A Loveless Marriage

Chapter 2: Mary

A week passed and I began to think that it had just been a strange dream. I put all thoughts of that odd bequest behind me and continued my dreary little life. There was no point in dreaming of freedom, dreaming of a better life. Miss Agatha had developed a cold and the whole household was preoccupied with alleviating her suffering. Miss Agatha languished merrily in bed, her hand reaching periodically for her little silver bell. I felt a slight twinge of emptiness when she finally fell asleep after lunch and I was left with nothing to do. I ventured to the well-stocked library. The Chorley library was far better stocked than my employer deserved, her passion for books solely focused on sappy romance novels of the most saccharine kind. Her father, however, had been a man of taste and understanding, and it was his books that kept my mind from rotting. After a delightful half hour of deliberation, I selected a worthy book and settled down to read. I was so immersed in reading that it was rather a shock to hear the door open and the parlour-maid enter.

"If you please, Miss Taylor," she began with the slightest blush in her cheek. "There is a gentleman to see you."

I frowned. What gentleman did I know well enough to pay a call? Not one except William Chorley, and surely the maid would say if he had come to visit his aunt. I felt a mild irritation, I wanted to finish my chapter. The colour in her cheeks grew deeper as she leaned forward to whisper.

"He's very handsome, Miss."

As she blushed, I paled. I knew it was him, even before he sauntered into the room in his arrogant way. He sat down in the chair opposite to me, uninvited.

"Good afternoon, Miss Taylor."

"Mr Wilkes," I answered tersely.

"No need to ring for tea," he said smoothly. "The maid is bringing it now."

I would not give him the satisfaction of my annoyance, I decided. Unable to think of a clever response, I sat in silence. My eyes travelled down to his exquisite waistcoat and rather ordinary tie, and then I met his questioning gaze.

"What are you thinking on so intently, Miss Taylor?"

"That an apricot coloured tie would look better with that waistcoat."

He let out a quiet chuckle and looked down at his clothes consideration. One eyebrow raised. It was a silly thing for me to have said, it made me look foolish and shallow. But why should I care about his opinion of me,  I thought, he was not somebody whose approval I needed in my life.

"You know, Miss Taylor, I do believe you're right. I shall buy a lemon tie today and think of you when I wear it."

I could hear the tinkle of china outside the door and Dorrie entered carrying the tea things. I felt safer behind the formalities of the teapot, asking the same inane questions about milk and sugar as I would any visitor. I could not escape the truth though; Mr Wilkes was no ordinary visitor.

Since I had begun my employment with Miss Agatha, I had never had a visitor of my own and to be sat here with such a notorious young man felt both thrilling and unreal. It made me realise how lonely I was, that even such an unwelcome visitor was a secret treat. His lips ceased their smirk as he sipped his tea and then sat back in the chair.

"So you wrote to Old George's solicitor and told him you refuse to marry me?" Mr Wilkes said with a hint of disapproval.

"I didn't think our initial meeting would have left me in much doubt," I replied archly.

"Do you have any idea how much money the old boy was worth?" Mr Wilkes said.

"Yes," I replied simply.

My most recent correspondence with the lawyer had stated the very figure, a number so high it seemed impossible that any single person could make so much money. Mr Cosgrove Senior, Mr Wilkes' maternal grandfather had been a self-made man and the fortune he had made only grew under George Cosgrove. I found myself gripping the handle of my teacup most firmly. I took a deep breath.