Chapter 100 Extra Chapter 1: Elizabeth Barron was born in a...
Elizabeth Barron was born into a very wealthy gentleman's family. The Barron family's ancestors came from an old noble family, a lineage that Elizabeth's family was very proud of.
Her father, Sir Barron, thus became a man who highly valued aristocratic traditions and strongly supported primogeniture. He not only believed that the family lands had nothing to do with his two daughters, but also felt that there was no need to give them large dowries, since they would eventually fall into the hands of their sons-in-law.
Although he received £30,000 from his wife, he only planned to give each of his two daughters a dowry of £15,000.
“And so our son has lost because of his two sisters? Madam, you must know that when you look at it this way, he has received nothing from you at all,” Sir Barron told his wife.
However, the Duke was not entirely undisciplined with his two daughters. Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were sent by their father to a girls' school to prepare them for finding husbands in the marriage market.
Growing up with this kind of education, Elizabeth knew from a young age that she had to find a suitable husband so that she could remain in her social class.
Therefore, when the thirty-nine-year-old Viscount Coke proposed to the eighteen-year-old Miss Baron, she feigned shyness and agreed to the marriage, despite the fact that the Viscount was twenty-one years older than her.
“Betty (nickname), I don’t understand. At the last ball, there was a very cute young man who showed interest in you, but you chose a man who was about the same age as our father,” Margaret asked her sister.
“Oh, dear Maggie (nickname), I admit Eric is a very charming young man, but unfortunately he's the youngest son and can't make decisions yet. I heard his father is willing to get him a position in the army, on the condition that he marries a lady with a dowry of thirty thousand pounds.” Elizabeth smiled indifferently. “Viscount Cork may be quite old, but his previous wife didn't leave any children, so I think it's worth taking a gamble.”
Sir Baron finally began to see his daughter in a new light. His daughter had married a viscount, giving him more confidence in dealing with Baron Baron. For this, the Sir even gave his eldest daughter an extra three thousand pounds.
And so, the young Miss Elizabeth Barron became Viscountess Cork, and she made a dazzling debut in London society, winning the favor of many. Although Viscount Cork's physique could not satisfy a young woman, he was not the kind of man filled with jealousy.
Having married a young and beautiful woman, the Viscount couldn't be too bothered by her friendships with other men. Fortunately, Elizabeth always maintained respect for her husband and didn't embarrass him. She thrived in social circles and became a rising star.
Her sister Margaret, despite being pursued by a wealthy gentleman with an annual income of five thousand pounds, ignored Elizabeth's advice and married the second son of a baron. As a result, her husband's income was only around one thousand pounds, which was far from enough to allow Margaret to enjoy the life she had enjoyed, riding in a four-wheeled carriage.
The only thing that disappointed her was that, like her predecessor, the Viscountess of Cork, she had never had a child.
After several years of good fortune, Viscount Coke fell seriously ill, and the title of viscount had to be passed on to a distant relative. Thinking of the impending loss of her aristocratic life, Elizabeth wept before her husband.
Viscount Coke, unable to control his wife in life, left her with a legacy of restraint after his death. He did not want his beautiful wife to leave him for another man, and in his will, he stipulated that as long as the Viscountess did not remarry, she could continue to live in the house and estate left to her by the Viscount, receiving an annual allowance of approximately 1,500 pounds.
Elizabeth wasn't too upset; in fact, she felt her husband treated her much better than her father, Sir Baron, given that his dowry was only £18,000, while the viscount only asked her not to remarry. Elizabeth saw no need to choose a new husband.
Her grief for her husband did not last long; three years of mourning was far too long for a young and beautiful woman. As soon as the mourning period ended, the Viscountess accepted Earl Spencer's invitation to attend a ball at Althorp Manor.
While Viscount Coke was still alive, she was Earl Spencer's mistress, a fact that was always an open secret among nobles, but Earl Spencer clearly had no intention of marrying her.
After marrying an older man once, Elizabeth realized the pain involved and didn't want to go through it again. She now prefers to be with energetic young people.
It was at this ball that she first met Mary Price, who was being harassed by Miss Margaret, daughter of Earl Spencer. She didn't like Miss Margaret very much; like her sister Margaret, Miss Margaret also had an unrealistic naiveté.
