Chapter 53 Mrs. Russell thought of herself...
Mrs. Russell, recalling her past, gave a cold laugh and continued, "Matthew, I know that her other brother is your wealthy friend Richard, but I only heard that he promised to give Mrs. Price a sum of money every year, but I didn't hear him promise to give money as dowries for his two unmarried sisters."
“But Miss Price’s clothes are by no means shabby; she couldn’t possibly have gotten them all from the General and his wife. You didn’t see Richard’s attitude towards her; he doted on Miss Price and would definitely support his sister,” MacDonald said with certainty, recalling Richard’s behavior.
“Annual subsidies are one thing, but giving a large sum of money directly is another. Don’t forget that he has only just become rich and cannot come up with a large sum of money all at once. You wouldn’t be willing to accept receiving money slowly every year, would you?”
Mrs. Russell hit the nail on the head, and McDonald, analyzing the situation rationally, also felt he should take her advice and give up on Miss Price. After all, from the beginning, his goal was to make a fortune through marriage, not to accept a fixed annual allowance that he couldn't fully control.
The reason he secretly manipulated the heart of a sixteen-year-old girl was precisely because he was afraid of not getting what he wanted in the end and suffering a loss for nothing.
But when the time came, thinking of the young lady's rare beauty, he felt a pang of reluctance. The gentleman felt he should inquire further and not completely trust Mrs. Russell's one-sided account.
Mrs. Russell wasn't annoyed to see her old friend Mr. McDonald hesitate; she knew from experience that he would eventually agree to her plan. They were childhood friends, related, and shared some unspeakable experiences, naturally forming an alliance of interests.
Back then, the two of them met the wealthy Mr. Russell by chance, and it was with Mr. McDonald's strong encouragement that she was able to marry Mr. Russell.
At that time, her husband, Mr. Russell, considered Mr. McDonald his best friend, and would share even a penny with Mr. McDonald. The three of them lived together at Mr. Russell's estate in Derbyshire.
Mr. McDonald certainly didn't want to rely on his friends forever; he always wanted to make a fortune for himself. Unfortunately, his parents had squandered their wealth and left him nothing.
This gentleman could neither endure the hardship of starting from scratch nor afford to buy a position in the army, so he could only rely on friends for support. For his own enjoyment, he and Mrs. Russell strongly encouraged Mr. Russell to squander money.
Matthew McDonald, who didn't want to work hard, wanted to get rich. What else could he do besides get married? He quickly set his sights on the only daughter of his distant relative, General Maxwell. Having learned about the general's character, the penniless Mr. McDonald knew that his circumstances would never allow the general to agree to the marriage.
Then Mr. McDonald thought of his friend Mr. Russell, who had long since begun to treat the money in his friend's pocket as his own. Encouraged by his wife and friend, Mr. Russell was already a spendthrift.
Through this friend's introduction, Mr. Russell purchased some works of art that were supposedly "very valuable." Meanwhile, Mr. McDonald frequently fabricated excuses that he urgently needed money, and the naive Mr. Russell readily and generously gave him the money.
When Mr. Russell ran out of money and wanted to sell his artwork only to find it worthless, he thought his friend had been cheated! It wasn't until he fell seriously ill and had to ask his friend for the money he had borrowed that he never saw his good friend again, and only received one beautifully written letter after another from Mr. McDonald that he realized he had met a viper.
Even Mrs. Russell, who had also been encouraging the situation, eventually felt sorry for her naive husband. Of course, Mrs. Russell wasn't entirely innocent either; Mr. McDonald had something on her, and thus, knowing his true nature, she still helped him deceive her husband.
When her husband became seriously ill, she spent her days at home weeping, but she resolutely refused to let him sell the last piece of real estate, because it was the last face of the Russell family.
She was so concerned with the Russell family's reputation that she was completely disregarded that she would be homeless after her husband's death, which led Mr. Russell to ultimately decide to leave his only remaining property to his "poor" wife rather than to his supposedly gambling distant relative.
She came to London from Derbyshire partly because she had a dispute with those annoying relatives after the mourning period ended, and partly because the annual income from that property was simply not enough for this lady to squander.
Fortunately, she was no ordinary woman. Since her father's death and the need to fend for herself, Mrs. Russell had experienced far too much in the past twelve years.
Almost as soon as she arrived in London, her old haunt, she decided to seek refuge with Mr. MacDonald, since he had taken most of Mr. Russell’s fortune through various means, leaving her only a small portion, which was unfair.
Now that both men have something on each other, it's impossible for Mr. McDonald to just throw Mrs. Russell aside like a rag.
Just as Mrs. Russell had predicted, Mr. McDonald hesitated for a long time, but finally, in early December, he got the exact answer from Mrs. Maxwell.
The general's wife had not heard that her goddaughter's brother had offered Mary a dowry in the future. There was no reason in the world to expect siblings to share their wealth with others. However, her husband would never abandon his goddaughter.
