nuisance.
Before, knowing full well Mr. Richman’s venture was losing money, all she’d done was build her own foundation solidly. Once she’d made sure she could earn a little on the side, she’d been willing to let the household’s 800 pounds a year go toward Mr. Richman’s trial and error.
It would be the same now. Since Mr. Ethys had said she could fight back, then Mary would make sure any such visit from his family remained a one-time affair.
She needed a husband. Now that Mr. Richman was gone, she wouldn’t be satisfied with an 800-pound annual income anymore. With this husband, she’d be able to do far more.
For that, Mary was willing to put up with dealing, in small measure, with whoever might turn up from her future husband’s family. Since they weren’t welcome anyway, how she chose to drive them off was entirely up to her.
“Thank you very much! By the way, I haven’t yet complimented my bride, you look absolutely radiant today.” Having gotten a satisfactory answer, Octavius, now at ease, finally had the chance to properly admire his bride.
Even though this was a bride in name only, Miss Richman hadn’t skimped on appearances at all. Gone were the plain, ordinary dresses she usually wore, she’d changed into an exquisite silver satin gown instead.
She’d put on a pearl necklace, pearl earrings, and even her carefully styled hair was studded with pearls.
“However you look at it, this is still my wedding, I want to do myself justice.” Mary returned the compliment. “By the way, my future husband is quite charming himself, I’m sure he’ll charm quite a crowd shortly.” Kind words cost nothing, and Mary offered a few of her own in return.
In fact, Mr. Ethys really was impressive. If clothes made the man for her, then this man could wear anything and still look right. The morning coat he wore now seemed almost honored to have been chosen by him today.
“What a shame my bride isn’t among that crowd.” Octavius could tell, his bride hadn’t been swept off her feet by him at all.
“Do keep trying.” It wasn’t that Mary felt nothing at all, she’d simply seen enough dazzling people in her life to have built up some resistance. Her future husband, for now, could only be described as impressive, memorable, but truly captivating her would take time and the right circumstances.
And in a marriage like this one, that was exactly what was lacking.
Nodding once, Octavius opened the door and stepped out.
“It’s almost time, I’ll go wait for you out there.” Both of them knew perfectly well their exchange hadn’t been serious. Once the door closed behind him, the man paused for a moment, then tucked that small trace of regret away into a corner of his mind.
There was no denying it, Miss Richman really did look different today.
She’d put on the silver-white gown, no longer simply a small-village girl. Wearing her full set of pearl jewelry, she looked like a lily cradled gently in someone’s palm, blooming. She wasn’t nobility, yet in that moment she looked more elegant and dignified than anyone else there!
“Brother, are you really going to marry her?” Princess Amelia and Princess Anne, who had arrived early and were waiting at the church, saw their brother and naturally wanted one final confirmation.
Everyone knew that, as sons of the King of England, their marriages weren’t theirs to decide freely. If married before the age of twenty-five, the marriage had to first be approved by the King, or else it would be void. Even if the marriage went ahead, the wife would not be recognized as a duchess, and any children born of it would be considered illegitimate!
After turning twenty-five, if the King still refused, one could submit a marriage request to Parliament a year in advance. If, after twelve months, no one in Parliament objected, only then would the marriage be recognized.
Neither princess knew how their brother had convinced their father to agree, but, marrying a country girl? Was he trying to make the royal family a laughingstock? Once this happened, none of the unmarried princesses would ever again find a husband of matching status!
“Of course, Father agreed to it. All right, don’t overthink this. Since you’ve come, just be witnesses. Go back and tell my dear brothers and sisters, let them all have a good laugh at my expense.” Octavius knew exactly what this wedding represented. Except for their father, who wasn’t entirely pleased, most everyone else would be quite satisfied.
Those people would be more than happy to see him marry a woman without a princess’s title, it made him that much less of a threat to them.
“But this isn’t fair—” Princess Anne certainly understood her brother’s position, but there was nothing she or her sister could do to help.
“There’s no fairness or unfairness about it, I actually think this works out fine. Go on, I need to go wait for my bride.” That was the throne of England, after all, in his place, he wouldn’t have gone soft either. It was just a pity that, back then, he’d been too young to have any power to resist.
And after that, it was too late for anything.
Octavius had gone from third in line to the throne to fourth. Because early last year, the Prince of Wales’s daughter had been born.
None of this could be changed, the only thing he could still change was to trade off other people’s blows against him for a marriage of his own choosing. Once married, those people would finally, truly, be at ease. Because his wife wasn’t a princess, she didn’t even know who he really was.
