Chapter 41 is set against this backdrop of immense sorrow...
It was in this immense grief that William returned to England, where the crew of HMS Thrushcross Grange mourned the passing of Princess Charlotte.
Amidst the grief, there were some discordant notes: the lieutenant on the HMS Thrush had died, a devastating loss for his family. But for William, it was a good thing, albeit somewhat unethical, as it greatly increased his chances of promotion to lieutenant.
William had been a second lieutenant for almost two years. In wartime, he believed he could earn a promotion within a year, but now he could only hope for the lieutenant's misfortune, making it difficult for him to empathize with the lieutenant's plight. After arriving in Portsmouth, William stayed at home for only one night before heading to London almost immediately.
He went there for his future, and of course he took all his assets with him, but not as much as his younger siblings had imagined.
Dear William had devoted most of his income to his family—the house in Portsmouth, a wedding gift for Fanny, and so on—leaving him with only about three hundred pounds saved through frugality. He wanted to use this money to ask General Maxwell for help with some arrangements and also to buy some gifts, hoping the general wouldn't find his meager savings unacceptable.
Mary didn't see William right away; her brother went to Richard's first. Richard no longer lived on Grubb Street; he had rented a house on Bond Street in London in October.
At the time, he was riding high, and "Butterfly Sewing Machine Company" was the most prestigious company in London. Naturally, he didn't want to continue living in his old, dilapidated house. There were many shops on the bustling Bond Street, and Richard happened to rent one of them to sell sewing machines. He quickly moved there as well.
Richard was now inside the house welcoming his brother. A servant helped William carry his luggage in, while William's familiar maid, Kate, was serving tea and water in the living room. A maidservant was also cleaning the house. Compared to the Price family, this house was quite luxurious, and the servants had kept everything in perfect order. However, the master of the house looked dejected and sullen.
“Richard, what’s wrong? Didn’t you say in your letter that the sewing machine business was doing very well?” William looked at his brother, who looked unwell, with concern.
“Oh, William, it was really good before, Princess Charlotte even praised our sewing machines. However, since that unfortunate thing that we all know happened, no one is in a good mood now.”
Princess Charlotte's tragic death was a great blow to Richard, because the Regent had only regarded the sewing machine as amusement, while the princess's support for it had ignited the passion of the nobility, and he had always held her in high esteem. Now, compared to others, the passing of this beloved princess brought him more than one layer of sorrow.
William wasn't good at business and couldn't offer much help to his brother in his predicament. After thinking for a moment, he took out half of his money—one hundred and fifty pounds—and said, "Take this money and use it first. Hopefully, it will do some good."
Richard and Mary had already reserved three percent of the shares for William, so he accepted the money without a second thought. However, when he inquired about his brother's situation and learned the purpose of William's trip to London, he immediately felt embarrassed.
“You should go to the general’s mansion as soon as possible. With Mary there, she will definitely try to subtly inquire with the general. I don’t think there will be any problems,” Richard reassured his brother.
As for gifts, given the close relationship between the two families, there was no need for deliberate flattery. Richard suggested that his brother give the general a Turkish meerschaum pipe, and that the general's wife and Miss Maxwell bring some fashionable little things, such as fans from the East or delicate jewelry boxes.
After agreeing on a time for the visit, William arrived at General Maxwell's house on time the following afternoon. The masters were all home. Anne should have avoided the house, but she stayed in the living room under the pretext of discussing matters with Mary.
The general warmly received his young friend, William Price, who was radiant and exuded the kind of ambitious young man the general adored.
The general inquired about William's current situation, and as William humorously recounted his experiences aboard the HMS Thrushcross Grange, the general's wife and Anne were thoroughly amused, and the general praised William a few times. However, no one directly mentioned promotion.
Before Mary could speak, Anne suddenly said, "Oh, Dad, William should have been a second lieutenant for two years now, right? I remember you were promoted to lieutenant in just one year. He's not as good as you were when you were young!"
“That’s because I was lucky. As long as you make contributions, no one will ignore you. In that respect, you’re not so lucky.” The general turned to William. “But it was a good thing for the country that the war ended. That man (Napoleon) was finally defeated by us, and peace came. I think your efforts will also be seen.”
"Lucky William!" Mary almost wanted to hug Anne beside her; her words were perfectly timed. She couldn't help but have a slight suspicion, but looking at her friend's natural expression, she thought that even if William was handsome, he and Anne had only met a handful of times, so there shouldn't be anything going on; it was probably just a coincidence.