Logically speaking, for a girl Mary's age, it's easy to find out roughly how much dowry she has from acquaintances. The amount of a woman's dowry is itself one of the indicators of her value in the marriage market.
Unfortunately, Mr. McDonald and Mrs. Russell encountered an oddball: Mary neither wanted to get married nor was she influenced by the Eastern tradition of keeping one's wealth private. She was reluctant to reveal the extent of her wealth. Apart from her godfather, General Maxwell, no one else knew how much of her shares were in the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company, and only her siblings knew about the allowances she gave to Mrs. Price.
Having convinced himself of Miss Price's financial situation, Mr. McDonald gradually grew distant from Mary; this "love" had come and gone quickly. He still coveted her beauty, but now he had to focus more on making money rather than on the trivial matter of getting revenge on William Price.
Always rational, he decided to give Mrs. Russell's plan a try. He didn't have high hopes for it; not everyone was as easily fooled as Mr. Russell, and he had to be prepared for both possibilities.
Soon after, Richard received an invitation from Matthew McDonald to go to the Royal Theatre in Covent Garden to see Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
Covent Gardens is located in London's West End. At this time, the West End already had many theaters of all sizes, but the aristocracy and the truly wealthy upper class would still choose to go to the Royal Theatre.
At the theater, they had a chance encounter with the charming Mrs. Russell, and through Mr. McDonald's introduction, Richard got to know her.
She is Mr. Macdonald's cousin. Her husband, Mr. Russell, passed away more than two years ago. The two had no children, so she inherited the small estate left by her husband, which reportedly provides an income of more than a thousand pounds a year.
Now, Mrs. Russell had even more suitors than before her marriage, but she still couldn't forget her deceased Mr. Russell, so she came to the city from Derbyshire to escape her suitors.
Mrs. Russell's elegant conversation and charming figure left a deep impression on young Richard. Had Richard not had an even more beautiful sister, he would surely have been captivated by Mrs. Russell. Even so, during a conversation with Mary, he couldn't help but mention the lady's allure.
Although Mary didn't know the true nature of Mr. McDonald and Mrs. Russell, she and Anne had discussed the last time they talked about it, and after comparing all the things the man had said to the two girls, they could at least draw one conclusion—this man was hypocritical and very insincere.
Mr. McDonald's sudden introduction of this person to Richard naturally raised her guard.
“Dear Richard, I don’t want to doubt your friend, but I must tell you frankly that Anne and I both believe that Mr. McDonald’s motives are impure.”
"Is it because he's pursuing Miss Maxwell? Mary, you have to understand, it's not wrong for a young man to enjoy life and pursue a wealthy lady, especially since he's quite rich himself." From a man's perspective, Richard felt that Matthew McDonald's behavior was understandable.
Mary didn't argue with Richard about the realities of men, but simply pointed out: "If he's only after money, he shouldn't call it love."
"I think Miss Maxwell is so lovely, it's impossible for him to be indifferent to her; it just so happens that she's also very rich."
Mary had only hinted at it before, but now she had to be direct: "If that's what you think, then Mr. McDonald's behavior is even more unacceptable. His attitude towards me in private recently was far too ambiguous."
“What! How dare he? You haven’t even entered the social scene yet!” Richard was furious. “Mary, you should have told me about this sooner, and I would have gone to find out what he was up to.”
"Mr. McDonald hasn't publicly stated his position, so who can testify to this besides myself? Besides you and Anne, who can believe he's so despicable? If word gets out, people will probably say I'm being presumptuous. I'm telling you this so you'll be wary of him. For example, this Mrs. Russell who suddenly appeared—why did you happen to run into her? Is Mr. McDonald truly unaware, or did he deliberately arrange this? What is his ultimate goal?"
“Whatever his purpose may be, the fact that he’s pursuing you in private means he can forget about ever gaining my trust again,” Richard shouted. He paused, thinking of someone else, and continued, “My dear Mary, whatever man pursues you, he must do so openly and honestly, otherwise I will never agree to you being with him.”
“Oh, Richard, your sister is still young and hasn’t met a gentleman who can win her heart yet.” Mary smiled. “Besides, I’m not short of money now and can fully enjoy a happy single life. I haven’t seen any benefits of marriage from our mother.”
“As Dr. Johnson (the British writer Samuel Johnson) said, ‘Marriage may have many pains, but celibacy has no joys.’ You shouldn’t take my parents as an example. Our aunt and uncle, Fanny and Edmund, and the General and his wife are all very happy! Dear Mary, don’t be frightened by Mr. McDonald and hastily dismiss all men.” Richard disagreed with Mary’s argument.
“Happy and fulfilled? As it stands, perhaps Fanny is happy, and perhaps my godparents are too. As for our aunt, Mrs. Bertram, not to be disrespectful to my uncle, but you can’t deny that Sir Thomas has never valued Aunt Bertram’s opinions, can you?” Mary countered her brother.
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