Chapter 81. Chatting with Mrs. Price...
While chatting with Mrs. Price, William Cavendish would occasionally glance at Mary; he had just said so much, and the young lady had been looking at him with those bright blue-green eyes the whole time.
Fortunately, he couldn't see any disgust in her eyes. A hint of shyness seemed to flash across her beautiful face, but he didn't see the joy he had expected.
This made the man, who always waited for others to figure out his feelings, feel uneasy. He didn't know whether he should wait a couple of days before confessing his love to the lady.
Seeing that it was getting late, Mr. Cavendish had to say goodbye, declining Mrs. Price's offer to stay for dinner.
Just before leaving, the prince finally seized a moment when Mrs. Price wasn't looking and quietly asked the young lady if he could write to her. Only after receiving an affirmative answer did he reluctantly leave.
He hadn't been gone long when Mr. Hawthorne brought Anne and Susan back.
“Mr. Hawthorne, it would have been wonderful if you had been here this afternoon. Richard’s friend, a very distinguished Mr. Cavendish, just came by. If you were here, you could have kept him company for a chat,” Mrs. Price said with a hint of regret.
“Mr. Cavendish,” Anne immediately sensed something was wrong. Wasn’t Richard the most famous Cavendish they knew?
“Mary, what’s going on? Why is this gentleman hiding his identity and coming to Harry Street?” she asked quietly.
“Perhaps it’s fun for big shots to pretend to be ordinary,” Mary joked.
“Do you think I’m stupid? He’s definitely here for you.” Anne glanced at Mrs. Price, who was constantly bragging about her son’s connections, and decided to have a private chat with Mary.
That evening, she finally waited for Mr. Hawthorne to take his leave. Seeing that Mary was about to return to her room, Anne quickly followed her in and asked her what was wrong.
When Anne learned that His Highness the Duke had come specifically to apologize for what happened to Countess Carlisle, and that he had almost confessed his feelings to Mary, she couldn't help but scold her good sister for being foolish.
"When you encounter something like this, you should give him more encouragement and let him finish what he wants to say that day. Countless marriages are made on impulse."
After so much time, Anne didn't doubt that the Duke's love was purely a momentary impulse. It's just that for a wealthy bachelor who had never wanted to get married to propose to a girl of unequal status, a little excitement was always needed. Perhaps once he calmed down, he would start to hesitate again due to various concerns.
Seeing that Mary remained silent, she seemed to have no regrets about what His Highness the Duke had not finished speaking.
Anne exclaimed in surprise, "Mary, I don't think you're foolish enough to refuse even His Highness's marriage proposal, are you? Putting aside his enviable noble status, wealth, and handsome looks, just the fact that he's so sincere towards you makes me wonder what's there to hesitate about. Don't tell me you don't like him; your attitude towards him is different from how you treat others."
“Anne, I don’t want to hide it from you, I do have feelings for this prince, but as for marrying him, I don’t like him enough to be willing to go against my principles and have his children.” Mary told her best friend and sister-in-law some of her true feelings.
Why doesn't she want to have children? A woman's duty is to bring life into the world, and no young woman in the United Kingdom would use this as an excuse to reject a man's marriage proposal. Even if she were a nun, her reason would be to dedicate herself to God.
Although Anne's mother died of puerperal fever, she could not understand Mary's fear: "Do you find taking care of children troublesome? Then you can have two less. The Duke of Devonshire certainly has no shortage of maids to take care of children."
“No, I don’t want to have any children. If I marry the Duke, whether it’s out of love or for the sake of the title, I will have to bear him a child, preferably a male heir. Anne, I don’t want to die from childbirth like Princess Charlotte. That’s my biggest fear.”
“You’re overthinking it, Mary. Not every woman will experience such misfortune. I’m really looking forward to getting pregnant with your brother’s child right now. It’s such a happy thing to have a child with the person you love.”
Anne, reflecting on her own birth, added, "Children are the continuation of our lives. My father told me that my mother loved me very, very much, and she never regretted giving birth to me."
“I’m sorry to bring up your painful past, Annie. I understand your mother; it’s a great motherly love. There are many great mothers in this world, but there are also women like me who don’t want to sacrifice their lives for a child that doesn’t even exist. If you don’t want to take that risk, it’s better not to get married.”
