George did not answer right away.
The fire had burned almost completely down.
Split pieces of oak lay buried beneath pale gray ash, with only a faint red glow remaining along their edges.
The oil lamp on the table had dimmed as well, its weak amber light falling across the rough stone walls and worn wooden furniture, making the now-quiet room feel even more oppressive.
Martha stood where she was, the color slowly draining from her face.
Only moments ago, George’s words—We still have to find a way to treat Thomas’s legs—had given her a little hope.
Now she finally understood where the older couple intended to find the money.
They were thinking of Elena’s marriage.
“Father…”
Martha’s fingers tightened around the fabric of her skirt, and her voice trembled.
“Elena is only sixteen.”
“I know how old she is.”
George removed the pipe from his mouth and frowned at her.
“I didn’t say we’re arranging a marriage tomorrow.
I’m saying we can start asking around.”
He paused before continuing.
“People from several nearby villages attend services at St.
Mary’s every week, and Mrs.
Howard knows plenty of families.
It makes more sense to have her keep an ear out than for us to go knocking on doors ourselves.”
“If she hears of a family willing to consider Elena despite her condition, then we can talk about it.”
Martha did not relax.
She had heard him clearly.
If this were simply about preparing for Elena’s future, there would have been no reason to bring it up now, immediately after Thomas had been badly injured and the family found itself desperate for money.
Elena sat beside the fireplace, quietly cracking the hazelnuts George had given her.
To anyone watching, she seemed completely unaware of what the adults were discussing.
Inside, however, she had already understood everything.
That certainly sounds respectable.
Ask around first.
Find someone suitable.
Talk about it later.
Except that none of those things addressed the real reason this conversation was happening.
Sure enough, after a brief silence, George continued.
“You know as well as I do that nobody can promise Thomas will recover.
Dr.
Brown will charge another fee the next time he comes.
Medicine costs money.
And if we have to take Thomas to a clinic in town, it’ll cost even more.”
Martha’s face grew paler.
George avoided her eyes.
“Elena will have to have a life of her own sooner or later.”
“If we can find a man from a decent household who’s willing to care for her, that may not be a bad thing for her.”
“As for the trouble we’re in now…”
He hesitated.
“If the man’s family is willing to help us through it, all the better.”
There it was.
Martha’s eyes immediately filled with tears.
Elena almost laughed.
So that was how they were going to put it.
They were not marrying her off to pay Thomas’s medical bills.
They simply happened to be looking for a husband for her at exactly the same time Thomas needed money, and it would simply be fortunate if that husband’s family happened to help the Miller family through its financial difficulties.
It certainly sounded much nicer when phrased that way.
Agnes, sitting back in her chair, clearly had less patience for such careful wording.
“Why dance around it?”
She frowned.
“Thomas can’t get out of bed.
This family has suddenly lost one of its strongest workers.
Martha has a husband to nurse and children to look after.
How long do you expect her to keep watching Elena too?”
She glanced toward the fireplace.
“The girl is sixteen.”
“There’s nothing strange about a family beginning to look for a suitable young man when a daughter reaches that age.”
Martha could not stop herself.
“But Elena isn’t like other girls.”
“Of course I know that.”
Agnes’s voice was cool.
“That’s exactly why we ought to start looking early.”
“Everyone in Oakridge knows what she used to be like.
A well-off family is unlikely to consider her, but there are plenty of farms around here.
Someone won’t care.”
“Some households need a woman to manage the house.
Some have sons who’ve never found wives.
Others live farther from town and don’t have much to offer.”
“As long as they know about Elena’s condition and are still willing to take her, we can meet them and see.”
The more Martha listened, the colder she felt.
“You make it sound so simple.”
For once, she did not immediately lower her head before her mother-in-law.
“What if the man has a terrible temper?”
“What if he drinks and hits her?”
“What if they only want Elena because they think she doesn’t understand anything and will be easy to mistreat?”
