Chapter 2, Chapter 2, is set up in Ply...
The most pressing issue facing the Price family is their dire financial situation. It's easy to tell from Mrs. Price's words that if things don't improve, the Price family will soon be unable to continue living there.
To save money, they had already laid off one servant, leaving them with only two. If they laid off Mrs. Price, they wouldn't be able to take care of the whole family. But what if they didn't have enough money? They would likely have to rent an even worse place.
At that time, a British naval lieutenant's monthly salary was only seven pounds. The Admiralty officials frequently delayed paying junior officers and enlisted men. Without additional income from sea allowances and the sale of spoils, it was impossible to maintain a decent life. However, Mr. Price, the patriarch of the family, had chosen to retire with half a salary after becoming disabled (this salary was negligible after passing through the hands of those scoundrels at the Admiralty—Mr. Price). The family could only rely on the 4% annual interest from Mrs. Price's dowry, which amounted to less than three hundred pounds.
Logically, Mrs. Price should have lived within her means and been frugal. However, after her husband became disabled, their expenses didn't decrease much. They couldn't save any money even when their annual income was four or five hundred pounds, let alone now. The meager pension the lieutenant received after his disability had long been spent. Fortunately, Mrs. Price's seven thousand pounds dowry couldn't be touched; otherwise, it's hard to imagine how the couple would have managed to squander their wealth.
Instead of thinking about how to earn money, the husband vented his emotions in alcohol and complained about his wife. The wife, unable to conjure money out of thin air, could only complain daily about the servants' laziness and gluttony. This couple went from blissful intimacy in their honeymoon to mutual resentment in less than eleven years, providing a vivid example of how tormenting an unsuitable marriage can be.
Now that Mrs. Price had completely lost faith in her husband's future, she had no choice but to rely on her wealthy relatives. Although she had a major argument with her eldest sister, Mrs. Norris, at their wedding because of her arrogant and bossy attitude, which had also caused a rift with Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, and she was no longer on good terms with the families in Portsmouth and Northampton, they were still relatives—she might not need their help when things were going well, but when things were tough, she could always hope for a handout from her wealthy relatives. Mrs. Price's concern for her pride wouldn't earn her a single pound.
So this lady wrote a heartfelt letter to her second sister, Lady Bertram, filled with sorrow and bitterness: The Price family lacked everything except children; she was recently pregnant again, and she implored the Bertram couple to be the godparents of the unborn child and help raise it; her eldest son, William, was about to graduate from full-time school and wanted to go overseas. She wondered if Sir Thomas's properties in the West Indies could be of any use to him, and if William could help manage the properties. Or perhaps sending him to Woolwich Military Academy? How could she possibly send a child to the East to make a fortune?
The letter, filled with remorse, did have some effect; Mrs. Bertram sent her sister some money and baby clothes, and Sir Thomas resumed advising the Price family. However, its effect was not as great as the writer had hoped.
Mrs. Price opened the package delivered by the postman with great anticipation: "Oh my goodness! These clothes Mrs. Bertram sent must all be made of fine plain-weave Indian cotton. How much pocket money and clothing allowance she must have in a year! I bet she could never spend it all. She lives such a happy life!"
She counted the money in the package two or three times: "Fifty pounds, I think Sir Thomas would lose more than that in a bet with anyone else! She should send more money, we are in a difficult time, Sir Thomas should take care of us! The Norris family has benefited so much from Bertram, I dare say Mrs. Norris will never need the interest on her dowry."
With the money sent by Mrs. Bertram, they were able to barely make ends meet during this period, and Mrs. Price's anxiety was somewhat relieved. Unfortunately, Sir Thomas had no connections in the Navy, and William's attendance at the Woolwich Military Academy was of little help in going overseas.
While contemplating her son's future, Mrs. Price paid no attention to her daughters—the family couldn't afford governesses, nor did they have the extra money to send them to school. Mr. Price, still alive, wouldn't send his daughters to a charity boarding school (Fanny and Mary might die there soon after), but he left his three daughters to their own devices, relying entirely on their self-discipline.
Fanny and William were the closest of friends, and William was willing to teach his sister to read and write. Mrs. Price felt she was fulfilling her duties as a mother by teaching her daughter to sew and mend. Fanny had a naturally good temperament; she was calm and patient, and in Mrs. Price's eyes, she was no less capable than the daughters of the Gregory family next door (they had only two daughters and one son, all of whom were in school).
When it came to Mary, "their luck was even better" (in Mrs. Price's words). Her godmother, General Maxwell's wife, had no children of her own, but the general's previous unhappy marriage (his first wife died of puerperal fever) had left him with a daughter. The current general's wife actively hired tutors for Miss Maxwell, teaching her French, etiquette, music, painting, embroidery, and other arts. Since her goddaughter Mary was five years old, she had been fortunate enough to be taken to the general's wife's house five times to accompany Miss Maxwell, receiving "excellent education."
Considering that Mary had only been five years old for less than six months, and that the General's wife hadn't treated her goddaughter too badly, Mary had racked her brains quite a bit. She had to be grateful without making the General's wife think she was ungrateful, and she also had to be polite without being too obsequious. As for Susan, she didn't have a good godmother and could only rely on her two older sisters to teach her the alphabet.