Anne couldn't convince Mary on this matter. Judging from Mary's fondness for Frances, she wasn't the kind of person who disliked children; she was simply afraid of having children.
Besides this matter, Mary had other concerns, which she couldn't mention to Anne. Although she trusted the Duke of Devonshire's character, she wasn't sure if she would have the same freedom after marriage; the title "Duchess of Devonshire" sounded like it carried too much.
On the other hand, William Cavendish felt that he had been too impulsive today. He had come to apologize, but in front of Miss Price, he completely lost his composure and spoke too much of his true feelings to her, some of which might displease her.
A friend told him that a beautiful woman of low social status like Miss Price should, according to the usual practice of nobles, become his mistress rather than his wife, because a wife is married to bear an heir, not to be loved.
It just so happens that the Duke of Devonshire doesn't want to get married. He's had enough of the hypocritical marriages around him and should be content with this arrangement, but he feels that doing so would be disrespectful to the young lady. However, if he were to propose to Miss Price now, he feels that he's abandoning too many principles.
From this perspective, Countess Carlyle's targeting of Mary was clearly not without reason. She could treat her brother's lover with a condescending kindness, but she could not accept that Miss Price could one day be on equal footing with her.
After returning home, the Duke began writing to Miss Price. After numerous revisions, the letter was delivered to Harry Street by a servant the following morning.
"Miss Price, I hope you won't blame me for my abruptness. I'm writing this letter to finish what I brought up with you yesterday on Harry Street. I know I've had many advantages since birth that most people don't have, so I don't think I need to be trapped in a worthless marriage like everyone else."
My reason tells me I should heed my friend's advice and continue being a free-spirited bachelor. Not every man is as lucky as I am to avoid putting himself in chains, especially when everyone generally feels the need to produce an heir.
But facing you, I am willing to set aside reason and sincerely ask you if you would accept my proposal and become the mistress of Chatsworth House? Perhaps I am truly insane to have written you such a letter.
There are some women who like to flaunt their feminine modesty in front of men. A gentleman wooing such a lady must repeatedly use all sorts of sweet words to please her. But Miss Price, you are not that kind of vulgar woman. Please give me a definite answer, don't tease me. — Piccadilly, Cavendish.
"This prince is really strange," Mary thought as she opened the letter. "Does he want her to accept him, or does he hope she'll simply refuse? Or is she supposed to be grateful for his exception?"
The condescending declarations of love and hesitant words in the letter deepened Mary's worries. He did love her now, but no one could guarantee that this relationship would last forever. What if the day came when he stopped loving her? Wouldn't Chatsworth House become her eternal prison?
Mary picked up her pen and wrote: "Your Highness, please do not blame me for being ungrateful. I am very grateful for your kindness. I should repay you with my own affection in order to meet the expectations and requirements of society for a good woman."
But playing Mary Price has already taken me a lot of effort, and I haven't thought about playing Mary Cavendish yet.
We only have one life, and I hope to dedicate my future energy to things that will bring me tangible rewards, rather than wasting it on being someone else's wife, even yours. That way, neither of us will suffer from the shackles of marriage, right?
I hope you'd still like to be my friend. — Mary Price
The letter had just been delivered to Piccadilly when William, who had been waiting at home, opened it. The words inside completely jolted William Cavendish, who had been somewhat dazed since yesterday, back to his conversation with the young lady in Bath. He realized she wasn't joking when she said she didn't want to get married.
Georgiana's attempt to be a villain backfired. Miss Price doesn't even want to be a duchess, so why would she care about her threats?
Forgive William Cavendish for his resentment! He was, after all, a man, and when he wrote that letter, he felt he had made a great sacrifice for the girl he loved and planned to overcome his reluctance to have children after marriage.
Mary's letter, however, pierced through the veil of love, and he suddenly realized that all his so-called sacrifices were just self-indulgence.
This high-ranking prince had to accept the reality that, just as he prioritized his own feelings over Mary Price, the girl treated him the same way, even more decisively.
If only he hadn't brought up the marriage proposal, then we could have remained friends with Miss Price.
He looked at the sapphire necklace he had originally intended to give away, put it back in the box, and told his butler to prepare a carriage and arrange a boat for him. He didn't want to stay in London any longer and planned to go to Italy to relax.
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