Chapter 91 When Mary played the piano...
While Mary played the piano, William Cavendish listened attentively. Although he had heard many musicians play at a high level, perhaps because he had a particular fondness for this young lady, he always felt that no performance could compare to the beauty of Miss Price's piano playing.
After playing her piece, Mary gave up her seat. Lady Cavendish praised her musical skills, saying, "Mary, you played very well. It shows that a person's talent is not determined by their tutor. Some people can receive the best education but still not develop good talents, can't you, Lady Cavendish?"
Seeing that the surrounding guests were praising Miss Price's skill and wanted her to play a little longer, the Lady was speechless for a moment.
Countess Carlyle chimed in, "Miss Price may be passable at playing the piano, but music alone cannot win the respect of high society."
William Cavendish walked among the women: "Music can reflect a person's heart, and I believe Miss Price has a heart worthy of everyone's respect."
Having witnessed firsthand the Duke of Devonshire's high praise for Miss Price, and with the help of Viscountess Cork, it was natural that some ladies and young women began to talk to Mrs. Price and Miss Price.
After the party ended that day, the extent to which it helped Mary personally was secondary; the most important thing was that the development of the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company was no longer hindered.
Mary's patent did not stop businessmen from coveting the huge profits that sewing machines could bring. Although Richard used various means, there were always people who wanted to take the risk.
While the Duke of Devonshire was in England, things were going well. There were rumors that Richard Price was his friend or a middleman, who kept some of the greedy hyenas at bay.
After His Highness left England, the Price family faced targeting from Baron Brooke. In addition, Sir Edward had been away from the army for a long time and his deterrent power had diminished. Naturally, some businessmen were eager to seize the patent for the sewing machine.
Someone pressured Richard to acquire shares in the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company. Fortunately, the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company was a family business (Sir Edward transferred the company's shares to his grandson after William was born), and with the support of Mary and William, and with the help of Viscountess Cork's connections, Richard ultimately managed to retain firm control of the company.
After attending His Highness the Duke's private gathering, no other short-sighted businessman dared to propose an acquisition to Richard. Of course, even so, the company's development was not without its challenges.
It's Christmas again, and Mary is reviewing the accounts when she discovers some bad debts. Since adopting the "installment payment" sales strategy, some families have been unable to repay the final payment for sewing machines due to unforeseen circumstances. To address this, the company has resorted to extending the repayment period and indirectly increasing interest to collect the remaining balance. However, some people simply disappear to evade their debts.
“John Dickens, I remember this man worked in the Quartermaster Department of the Admiralty. He handled the first contract for my garment factory. It’s been over three years, and he still hasn’t paid the balance?” Mary asked doubtfully. This shouldn’t be the case, given the normal salary of a Quartermaster Department employee.
“That’s the man! I remember him. The cashier was too slow. This gentleman has spent too much money he shouldn’t have. He’s taken out high-interest loans, and now many businessmen are chasing him for debts. It’s probably impossible to get money from Mr. Dickens now. Some people have even suggested sending Dickens to a debtors’ prison.” Richard glanced at the record.
Debtor prisons, a peculiar phenomenon in British society, are prisons set up for people unable to repay their debts. As long as a debtor is unable to pay, regardless of whether interest is involved, the creditor has the right to send them to prison through the courts.
Undoubtedly, judges almost always sided with the creditors, regardless of whether their claims were reasonable. As a result, many British merchants at the time made a living by lending money at exorbitant interest rates, without any concern that debtors would be unable to repay their debts.
As for the conditions in debtor prisons, most of them are quite terrible. Debtors not only have to endure poor sanitation conditions, but also suffer from brutal treatment by prison guards. Many debtors die from disease or torture.
Of course, a small number of debtors enjoyed special treatment. They weren't entirely without money, but simply didn't want to repay their debts. By bribing the warden, these debtors had separate quarters, clean bedding, and good food in prison. The gap between rich and poor placed debtors in drastically different situations within the prison. Clearly, John Dickens was not one of them.
“If he is sent to prison because of his debts, this gentleman will obviously lose his job. So how can we get him to pay back the money?” Mary’s question is a paradox created by debtor prisons.
Richard shrugged indifferently: "If Mr. Dickens only owed me money, it wouldn't matter, it's not much anyway, I can just extend the repayment period a bit more. It's a pity he also owes money to the moneylender. I think he can always find a way to borrow money from his relatives, right?"
“The current debt system is undoubtedly unreasonable. The courts’ unconditional support for usurers has reinforced those unreasonable debts, while reasonable debts cannot be effectively repaid,” Mary muttered.
