Chapter 77 When Mary and the others finally arrived...
When Mary and her family finally arrived in London and returned to their home on Harley Street, Mr. Hawthorne reluctantly parted ways with the Price family, promising to visit them on Harley Street in a few days.
“William, Mary, Anne, you’re finally back.” As soon as they entered the house, Mary and the others heard Mrs. Price’s voice, “Oh, Susan, you’re here too.”
Mrs. Price's words were truly heartbreaking. She had never liked Susan very much, and her daughter was not saddened by her attitude.
Before their luggage was even unpacked, Mary eagerly sent a servant to Richard to inquire where Charlotte was staying. Richard had only received a letter from his sister in Devon County about a day before Mary and her family returned; he hadn't expected them to be back so soon.
Fortunately, Charlotte's matter had just been unexpectedly resolved, and he was just about to write to Mary to tell her not to worry about it. Now he saved himself the trouble of writing a letter and went directly to Harry Street by carriage.
"You mean Charlotte has changed her surname and is pretending to be a widow, so even if the Brown family finds her, they can't do anything about it?" Mary looked at Richard in surprise.
“That’s right, we should now call Miss Brown Mrs. Black,” Richard said, looking at his sister.
This was truly unbelievable to Mary. From Charlotte's escape to London, to Richard's discovery and his letter to Mary, to Mary's return to London, it had all taken less than half a month. How could Richard have resolved the matter in such a short time?
Although he was already a wealthy businessman in London, fabricating someone's past was no easy feat. Besides, his letter clearly indicated he wasn't very willing to help; he only helped Charlotte conceal her whereabouts because of Mary, so why would he be willing to take such a big risk?
“Richard, I know your personality. This is really not like you!” Mary said suspiciously. “You’ve gone to such lengths to get this done, could it be that you’ve fallen for Charlotte?”
“How could that be? It’s all because of you…” Richard was startled when he heard Mary say that, and almost blurted out the truth. He then changed his words, “Charlotte is your friend, so of course I have to do my best to help. If things aren’t handled well, wouldn’t it tarnish your reputation?”
Mary didn't quite believe Richard's words, but she couldn't tell from his expression. She knew her brother wasn't going to tell her, so she had to put the matter aside for now. In any case, Charlotte was finally out of danger.
"Where is she staying now? Is she still staying at that hotel? Shall we go visit her now?" Mary couldn't wait to see her friend.
“She still lives there, but it’s too late today; Mrs. Black may already be resting. How about this, I’ll accompany you to visit her tomorrow afternoon.”
Richard's words made sense, and Mary heeded her brother's advice. The next day, when she and Richard went to the hotel where Charlotte was staying, Susan went with them; she hadn't seen Charlotte for four years.
“Dear Mary, and Susan.” Charlotte hugged them tightly as soon as they met. “I haven’t seen you for so long, my friends. I almost thought I was going to never get out of Manchester.”
Richard watched Charlotte and her two sisters, who were in tears, and felt somewhat superfluous, so he simply went downstairs at the hotel to wait.
After Charlotte calmed down, she told her two friends the details of what had happened: "Although I was locked up at home, I didn't think about running away at first. After all, I had already refused Mr. Miller, and he had always been very generous in front of my family, not caring at all about my refusal."
“But Mr. Brown couldn’t have made a mistake for no reason. There must be someone causing trouble,” Mary analyzed. “Either Mr. Miller is coercing you, or your father, brother David, and Mr. Miller have conspired to pretend to lie to you.”
“I never thought there was such a possibility!” Charlotte exclaimed. She recalled her parents’ expressions and said uncertainly, “I’m not sure if my father is lying to me. The only consolation for me is that my mother probably doesn’t know. She always thought that the gentleman was too old and could only persuade me by saying that he was very rich.”
“I even naively thought that my father could help me with part of the corset sales. As long as the factory was still in my hands, I didn’t care about sharing some of the profits. There were already merchants in Manchester buying from me.” Charlotte gave a bitter smile. “But I was still locked up. At that time, I knew things would get worse and I would probably be forced into marriage.”
Susan exclaimed, "How could Mr. Brown do such a thing?"
“At first I didn’t believe it either, but a kind maid secretly told me that things were going in the worst possible direction. Fortunately, David was considering that I would marry Mr. Miller and didn’t want to offend me too much, so he didn’t search my room. Some of my money was hidden in the bedroom. I gave the maid twenty pounds and asked her to tell me when my father and David were not home, and then tell my mother that I wanted to plead with Mr. Miller.”
"Mrs. Brown really believed that?" Mary asked doubtfully.
