Finding Life Partners

The evening was a success. He picked Mary up at her home for the dance under the watchful supervision of her father and brothers and was instructed to get to her home safely and on time after the dance. This irritated him for a moment but when Mary appeared in her evening outfit with hair done beautifully his breath was taken away and he felt like the luckiest person in the world to be accompanying her. He felt sorry he’d forgotten to bring the customary flowers on such an occasion and apologized profusely to her as he received her at the door. She shrugged.

A hired taxi delivered them to the dance hall, and he was surprised to see so many of the townspeople he knew at the dance. He enjoyed dancing with Mary and was a little jealous when others asked her for a dance. After agreeing to two dances with others she knew she refused further invitations and spent the rest of the time exclusively with Jack.  By the time he’d agreed to take Mary home he was resentful his happiness was going to be interrupted so early, but he reluctantly followed instructions and looked for the taxi he’d arranged in advance to return home. When they reached home, he alighted to take her to the door and at the door turned to leave but Mary pulled him back and kissed him whispering how she’d enjoyed the evening and hoping next time he’d ask her out for an evening together. Jack slept little that night, reliving every moment with Mary and determined to continue seeing her.

Jack was so besotted with his newly discovered love that he left little gifts on her desk and she responded by indicating in very clear ways she wanted his attention permanently. The workers soon noticed it and began the usual teasing routine. Jack decided it was best to confide in his intentions to Alex, who was obviously the one to make major decisions now and see how his relationship with Mary should be handled to satisfy the strict rule that staff and managers should not be romantically engaged.

Alex smiled. He knew his uncle Graham had planned this in the hope Jack would find Mary attractive, and this would soften his attitude toward his fellow workers as a side result of that attraction. But rules were rules and with his uncle’s plan now successful Alex moved Mary to another department. Now romance could proceed if it was out of hours with Mary as part of Graham’s administrative responsibilities. Mary’s parents were antagonistic to this young man initially but Graham Birch who was their benefactor quickly bought them into line indicating he wanted that romance to proceed.

After that Jack was grudgingly accepted into the family and within a short time Jack and Mary were engaged and planning for a wedding. Jack took his savings to the bank and they, with the guarantee of the Birch family, granted him a loan. On returning from a short honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into their new home. It had very little furniture but both Jack and Mary hardly noticed the inconvenience as they enjoyed life together. The family rallied, giving them furniture until they were quite comfortable.

Jack now, sensing a family responsibility threw his energies into his work and was rewarded with the responsibility as personal assistant to Alex which involved him in the future planning of their department store and Alex plans to open another store in a developing town twenty-five miles north of Fairvale. With May’s health now beginning to fail William asked if Mary would be willing to take over his mother’s responsibilities in the shop. His financial obligations to Samuel Price had been whittled down to a much smaller indebtedness now and he suggested paying Mary more than she was presently earning at the department store. Everyone was supportive and Mary began her work with William at the news agency. Soon after that May died at home and the family grieved her passing together. This passing drew the family together closely.

One year after Jack and Mary’s marriage the doctor informed Mary she was with a child. Jack was overjoyed when he heard the news and couldn’t wait to share this with his family. Mary’s parents had been concerned for some time about their daughter not attending church since her marriage and paid the couple a visit to express their concerns. They needed to be assured the expected child would attend church with their mother and her family and urged Jack to immediately be confirmed in their church so they could all worship together. Jack would have nothing to do with it and Mary indicated to her parents that when she married, she’d support her husband by having no religious affiliation.

Jack had not been exposed to church going during his childhood and resented Mary’s family for interfering in their marriage. This was followed up by a visit from the local priest who assured both they’d burn in hell if they didn’t attend church regularly from that point forward. This infuriated Jack and he sent the priest away with some well-chosen words. From that point onward there was no further contact with Mary’s family but that did not bother her as she now considered herself a ward of Graham and Fay Birch who’d rescued her and given her a job and a chance of happiness with Jack who she’d loved from the time she was assigned to him. She poured her love on Graham and Fay as the child they’d never had and made them her substitute parents.

