Chapter 8. Just as Mary was discussing this matter…
Just as Mary was worrying about this, her godmother, General Maxwell's wife, sent a servant to fetch her to their home. Ever since the general had met Mary Price last time, he had been quite impressed with this poised and confident young girl, and his wife, naturally, was even more inclined to have her goddaughter accompany her and Miss Maxwell.
Upon arriving at the General's residence, Mary first accompanied Anne to practice cricket for a while. This sport, known as "the gentleman's game," is often interspersed with afternoon tea and a series of social activities during matches, making it popular among upper-class men. In recent years, a few upper-class ladies and wives have also begun to join in, forming women's cricket teams. Miss Maxwell, influenced by a wealthy relative, developed a fondness for the sport.
However, Mrs. Maxwell was not a fan of this. She always believed that women should maintain a slender figure and graceful posture and should not participate in these men's activities. Naturally, no one (not counting the servants) would accompany Anne to practice cricket. Fortunately, Mary came. Although she was a bit clumsy, she was still better than the young ladies from the officers' families who looked scared when they saw her play.
The two women worked up a sweat after a while. Anne's face was flushed, and Mary touched her own face, which felt hot; she guessed her face was just as hot. The sweat made her clothes feel sticky, and she really wanted to take a bath, but as a guest, she was embarrassed to make such a request that would bother the servants. Anne, however, insisted: "Sweating is really uncomfortable; that's the trouble with exercise. Shall we take a bath, Mary?"
Hearing Anne's words, Mary was both grateful and troubled. The bath Anne described was different from the usual scrubbing Mary received at the Price's house. The servants would first have to carry water to the kitchen, heat it, and then carry it upstairs to the bathtub in wooden buckets. After the two young ladies had bathed, the maids would then have to carry the used bathwater downstairs in buckets and pour it down the drain. One thought from their mistress, and the servants had to work even harder than usual. As a guest, Mary naturally felt embarrassed to receive such treatment, so she gave the maids who carried the buckets a small tip to try and alleviate their complaints.
After a rare, proper bath, Mary felt much refreshed. She looked at her dirty clothes and then remembered the blueprints she'd inexplicably brought with her before leaving. General Maxwell should have reliable people who could build the washing machine, but how could she bring it up? Mary decided to give it a try; after all, she was only six years old, and even if the general didn't help, he wouldn't do anything to her.
When the general returned to his residence, Mary pulled Anne close to him and pretended to be curious, asking about the sailors' lives on the ship. Knowing that Mary's older brother William was preparing to join the navy, the general did not suspect anything.
“Godfather, I’ve heard that sailors don’t need to wash their own clothes on board; they just throw them into the sea and they become clean, is that right?” Mary asked innocently.
"Yes, they just stuff their dirty clothes into a large cloth bag beforehand, tie the bag with a rope, secure one end of the rope to the ship, and then throw the bag into the sea. As the sailboat sails, the clothes naturally become much cleaner." The general spoke with great enthusiasm about his line of work. "Of course, seawater can't wash clothes as clean as people, but on ships where fresh water is scarce, sailors don't have the opportunity to wash their clothes frequently anyway."
Not two days after that conversation, Mary went to General Maxwell's study and solemnly handed him the design drawings for the washing machine.
"Dear Godfather, I implore you to look at this blueprint I designed. After we talked about how sailors wash clothes last time, I thought that since putting dirty clothes in seawater can clean them by constantly agitating them with the water flow, why don't we build a machine like this? You see, it has an agitator inside. As long as someone keeps turning the handle, the wooden stick inside can keep agitating the clothes with the water flow, which would save time when washing clothes, wouldn't it?"
General Maxwell never expected his goddaughter to talk to him about machine inventions. How could a little girl have such wonderful ideas? At that time, many machines had already appeared in Britain. Although the general could not see how useful the bulky wooden washing machine in front of him was, out of encouragement, the elder said to Mary, "Oh! Mary, you are amazing. You were able to think of inventing a machine from the sailors washing clothes."
Mary knew the general didn't value the invention much, so she continued, "Godfather, as you know, my parents' financial situation isn't very good. I'd like to ask you to send someone to inquire if the laundry in Portsmouth needs this invention. If there's a market for it, I'd like to sell it and get some money."
After she finished speaking, Mary felt the study suddenly become extremely quiet. Looking at the general's furrowed brows and pensive expression, she kept wondering if she had messed things up. Perhaps the general wasn't as open-minded as she thought, or perhaps she shouldn't have made the request so directly.
A minute or two passed, or perhaps an eternity, before General Maxwell's words finally reached Mary's ears. "Dear Mary, you want to sell this patent, is that right? I can send Andrew to inquire for you, but I know too little about machines and am unsure if there's a market for it. If it does sell, what do you plan to do with the money?"