“I don’t know if she believed me. She’s always been good to me, but she just can’t stand up to my father. Maybe she thought I was just trying to get some fresh air like before. As soon as I got out, I went straight to the factory, wanting to get some of the money hidden there before leaving. But before I even went in, Ellie (a female worker) saw me and told me that David had taken over the factory and that some people had already defected to him.”
“God will surely bless this kind woman,” Susan exclaimed.
"That's what I thought too. Thanks to Ellie for calling a carriage for me, I was able to escape Manchester. As a way of repaying her, I secretly told her where the money was hidden when I got into the carriage to leave."
After speaking, Charlotte still looked somewhat frightened, immersed in the thrilling experience.
"Mr. Brown is just giving up like that? Even if you destroyed our letters, our constant contact should have made him guess you were heading to London, right?" Mary asked. "Who helped you become Mrs. Black?"
Charlotte blurted out, "I left a letter before I left, telling them that I was going to Scotland. Mr. Price then told me to pretend that I was going to Scotland to get married and that I was a widow whose husband had died in an accident, so that even if my father came looking for me, I wouldn't have to listen to him."
This made Mary even more confused. Charlotte spoke too quickly, as if she had considered how to answer the question many times. And Mr. Brown wasn't stupid; how could he believe his daughter just because she said that? She looked at Charlotte, who was constantly rubbing her hands together, a habitual gesture when she was lying.
Mary decided to play hard to get: "Charlotte, don't try to hide it from me. Richard didn't tell me that. There's something else going on, isn't there?"
Susan was completely baffled by her sister's words and looked at Mary and Charlotte with confusion.
Charlotte assumed that Richard, who always doted on his sister, hadn't kept it from Mary. She looked at her two friends and said helplessly, "It's not that I wanted to hide it from you, but that lord told me not to tell you. Now that you already know from Mr. Price, I have nothing left to hide. If it weren't for His Highness the Duke's help, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
"Your Highness the Duke?" Mary asked in surprise.
Charlotte then realized she had been deceived by Mary, who didn't care at all that her lie had been exposed: "Now we're even. Tell me what happened."
“Actually, I didn’t know the specifics at first. About three days ago, Mr. Price suddenly told me to remember that I was married, and told me about Mr. Black’s identity and the story he just told me. Of course, I was very grateful for your brother’s help and took him to the hotel before saying goodbye.”
Charlotte paused for a moment, then continued, "Right after he left, I realized I had left my wallet with me. I wanted to chase after him to return it, but I found he hadn't gone far. He was talking to someone across the street. When I got closer, I noticed he was addressing that person as 'Your Highness' and kept expressing his gratitude. Mr. Price initially refused to tell me the truth, but when he realized something was amiss, he had no choice but to tell me."
"So what exactly happened? How did His Majesty the Duke know?" Susan asked curiously.
“Because my father was in London those few days and was causing trouble for Mr. Price. When His Highness the Duke found out, he helped stop my father. Later, it was also he who sent someone to persuade my father to believe that I had already married and could only return to Manchester.”
"His kindness should only make people grateful to him, so why did you have to keep it from me?" Mary asked, puzzled.
"It was all at that man's request. Mr. Price and I don't understand it either. Since he gave the order, we had no choice but to do as he said. That's why I believe what Richard told you. I really don't see any need to hide anything. That man is helping you all this because of you, so why would he keep it from you?"
Susan, who had been listening nearby, spoke up: "The fact that the Duke doesn't want Mary to know means he doesn't want my sister to be grateful to him, doesn't it? It's strange that someone doesn't want others to be grateful to him."
He didn't want me to be grateful to him; was he afraid I'd feel burdened? Thinking about the prince's actions in Bath, Mary's feelings became even more complicated.
The young ladies chatted for a while longer. Mary wanted Charlotte to move to Harry Street, but Charlotte refused. She still had about two hundred pounds left, which she could afford to stay in a hotel, and she didn't want to stay with Mary's brother and sister-in-law.
Mary and Susan tried to persuade her several times, but Charlotte remained adamant in her refusal. As for the suggestion to help Mary manage the clothing factory, she readily agreed, as she desperately needed to earn money. However, Charlotte did not accept the five percent share Mary offered her.
“Mary, you can just pay me my salary now. I’ll only feel comfortable taking these shares if the garment factory develops better under my management. If I don’t have the ability, I’ll feel embarrassed to accept your help.”
They said goodbye to Charlotte, and Mary glanced at Richard waiting downstairs, deciding to question her brother properly when they got back.
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