Mary realized that as her pregnancy progressed, she’d no longer be able to help William out in the store. He was nearing his thirties now and since his mother’s death had dreaded the loneliness of evenings so kept the news agency open later than customary to fill in his time and joined the Rotary Club under sponsorship of Graham Birch and this gave an interest evenings when the club met or carried out their projects. He also joined the bowls club and with the encouragement of Graham Birch was soon a competitive player.

So, Mary began planning with William’s sisters to find William a life companion. She considered it an urgent task as she wanted her brother-in-law to have the same enjoyment of a family she was anticipating. He was a good man and would make an ideal husband to some lucky woman. Even Claude Price was conscripted to search out a suitable partner for William and he took this on with as much enthusiasm as his usual projects took his interest.

Claude learned that chemist Carl Chapman had a daughter who’d been studying chemistry in the capital city Eastport with a view to her taking over her father’s business eventually. It appeared she had a suitor, but the father learned through his relatives in the capital the man was not of good character and when Carl’s daughter Elizabeth confronted him with facts her relatives had supplied her the young man abused her and made a public showing of connecting with one of his other women to spite her.

Carl’s daughter Elizabeth had been devastated. She graduated as a chemist and had been working in the city to gain experience while doing night studies in literature. But when the scandal had been made public, she quit her job and fled to Fairvale to work with her father. She’d been at home for a month now and the young men around town had been lining up to try and gain her favor. Elibeth was beautiful, well educated, outgoing and community-minded and was soon an accepted part of the social set of townspeople.

Claude, who was a golf partner to Carl Chapman, inquired if Carl would consider recommending William to his daughter as a possible match. Elizabeth had been a regular visitor to the news agency since returning to Fairvale as she was a great lover of books and William had an ample supply for sale. She had come to know William casually through these visits but after her experience with her city suitor she was not anxious to get into any relationship until she’d thoroughly understood the character of any man who sought her affections.

So, when her father suggested William as someone to consider as a life partner she stopped going to the news agency for some time. Eventually her love of books drove her back, and she began to assess his character while questioning those she’d grown up with in Fairvale as to what kind of family the Colthorpe’s were.

All the feedback she received showed William was a hard working and dependable man of excellent character. She’d been fending off young men she’d gone to school with when they became aware of her return as she’d learned her lesson about men in the capital. But over time she lingered around the news agency after work talking literature and discovered William was well read and able to converse on several subjects despite the fact, he’d only a high school education. Six months into those after-hour visits to the news agency and their increasingly long discussions, William began to experience joy in her company. He was going to be thirty this year and had discovered Elizabeth was twenty-five. Was that too much of an age difference between them for her to have an interest? He knew there was about the same time difference between Jack and Mary so maybe it might not be a problem for her. Then one evening he plucked up courage and told her he was going to shut down for the day and go to his favorite café for a meal. Would she join him? They could continue their discussion there.

Elizabeth was surprised but realized she wanted to say yes to this invitation. She was going to cook an evening meal for her father as her mother had died some time ago so she asked if she could use the phone before confirming and William nodded while he headed for the door to put up the sign closed.  A few moments on the phone and then Elizabeth disconnected and returned to join him at the door.

“Where shall we go to eat William? I insist on paying my share.”

William was horrified.

“You are my guest Elizabeth, and I could never consent to you paying toward the meal. I like the Brown Jug Café and it’s most people’s favorite too. Would you be happy to go there?”

Elizabeth nodded and they headed up the street to the café where William seated her and called the owner over.

“What can you recommend for the prettiest lady in our town Bert?”

He glanced at Elizabeth and saw her face color pink. Had he embarrassed her? But studying further he could see she looked pleased, so he relaxed and listened while the owner suggested items which were not on the menu he’d be happy to cook for them. Elizabeth made a choice, and he decided to order the same. They reverted to talking literature while they dined, and William suddenly had an idea.

To be continued.

Copyright Notice

© Copyright 2024Ian Grice, “ianscyberspace.” All rights reserved.