She had no problem with Miss Price; on the contrary, she thought the young lady was very shrewd, managing to climb the social ladder for the Price family, even if it was just to become the Duke of Devonshire's mistress. However, the young lady seemed somewhat aloof and might not understand the opportunities she had.
She thought it was a chance encounter, but a year later, she met Miss Price again at Baron Brooke's ball, this time because she had rejected the baron's marriage proposal in the garden.
Lady Cork happened to pass by. At first, she thought Miss Price was a bit out of touch with reality. After all, the Duke of Devonshire was not in England at the moment, so who could stand up for her?
However, Baron Brooke's subsequent behavior proved so ungentlemanly that he was clearly unsuitable as a husband. But he was, after all, a baron, and Miss Price's refusal would likely cause trouble for the family. And just as she expected, the unity of the Price family surprised her.
This chance encounter also led her to meet Miss Price's brother, Richard Price, and they gradually became good friends. Richard was handsome and wealthy, and while he was very affectionate towards her, he never made any unreasonable demands on her; he was practically the perfect lover.
Sometimes she would have a moment of impulse and want to marry Mr. Price. But thinking about the wealth and status that her previous marriage had brought her, the Viscountess would calm down. She didn't have the courage to go from being a member of the nobility to the wife of a merchant.
"My dear Richard, I suggest you marry a noblewoman from a collateral branch of the family or a noblewoman's illegitimate daughter. This will be beneficial to your future prospects. Like the baroness I introduced you to last time, her husband has a niece who hasn't found a suitable match because her family can't provide a large dowry..."
“Betty, do you really want me to get married?” Richard looked sadly at his lover. “If I wanted to marry that lady, I would have been flattering the Baroness long ago.”
Although he initially went to thank the Viscountess only because of his sister Mary and deliberately befriended her, Richard gradually developed feelings for her as they spent more time together.
He was not unaware of the Viscountess's snobbishness, but that was not her fault; rather, it was because society had never taught her how to be an innocent woman.
He had witnessed her social skills and knew she was no naive young girl; but he had also heard her weep in the dark of night and understood her longing for love, though such love could never affect her current status.
Wasn't he the same? Didn't he consider using her noble status to resolve the threat posed by Baron Brooke when he approached her? Wasn't it because of her noble status, beauty, and passionate nature that he gradually fell in love with her?
He wasn't William, who had the chance to marry the general's daughter but planned to secretly give it up because of moral constraints. If it weren't for Anne's insistence, William might have missed out on his love.
But he wasn't so despicable as to use one woman while pursuing another. Richard thought to himself, looking at the Viscountess, who was deep in thought because of his words.
Elizabeth left London in a state of distress, and Richard also planned to go to Devon with his family to relax.
Here he met Miss Dashwood, whom Anne wanted to introduce to him. She was a lovely young lady, but he had already fallen for someone else.
As we all know, the beginning of Richard and Elizabeth's love story was related to Mary, and the turning point also came from Mary.
The Duke of Devonshire returned home, and this time he no longer acted aloof but humbled himself and approached Mary. Soon, events involving Baron Brook made Richard realize that the Duke had never forgotten Mary.
Mary married the prince, and Price became related to the noble Cavendish family by marriage. Elizabeth had thought Richard would leave her; he no longer needed to maintain a platonic relationship with a viscount's widow, had he?
"My dearest Betty, perhaps I cannot give you the title of Viscountess, but I am willing to give you everything I have. Will you marry me?"
When Richard proposed to the Viscountess, Elizabeth shed tears of joy; this time, she was certain she wouldn't lose again.
Perhaps they weren't a perfect couple, unlike Mary and the Duke of Devonshire who understood each other's souls and ideals, or Anne and William who were so sincere with each other, but who can say that such feelings weren't love?
With the help of Elizabeth, who was well-versed in the unspoken rules of the aristocracy, Richard quickly became a member of Parliament. Soon after, with the support of his brother-in-law, the Duke of Devonshire, he became a knight.
Richard no longer ran the business himself, but instead handed over the reins of the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company to his younger brother Tom. Just as Sir Thomas had envisioned, the Price family became a prominent local family.
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