"What should I do with it? Of course, I'll keep it myself!" Mary almost blurted out, but she couldn't say it so directly. "Your Honor, Godfather, as you know, I've always wanted to go to school, but my parents can't afford the education of my sisters and me. Fortunately, my older sister was taken to Mansfield by my uncle, Baron Thomas, so I hope this money can be used to pay for my sister and me to attend full-time school."
Mary's subtext was that she wanted to be able to control the money herself, preferably at least two hundred pounds, since the annual cost of several well-known girls' schools in Portsmouth was often between eighteen and twenty-one pounds.
General Maxwell nodded, indicating that he understood. After Mary left the study, he paced alone in the room, thinking to himself: Could it be that suffering truly possesses the great power praised by those poets, enabling even a frail little girl to burst forth with wisdom?
Although many people considered women foolish and irrational, the general was not the kind of man who looked down on women. He summoned his butler, Andrew, and assigned him to handle the matter, secretly deciding that even if the invention wasn't worth much money, he could provide Mary with some financial assistance in the future.
Perhaps we could take Mary into our home for her education. Although the two girls are in different circumstances, being together might benefit both of them. If the Price boy is also this outstanding, we could try to mentor him in the future.
After handing the blueprints to the general, Mary put aside her worries. She stayed for two more days before preparing to say goodbye to her godmother.
“Dear Godmother, of course I want to stay here with you and Anne, but as you know, my sister Fanny is about to leave Portsmouth. My mother has already written back to my uncle, and the servants at Mansfield may come to pick her up at any time. We don’t know when we will see her again after she leaves, so I have to go back and spend more time with her this time.”
Mrs. Maxwell, remembering that she had been stationed with the general in Portsmouth since her marriage and rarely saw her childhood sisters, felt a pang of sympathy and readily agreed to her goddaughter's request. Nothing happened at the market on the way back, and Mary arrived home safely.
By this time, Mrs. Price had calmed down from the joy of Fanny being taken to Northamptonshire by Sir Thomas. She had too many things to worry about, and it was already quite remarkable that she had been able to maintain her love for her eldest daughter for so long.
Mrs. Price's eldest son, William, was graduating from school in a little over a month. He insisted on becoming a sailor directly, rather than continuing his education at military or grammar school. Mrs. Price was extremely anxious, and with Mary not home, there was no one to comfort her restless heart. Mr. Price, on the other hand, didn't care. He claimed that his eldest son was just like him in his youth, a good prospect for the trade, and he couldn't wait for William to be on a ship.
Mary's return was just in time. No one in the family thought to help Fanny pack her luggage. Although she didn't have any valuables, she still wanted to pack her favorite little things before leaving home: the clothes Mrs. Price had knitted for her, the toys William had given her, the Easter eggs Mary had given her, and the little gifts from her other siblings.
Mary helped her sister pack the things into a small box so she could leave at any time. Fanny felt embarrassed that she needed her sister to take care of her, and saddened by the thought of leaving her family. She still couldn't accept her "good luck." She had never imagined that one day she would leave this house, leave William and her other siblings.
Therefore, it was quite normal for Fanny to be in tears when Sir Thomas's servant came to fetch her. Mrs. Price also shed a few sad tears when she saw her eldest daughter leave, but when she thought that Fanny was being taken away to enjoy a life of luxury, she quickly came to terms with it and became cheerful. This cheerfulness did not last long, as she soon felt the inconvenience.
Sam and Tom had always been cared for by Fanny. Now that the two little ones were three and one was only one, with Fanny gone, she wanted to have Mary and Susan more around. However, Mary had been frequently taken to see General Maxwell's wife lately. Susan had never been favored by her mother, and therefore resented her mother's doting on others even more. She often complained about Mrs. Price's unconditional pampering of her two younger brothers, unlike Fanny who always obeyed her. Naturally, Mrs. Price was even more unhappy.
Mary wasn't completely neglecting Mrs. Price; she had long ago instructed her maid, Ava, to help look after her two younger brothers. However, Price worried that Ava would slack off and always hoped that her daughters would contribute more.
In addition, Mary and Susan were four years younger than Fanny and couldn't help their mother with as much housework as she could. Mrs. Price was about to give birth, so she inevitably felt even more tired.
She secretly thought that she should leave all the things that required brainpower and worry to Mary. She didn't want to deal with all those troublesome things, such as the various bills and how to make the servants obedient. After all, her son could go straight to his future, and her daughters had to learn how to manage household affairs. Now that Fanny was not around, Mary, as Miss Price, should share more of the burden.
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