The discussion about the drawbacks of debtor prisons didn't last long before Richard brought up another topic. In the time since they had just returned to the city, Richard had noticed that his neighbor, Colonel Brandon, always seemed to be in a hurry, and guessed that he had some personal business to attend to.
"I heard that the Colonel had gone back to the countryside twice recently, so I asked him out of curiosity if he had gone to Barton. He told me that he had only gone back to Drafor and hadn't had time to go to Barton, which was really puzzling. You know, I thought he would take advantage of Willoughby's absence to pursue Miss Marian Dashwood."
“Oh, Richard, don’t tell me you’ve picked up Mrs. Jennings’s ways. Colonel Brandon is an older man than you, you don’t need to worry about him. He knows how to handle his feelings.”
Richard, unfazed by his sister's sarcasm, smiled and said, "I find it strange that when I mentioned Mr. Hawthorne becoming Allenham's successor, Colonel Brandon was very supportive. None of us told him the inside story, so his opinion of Willoughby can't be entirely unfounded, can it?"
“With a character like Willoughby, who wouldn’t have doubts about him after getting to know him? Colonel Brandon must have heard some rumors as well,” Mary said without looking up from the accounts in her hands.
That makes sense; Richard didn't seem to care much about his perpetually heartbroken neighbor. After checking the accounts, he and Mary went back to Harry Street for dinner, where William and Anne were very welcoming.
After being promoted to lieutenant commander, William had to accept the reality that the British Navy needed far fewer field-grade officers than captains. He spent more time in the country, and his income was forced to decrease.
Fortunately, William no longer needs to rely on the Admiralty's salary to live on. He is already very wealthy thanks to his and his son's shares in the sewing machine company, so he prefers to stay at home with his wife, mother, and children.
This made him even more unable to understand Mary, who didn't seem to enjoy the joy of family life: "Look how adorable our little William is! Anne is pregnant again, and I hope this time she'll give birth to a girl as beautiful as her."
“I think very few parents would think their child is not adorable. You can enjoy this family bliss as much as you want; it’s what parents deserve. But the pain of carrying these little ones is something only wives suffer, and I can accept being alone to avoid that pain.” Mary was not tempted at all.
“Dear William, I’ve been urging you to give up for ages. Whether it’s me, Fanny, Susan, or Sophia (John’s wife), we’ve all tried to persuade Mary so many times.” Anne was prepared for her husband’s failed attempt to persuade her once again.
"Now only Charlotte hasn't tried to persuade me. I always felt that she shouldn't have accepted Mr. Smith's proposal. Fortunately, he agreed to let Charlotte continue working for me after the marriage, which made me look at him in a completely new light. Otherwise, I would have been really worried."
Fortunately, Thomas Smith was originally a watchmaker and was used to seeing working couples from the lower classes working together, so he didn't mind his wife continuing to work. He was also fortunate to work in a garment factory himself, where almost all the workers were women, so the problems he worried about didn't exist.
“If work is just about endless chores, I don’t see how it’s any better than marriage. Mrs. Smith could have enjoyed a leisurely married life, but now she has to serve another person.” Anne didn’t approve of Charlotte’s choice.
Thomas Smith earns three to four hundred pounds a year from his two factories alone, plus about two hundred and fifty pounds from his personal clothing factory shares, and another two hundred and fifty pounds from Charlotte's shares, bringing his total income to eight or nine hundred pounds, enough for Charlotte to live a middle-class life.
In Anne's view, a woman like Charlotte was fortunate enough not to have fallen into depravity after such misfortune. Now that her husband had a sufficient income to support the family, she should have returned to domestic life after marriage. What was the point of Charlotte choosing to continue working after marriage and becoming like a lowly laborer?
Just as Anne couldn't persuade Mary, Mary couldn't convince Anne to change her mind; existing morality and law were on Anne's side. However, despite her objections to Charlotte's work, Anne became incredibly tolerant when it came to Mary's secret business dealings, leaving Mary unable to complain about her sister-in-law.
She could only mutter, "No matter how difficult the job is, it's not as bad as a difficult husband! Our current laws are so unreasonable. The salary I pay Charlotte is taken for granted as Mr. Smith's. If one day the law allows married women to own their own property, working will provide them with more security than not working."
“A reliable husband will not misuse his wife’s property; on the contrary, he will do everything he can to provide a comfortable life for his wife and children,” William said from the side.
Richard smiled and said, "That's right, someone like Baron Brooke is despised by everyone."
"If he weren't infertile, how much damage would that bad reputation do to him? There are plenty of people willing to marry their daughters to him."
Upon hearing this, both older brothers were speechless.
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