Unbeknownst to Mary, after William left Grosvenor Square, Anne returned to her room, picked up the exquisite mother-of-pearl fan in her hand, looked at it several times, and then put it down.
Shortly after William visited General Maxwell’s residence, something happened that had something to do with Price and his group.
That noon, the general's wife ate breakfast in bed before going downstairs. She had attended a ball the night before and didn't return until very late.
Mary and Anne were in the living room discussing what to do about the poor Princess of Wales. It's unknown whether the poor princess received any news from her husband (she and the Prince have been separated and are currently in Europe), but she must be suffering immensely from the loss of her daughter.
Upon hearing this, the general's wife suddenly said, "We also have a similar unfortunate person among us. I learned yesterday that Mrs. Grant, whom we met in Bath last time, lost her husband, Dr. Grant, to a stroke."
Upon hearing this, Anne found today's newspaper and indeed found a simple obituary in it: "Reverend Grant of Westminster Abbey, who had been constantly working for charitable causes, was called by the Lord on December 7, 1817, and returned to heaven in peace."
"Poor Mrs. Grant, her husband must have been attending far too many charity banquets by the end of the year." Anne had seen the pot-bellied, bloated doctor and was not at all surprised by his passing.
Aside from Mrs. Grant, probably no one was saddened by the Doctor's departure. Where would Miss Crawford go now? Would she continue to live with her sister, Mrs. Grant, or would she go to live with her brother, who had not yet fully won back the upper class?
Mary didn't dwell on unrelated people for long. About three days later, she received a letter from Mansfield. In it, Susan told her some good news: with Dr. Grant's passing, Edmund was finally going to inherit Mansfield's reverend's salary. Fanny had now moved to the reverend's house in Mansfield and often visited her sister. Fanny was currently in good health, and Mary often accompanied her for walks in the garden, as Mary had requested in her letters, to reassure Mary not to worry too much.
Just then, William's promotion was finalized, and he and Richard came to the general's mansion to tell his sister and express their gratitude to the general. Now, no one cared about the deceased Dr. Grant anymore; William felt that his death was just right, that the useless doctor had benefited many people through his death.
“It just so happens that Fanny is pregnant, so her aunt and uncle can take care of her nearby. It couldn’t be more perfect,” William said happily. He felt that everything had been going very well lately, and Fanny could now live a very comfortable life. The income from her position as a clergyman in Mansfield was estimated to be close to one thousand pounds.
Richard was the only one somewhat out of place among this cheerful group. Princess Charlotte's funeral was, in theory, over, and everyone except her husband and closest friends had accepted the fact. This was especially true of the gentlemen and ladies outside the nobility; General Maxwell's wife had recently attended several balls.
However, sales of high-end sewing machines have not improved much in the short term. This fashionable gadget is only popular in London for the time being and has not spread to other counties. The nobles in London who wanted to buy them had almost all bought or pre-ordered them in the previous wave. Therefore, only about thirty high-end sewing machines have been sold recently.
Those wealthy ladies had so many pastimes that they were unlikely to use a sewing machine themselves, so it was understandable that they temporarily lost interest. What truly frustrated him was that the ordinary sewing machine Richard had pinned his hopes on didn't sell out in the store, which was what he truly found frustrating.
“Don’t worry, Richard, have you investigated what caused this?” Mary walked over to her brother.
“What other reasons are there? Some people think it’s just something for the aristocracy to follow, and it’s not very useful. Also, it’s still a bit too expensive for them. Although we price our ordinary sewing machine at twenty-four pounds, less than a quarter of the price of the high-end sewing machine, the wealthy think they should follow the aristocracy’s fashion and buy the high-end model, while it’s difficult for ordinary middle-class families to take out twenty-four pounds all at once.” Richard shrugged.
Mary finally understood. At that time, there were very few families in England with a savings mentality. Like the Price family, the middle class in England planned out every pound and every shilling very carefully. It was obviously impossible for them to take out twenty-four pounds to buy a sewing machine. Anyway, if they didn't buy one, the wives and maids could sew it themselves.
“I’ve asked the shop assistants to demonstrate the machine to every customer, to convince them that it can indeed sew clothes, and I’ve also contacted The Times to place another advertisement. Also, should we lower the price a little? Not too much, how about a pound or two?” Richard has been busy lately, thinking of many solutions.
“The demonstration machine is working fine, but directly lowering the price probably won’t work. If we lower the price just because they’re not selling well right now, the value of those high-end sewing machines won’t be recognized by society. Not all rich people are fools.” Mary rejected Richard’s suggestion.
What should I do?
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