“If she ends up somewhere far away, she might not even understand how to come home and tell me what happened.”
Agnes clearly had not expected the usually submissive Martha to argue so openly.
Her expression hardened.
“That’s why we’re going to ask about them first,” George cut in.
“I never said we’d marry her to the first man who showed an interest.”
“At the very least, we’d find out what sort of family he comes from, what people around there say about him, and whether his household has a steady farm or some other reliable income.”
Martha turned toward him.
“Then why now?”
George fell silent.
The room went still.
At last, the tears in Martha’s eyes spilled over.
“If this were really about making sure Elena had someone to care for her one day, why has no one ever mentioned it before?”
“Why did everyone suddenly remember that she’s sixteen and needs a husband only after Thomas was injured?”
George’s fingers tightened slightly around his pipe.
Agnes’s face turned cold.
“Because Thomas used to be able to support his own wife and children!”
“Now he’s lying in bed, and nobody knows when he’ll be able to get up again.”
“This family has to think about what happens next!”
Martha trembled.
“So Elena’s marriage is supposed to solve that?”
“No one said we’re using her to solve anything!”
George’s voice rose as well.
After one argument after another that evening, exhaustion was clearly wearing down his patience.
“Martha, I know she’s your daughter and you don’t want to let her go, but you have to think about reality.”
“What if Thomas can’t work for six months?”
“What if it’s a year?”
“Dr.
Brown said he may never be able to do the heavy work he used to.
If that happens, how are you going to support three children by yourself?”
“Ethan and Noah are still young, and Elena is…”
George stopped short, then let out a long breath. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“We’re not trying to hurt her.”
“We have to think about the future.”
Tears continued to run down Martha’s cheeks, but for the first time, she did not retreat simply because her father-in-law had raised his voice.
“No matter how difficult things become, she’s still my daughter.”
She wiped at her eyes.
“If we need money, I’ll find work in town.
I can sew.
I can bake bread.
I can take in laundry.
During harvest, I can work for neighboring farms.”
“I’ll earn whatever I can.”
“But Elena is not going to marry some man we barely know just because Thomas was hurt.”
Agnes gave a sharp laugh.
“You make it sound easy.”
“If you go out to work, who’s going to nurse Thomas?”
“Who’s going to look after Ethan and Noah?”
“Who feeds the chickens, milks the cow, tends the kitchen garden, and puts three meals on the table?”
Martha had no immediate answer.
She knew perfectly well that she could not do everything alone.
Even so, she refused to give in.
“Then we’ll find another way.”
“There has to be one.”
“But we can’t decide Elena’s entire life like this.”
She suddenly seemed to remember something and turned quickly toward her daughter.
“And Elena is already—”
“Hehe…”
A foolish little giggle came from beside the fireplace.
Martha stopped.
George and Agnes both turned.
Elena, who had been sitting obediently on the little stool, had somehow ended up crouching on the floor.
A short piece of blackened charcoal was clutched in her hand, and she was drawing meaningless lines across the stone hearth.
The hem of her skirt was already smeared with ash, but she seemed not to notice.
After scribbling for a while, she suddenly pointed at the black lines and laughed.
“Horse…”
“Hehe…”
“Fat horse…”
Agnes’s brows drew together.
“She behaves herself for a little while, and then starts again.”
Martha said nothing.
While the others were looking at the drawing, Elena lifted her head and quickly winked at her.
Martha froze.
Then she understood.
Elena was pretending.
The words Martha had nearly spoken were swallowed at once.
She did not know why Elena wanted the rest of the family to continue believing she had not recovered, but after everything that had happened tonight, Martha instinctively chose to trust her daughter.
She turned back to George.
“Father, you can see for yourself.”
“Elena has always been like this.”
“Even if Mrs.
Howard does introduce someone, his family will come to Oakridge and ask about her.”
“Nearly everyone here knows her.
We couldn’t hide it even if we tried.”