“Would the couple please take their places.” The resident vicar had put on his finest robe, this was actually his first time officiating a wedding! Back at his previous postings, he’d never once gotten the chance.
Fewer than ten people sat in the little Longbourn church. On the groom’s side were his sisters, on the bride’s side, only Betsy, Molly, and Old John and the others.
Mary walked over to stand beside her future husband, and the two of them turned to face each other. She looked at Mr. Ethys, was he distracted?
Well, that made sense too. However lovely the vows sounded, no marriage was really held together by God, a written contract was worth more than that. Still, the ceremony had to be gone through, for the sake of the marriage’s legality.
Mary blinked, meeting Mr. Ethys’s gaze properly. There, that should snap him back to attention.
Octavius didn’t quite understand what his now-wife, Miss Richman, had meant by that. What had just happened?
“It’s nothing, I just looked at you a moment longer.” The ceremony was over, Mary Richman was still a Richman, only now she could also be called “Mrs. Ethys.” “I won’t come over just yet, I need to go change out of this dress.”
This dress hadn’t been easy to come by, she meant to take good care of it.
“All right, I’ll go see them off first.” Octavius certainly didn’t believe that excuse, but he didn’t press the point either. Watching her head toward the waiting room, he walked over to his sisters.
“She doesn’t want to get to know us?” Princess Anne had truly never encountered anyone like this, newly married, and already unwilling to have a proper conversation with her husband’s closest family!
“We agreed our marriage would be a matter between just the two of us, and we’d try to keep the families out of it as much as possible.” Having given his reason, Octavius turned to Amelia. “Head back soon, we haven’t arranged a wedding banquet.”
Princess Amelia pulled her still-objecting sister away, since things had already turned out this way, there was no point arguing further. There was nothing they could do to help, and they wouldn’t cause trouble either.
Once they’d left, the door to the waiting room opened as well.
Mary had changed back into a more comfortable dress, and had taken off all the pearl jewelry from her head and body. After years of hard work, this set of jewelry and this dress were things she’d chosen and bought herself. She’d never expected to actually get use out of them so soon.
Quite convenient, really, no need to go to the trouble of preparing anything else.
“Your sisters have left?”
“Mm, while their departure drew away most of the crowd, let’s go too.” Octavius, standing not far from the little church’s window, watched the crowd trailing after the procession of carriages.
Getting into the carriage, though curious onlookers still lingered along the road, the group made it back to the Richman house without incident.
The wedding was over, what came next?
Mary had known all along that her husband would be leaving. So, when exactly? Well, asking now would seem a bit too eager, she’d hold off a little longer.
“Go ahead and do as you like, I’m going upstairs to rest a while.”
Watching His Highness left alone in the parlor, Steward William couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for him.
“Sir, are we still leaving tomorrow as planned?” Unable to call him “Your Highness” or “my lord,” the plump steward had switched to calling him simply “sir.”
“Mm, leave two servants behind. She’s living here alone, I’m not entirely at ease about it.” Octavius understood perfectly well why Miss Richman needed a husband. Now that he had a wife, at least ensuring her safety was something he could manage.
“I’ll see to it.” Not a difficult thing to arrange.
That afternoon’s lunch saw the plump steward put on quite a spread again.
“Today’s the day the two of you got married, it deserves some celebration.” With no friends or family for a proper wedding banquet, they might as well eat well on their own.
Mary had no objection to this. Because just a moment ago, her dear husband had told her that he would be leaving tomorrow!
Well, that really was excellent news, worth celebrating indeed.
“Then here’s to a smooth marriage, and to both of us getting what we want in the future.” Mary raised her glass first.
“To a smooth marriage, and to both of us getting what we want.” Octavius raised his own glass, thinking the toast rather fitting. If it really came true, all the better!
The two of them shared a smile and drank the toast together.
The next day, Mary woke from her wine and only then learned that her newly-wed husband had already left. Tsk, leaving even more eagerly than she would have? Well, fine, no messy lingering [1]clean and decisive, without dragging things out (tuō ní dài shuǐ, 拖泥帶水) – Idiom, literally “dragging mud and trailing water,” describing someone who leaves a situation … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3180460_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3180460_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, exactly the kind of marriage she wanted.
The only miscalculation was discovering she apparently couldn’t hold her drink at all. Fine, she simply wouldn’t touch it again.
Now that the wedding was behind her, next came dealing with the 10,000 bushels of potatoes just harvested. After setting some aside for household use, the rest needed to go to the army. The price the army paid was, of course, nowhere near the market rate of three shillings a bushel, at most, two shillings two pence!
“What do you mean the army doesn’t need it?” Having gone in person to the garrison office in Meryton, Mary was turned away at the door.
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