It was her visit to the General's wife that gave Mary a perfect excuse. "Dear Mother," Mary tentatively said to Mrs. Price, "I heard from my godmother that their housekeeper helps her with the household accounts, so she knows where all the money goes and won't spend any unnecessary money."
“Oh, my dear little Mary, you’d need to find servants as good as the general’s, we don’t have that kind of luck.” Mrs. Price kissed Mary’s forehead. “Besides, they have money to squander, while the Price family has almost every shilling put to good use!”
“It’s alright, Mother, I’ve learned so many words already, I can help you with the books,” Mary said sweetly. “That way you won’t have to worry about the servants wasting things.”
Mary simply couldn't stand the Price couple's unplanned spending habits anymore. Although she was young, she had a strong sense of saving, being of Chinese descent. Back then, coming from an ordinary family, she had bought a house outright with her savings from ten years of work and investment income.
She had long since discovered the real reason for the family's financial difficulties: the daily household expenses were secondary; the biggest expense was the money spent on food and drink by the lieutenant and his cronies. Mr. Price was an alcoholic, and Mrs. Price simply couldn't refuse her husband. Every month-end, a large sum of money was wasted in this way. Neither the couple had any sense of budgeting. Whenever they ran out of money, the husband would blame his wife for not being good at managing the household, while the wife would blame the servants for being lazy and dishonest.
“My little darling, do it if you want! Hey Kate, where did you run off to again? You two really don’t know how to be grateful. You know, it’s not easy to find a master as easy to serve as me in Portsmouth.” Mrs. Price casually agreed with her daughter, not caring at all whether it was reasonable for such a young child to keep accounts.
She was naturally lacking in the ability to manage household chores; she neither enjoyed disciplining her children nor wanted to manage the household. Whenever she planned to save money, something would always get in the way, and she would simply forget about it. When William, Fanny, John, and Richard were born, Mr. Price was not yet disabled, and the family was better off. With three servants to help, Mrs. Price could barely manage. Now, with more and more children and less and less income, she was becoming increasingly exhausted.
Since Mary began helping Mrs. Price with the accounts, only a month had passed, and the household finances were now crystal clear: household expenses amounted to approximately sixteen pounds, including laundry and ironing costs, necessities such as coal and candles, wine, spirits, beer, tea, sugar, and food, with the various types of alcohol alone costing around six pounds; wages amounted to a little over two pounds, including six shillings per week for the maid Kate and four shillings per week for the handmaid Eva; clothing expenses totaled about three pounds and fifteen shillings, including the tailor's bill, hats, and sewing costs; rent, taxes, and water bills totaled about three pounds and sixteen shillings; other ancillary expenses such as church donations and newspaper purchases amounted to about three pounds and seven shillings; the Price family's total monthly expenses were around twenty-eight pounds and eighteen shillings. The annual education expenses for the three boys (around thirty pounds) were not even factored in, so it was no wonder the family was short of money. At this rate, the Price family would need an annual income of at least three hundred and eighty pounds just to barely break even.
“My dear little darling, you’re so capable! You’ve calculated all of this so clearly. I’m sure your good godmother, Mrs. Maxwell’s, tutor has taught you a lot. Oh, I wish all the children in the family could have such opportunities to broaden their horizons!” Mrs. Price said happily, handing Mary a shilling. “This is a reward from your mother.”
In the past, when Mrs. Price didn't keep accounts, she would sometimes be tricked into paying an extra shilling or two by tailors and other small vendors. Now that her daughter helps with the accounts, it's much more convenient, and she's so happy that she doesn't care about the extra shilling she gives away.
This could be considered the first "huge sum" Mary received in her life. The older boys—William, John, and Richard—could get some pocket money from Mr. and Mrs. Price (often when they helped with errands), but the three girls, Fanny, Mary, and Susan, never had such good fortune. They could only hope that their brothers would share some with them.
“But dear Mother, according to my calculations, even with the fifty pounds Aunt sent, we won’t have enough money this year. We’ll be at least fifty pounds short by Christmas,” Mary said to Mrs. Price.
“There’s always a way, Mary. Maybe your father’s salary will come by then. Or maybe I should write another letter to Mrs. Bertram in a while?” Mrs. Price couldn’t figure out the accounts and decided to leave it alone. She figured things would work themselves out, and if all else failed, she could just move to another place as Lieutenant Price suggested. Once she got her interest income this year, she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
“Dear Mom, let me help you manage the kitchen. Maybe I can reduce the kitchen expenses. Then you can just give me a little pocket money every month, just like my brothers run errands for you.” Mary decided to reduce the biggest expense in the house first.
Mrs. Price was skeptical of Mary's boastful words. However, she disliked dealing with merchants; she was naturally lazy and readily relinquished any task that was being done for her. Her nature and abilities were better suited to being an idle noblewoman like her sister, Mrs. Bertram. Unfortunately, her poor choice of marriage in her youth cost her that opportunity, and this is often the price of many things—the consequences don't become apparent until later.
A note from the author:
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