George looked toward the hearth.
Elena was now fully crouched beside the fireplace, her fingers and skirt covered in soot as she happily drew on the stone with her piece of charcoal.
George watched for a while, his frown deepening.
“With her like this…”
He finally sighed.
“It certainly won’t be easy.”
Elena almost rolled her eyes.
Thank you, Grandfather.
How encouraging.
George seemed to be considering the problem of her reputation as well.
“And a marriage isn’t something we can hide.
If anyone is seriously interested, they’ll ask around the village.
If we deliberately keep things from them and they find out later, it’ll only make the Miller family look worse.”
Martha seized the opportunity.
“Then perhaps we should forget about this for now—”
“Someone will be willing.”
Agnes cut her off.
“If a prosperous family won’t take her, then we look at more ordinary households.”
“There are plenty of farms around here and plenty of men who haven’t married.
As long as the man isn’t known for causing trouble and he’s willing to accept her, what more do you expect?”
“Are you planning to keep her here for the rest of her life?”
Martha’s face went pale.
“At the very least, we shouldn’t rush because we need money.”
Agnes finally lost her patience.
“How many times do I have to say it?”
“Thomas needs money for doctors.
That’s a fact.”
“Elena will need someone to care for her in the future.
That’s also a fact.”
“If one marriage can make both problems a little easier, what exactly is wrong with that?”
Martha went completely still.
She looked at Agnes, then at George, who still had not clearly rejected the idea.
At last, she understood.
No matter how much she argued tonight, neither of them was going to change their mind easily.
Her tears fell silently.
But this time, she did not kneel or beg.
Instead, she turned, hurried over to Elena, pulled her up from beside the fireplace, and placed herself between her daughter and the older couple.
It was the first time Elena had seen the usually timid Martha stand before the elders of the Miller family like this.
Her shoulders were trembling.
Her voice still carried the strain of tears.
But she did not back down.
“She is my daughter.”
“When Thomas wakes up, he won’t agree to this either.”
Agnes’s face darkened.
“Martha!”
“No matter what you say tonight, I won’t agree.”
Martha held Elena’s hand tightly.
“If someone comes asking about her, I’ll tell them everything about Elena.”
“And I will not marry her to a man we barely know just to pay for Thomas’s treatment.”
“You—”
Agnes angrily threw aside the blanket covering her legs.
Elena had been standing quietly behind her mother.
But when she looked down at Martha’s hand gripping hers, then at her mother’s swollen, reddened eyes, the anger she had been holding back finally slipped free.
Her gaze moved toward the hearth.
Near the fireplace was a small clump of wet earth that someone’s boots had tracked in from outside, now mixed with a good amount of ash.
Perfect.
Elena suddenly pulled her hand free.
Before Martha could react, her daughter crouched down and scooped up a handful of the muddy ash in each hand.
Then she turned and ran toward Agnes.
George was the first to notice.
“What are you—”
Too late.
Elena reached Agnes and raised both hands.
Smack!
Two handfuls of wet mud and ash landed squarely across Agnes’s face.
The entire room went dead silent.
Agnes froze.
George stared.
Martha stood where she was, too stunned to react.
Elena, meanwhile, behaved as though she had absolutely no idea what she had done.
She dusted off her filthy hands, tilted her head, and studied Agnes’s face.
Then she broke into a bright smile.
“Grandmother…”
“Black.”
She looked again, very seriously.
“Pretty.”
Martha nearly lost control of her expression.
Fortunately, she recovered quickly and rushed forward to grab Elena.
“Elena!”
“How could you throw mud at your grandmother?”
She scolded her daughter aloud, but gave Agnes no time to recover.
Holding Elena firmly, she immediately began backing toward the door.
“Father, Mother, I’m sorry.
She doesn’t know what she’s doing.
I’ll take her back now.”
“Stop!”
Agnes finally found her voice.
Martha did not stop.
