Charlotte slid closer to Mary on the sofa so that she could speak to her quietly. While she had told the staff to leave her alone, she could not guarantee that they would not eavesdrop. The last thing she wanted was for anything that she was about to say to get back to her husband.
“Mary, I know this might be hard for you to hear, but I think you might need to sacrifice the inheritance.”
“What?” Of all the things Mary had been expecting her sister to say, this was not it. “What do you mean?”
“Mary, my husband is a horrible man. He is older than me; he belittles me, and he treats me terribly.” Charlotte’s eyes welled up with tears. “I am having the most terrible life. I know what you must think; you assume that I have it all with the nice house and the expensive clothing, but it does not equal happiness.”
Mary gulped; this overwhelming show of affection stunned her. “I am terribly sorry, Charlotte. I did not know that things were quite as bad.” She suspected that things were not all well, but she did not think her strong-willed older sister would cry.
“It is horrible, Mary, and I blame Father for this.”
“You do?” Mary wanted to reach out to embrace her sister, but her words had her frozen to the spot for a moment.
“I do. He chose John for me, someone that he did business with and deemed suitable for me. He did not seem to think that this might be a man that I would not like. He simply decided that he had enough money to keep me happy, and that was the end of it.” The mask had gone now, and Charlotte was a mess. “I begged him not to make me marry him, but he did. He does not choose men well, and I do not want him to do the same for you.”
As Charlotte reached out to grab Mary’s arms in a state of sheer desperation, her sleeves fell back slightly. Mary spotted purplish marks on her sister’s arms that appeared to be bruises in the shape of fingers. Mary’s heart flew up into her throat making it incredibly challenging to get any air into her lungs.
Charlotte spotted her sister looking, and she tugged her sleeve down rapidly. While Mary did not ask her what had happened, she already knew. The way that her sister’s cheeks tinged pink with humiliation.
Things were bad. They were worse than she expected.
“You do not wish to end up like me, Mary,” Charlotte warned her. “You do not want to be miserable with a horrible, brutish man who only wants you for an heir.”
An heir ... there it was; the stark reminder of the main purpose for a woman in the world. It was all about having a baby to carry on the family name and to inherit anything that the father earned. But before a baby came something that Mary did not want to think about. Judging by the look on her sister’s face, Charlotte did not like the idea much either. The only difference was, Charlotte was already stuck in a marriage where that was already an issue.
“So what do you think I should do?” Mary asked desperately. Now Charlotte had her even more worried. “What do I do about it all? Walter is pushing forward with the plans despite the fact that he can see I am uncomfortable with it.”
“I do really think that you should give up the house. The inheritance is not as important as a lifetime of misery.”
“Where will I go?” Mary’s hand moved up to her mouth in shock. The reality of this hit her hard; she did not know how to deal with what might come next. “What will I do?”
“You can come here.” Charlotte did not know how her husband would react to her inviting her sister into their home, even if they had plenty of room for her, but she could not deny that the idea of having someone around to support her was very tempting. “I shall care for you; we shall find you a husband that you choose yourself.”
Mary rubbed her cheek nervily; she did not know what to do for the best. Whatever decision she made, her life was about to change forever. She was comfortable with how things were at the moment and did not want anything to be different, but that choice had already been taken from her.
How much easier things were when I was a child, she thought wistfully. I wish I could go back to how things were then.
“I still have to meet with the Duke,” Mary told her sister. “But if that goes as badly as I suspect it might, I shall take you up on your offer. I do not wish to end up unhappy.” She felt bad even saying that, seeing her sister in that exact situation. “I am sorry that you are.”
Charlotte was so wrapped up in the idea of helping out her sister that her own issues took a back seat for the moment. Ever since she saw the conditions that the poor were forced to live in, and she was denied the chance to help them, she had wanted to do something for someone.
This was as good a cause as any.
“I will help you, Mary,” she insisted. “Whatever you need me to do. You will have to meet this Duke now; it would be terribly rude not to, but do not think that means you need to marry him. Be strong, Mary, do not get convinced to do something that you know is not right.”
Mary took her sister’s hands and stared intently into her eyes. “I do not know what I can offer you, Charlotte, but if there is any way that I can help you too, you know that I will do it. And thank you very much for your advice; it is very welcome. I shall be strong and will do what I think is right.”
“You must. This is all on you. It is only you that shall be affected by the choice you make for the rest of your life. Our father is not around anymore; he can only command so much from the grave. What you do is up to you.”
“Yes,” Mary whispered as Charlotte’s words washed over her. She was right; Mary knew it, but that did not make it any less overwhelming. “Yes, it is.”
The bond that had been slowly unravelling for the past six years knitted itself together once more just a little bit. The sisters smiled at one another, sharing a moment of unison. They both had their troubles now; neither of them had a perfect life. The only people they really had in the world that they could trust were one another.
“Shall we take our tea out into the garden?” Charlotte asked on impulse. “The weather is so lovely today. Maybe, considering we are both having such a challenging time, a relaxing moment in the sunshine is exactly what we both need.”
Mary nodded and followed Charlotte outside, her mind churning the entire time. She had never been put in the position of having to make a life-changing decision before. It had never been an issue because of her age. Her father made her choices, then Walter. Now, though, this was up to her. She had to choose what was right for herself, and the power of that utterly terrified her.
Chapter 4