She pulled Elena out of the main farmhouse and hurried across the moonlit yard.
Agnes’s furious shouting followed almost immediately.
“That wretched girl!”
“She did that on purpose!”
Then came George’s exhausted voice.
“Enough!”
“If she understood enough to do it on purpose, would we have spent all this time discussing how to find her a husband?”
Agnes was clearly still furious, but her voice faded as Martha and Elena crossed the yard.
Martha did not slow until they reached the spare room beside the main farmhouse where Thomas was recovering and pushed open the wooden door.
Daniel, who had remained beside the bed, immediately stood.
“Finished talking?”
The moment the question left his mouth, he noticed Martha’s swollen red eyes.
“What happened?”
Before Martha could answer, Elena closed the door behind them.
“Grandfather and Grandmother want to find me a husband.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
Elena walked toward the table.
“They’re going to ask Mrs.
Howard to look around the nearby villages and see whether anyone is willing to marry me.”
“If the man’s family is willing to help pay some of Father’s medical expenses, they’ll be even more interested in discussing the match.”
Daniel’s expression slowly changed.
“They actually said that?”
Martha lowered her head and wiped at her eyes.
She did not answer.
She did not need to.
Daniel understood.
“How can they be talking about your marriage now?”
His voice rose, but he immediately remembered Thomas was still unconscious and forced it back down.
Elena quietly explained what had happened.
She told him about Thomas’s brothers refusing to take responsibility for the long-term cost of his treatment, about Harold saying he intended to leave Miller Farm and establish a completely independent household, about George and Agnes keeping Martha behind after everyone else had left, and about their plan to ask someone they knew to begin looking for a husband for her.
She left almost nothing out.
Of course— the part where she had slapped two handfuls of muddy ash onto Agnes’s face somehow failed to make it into her account.
Daniel’s face was grim by the time she finished.
“When Thomas was still on his feet, which one of them didn’t ask him for help?”
His voice remained low, but the more he spoke, the angrier he became.
“When Edmund needed help repairing the barn, Thomas went.”
“When Harold was falling behind with his wheat harvest, Thomas went.”
“Whenever somebody’s fence broke, livestock got loose, or they were short a pair of hands during harvest, Thomas was always one of the first people they called.”
“Now he’s barely been in bed for a day, and everyone’s already counting how much he’s going to cost them.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“No.
I’m going to talk to Father.”
Elena had expected exactly that.
She caught his arm.
“Uncle Daniel.”
“Not tonight.”
Daniel turned back to her.
“Why?”
“Everyone only just left.”
Elena shook her head.
“If you go over there now, all you’ll accomplish is another argument.”
Daniel’s chest rose and fell heavily.
Clearly, he was still furious.
“You expect me to pretend I don’t know about this?
I won’t sleep tonight anyway.”
His eyes moved instinctively toward Thomas.
The weak lamplight fell across the man’s pale face.
Thomas had still not awakened.
Daniel stood in silence for a moment, but his clenched fist never loosened.
Of all the brothers, he had always been closest to Thomas.
Daniel had been a sickly child.
One winter, he had fallen seriously ill and burned with fever for days.
The family had not had enough money to keep calling a doctor, so Thomas had gone out through heavy snow and traveled more than ten miles to find an old healer in town who knew something about herbs and treating injuries.
Daniel eventually recovered.
He had never forgotten who had gone for help.
Thomas had continued looking after his youngest brother over the years.
And because Elena had always been different from the other children, Daniel had shown more patience with her than most.
Whenever village children deliberately teased or bullied her and he happened to see it, he would chase them away.
Now Thomas lay badly injured in bed, with no one knowing whether he would ever walk properly again.
And already, his wife and children were being forced to worry about how they were supposed to survive.
Daniel stared at his unconscious brother for a long time.
Finally, he looked away.
“Thomas has barely been hurt a day.”
His voice was very low.
“How are they already making plans for all of you?”