Chapter 10 #2
“Hello, Ed,” she greeted him, as she walked into the room.
She felt as though she had grown up that summer.
Somehow, losing the only two men she had ever loved, one a year after the other, had made her feel immeasurably older.
They had both been hard blows, and unexpected.
She noticed that Ed looked nervous, and she didn’t like the way he looked at her.
There was something slightly lascivious about him, and he moved from his chair and came to sit next to her on the settee, uninvited.
“You’re looking very beautiful after your stay in Hampshire, my dear,” he said, and the word “oily” came to mind again.
He seemed sleazy to her, even more so than before.
He put a hand on her arm and she moved away from him.
She wondered why he had come to see her, and how he knew she was back in Manchester.
She asked him and he said someone had seen her at the train station the day before.
“It’s a small town compared to London,” he reminded her.
London was nearly ten times the size, but Manchester wasn’t small.
“It must be lonely for you now without Bert,” he said, heading in a direction she had no desire to go with him, or anyone else.
She wasn’t looking for a man to replace Bert, and certainly not Ed Wheaton, who was married anyway, which he seemed to be forgetting as he flirted with her.
“Is there a reason why you came to see me?” she asked him directly, which was more her style than his.
“We’ve been friends for so many years,” he said, trying to rekindle some kind of friendship which had never existed between them, which he wouldn’t have dared to do if Bert were alive.
“Not really,” she responded. “We were never friends. You were just one of the single men on the scene the year I was presented. And you married Jane very quickly, as I recall.” He’d been his father-in-law’s minion ever since. They owned a very second-rate mill, compared to Bert’s.
“Would you have lunch with me sometime, or dinner?” He gave it a valiant try, and she nearly cringed. She couldn’t think of anything less appealing than sharing a meal with him.
“With Jane?” she asked innocently, and almost laughed at the look on his face. She was making him uncomfortable and enjoying it thoroughly. His wife was due to inherit a modest fortune, and her father’s mills were significantly smaller than any of Bert’s and didn’t do as well, she knew from Bert.
“You know, our marriage has never been what I hoped it would be,” he said, heading down a slippery slope again, determined to make some inroads with Victoria, with no success so far.
“That happens,” Victoria said sympathetically.
“You got married very quickly, as I recall,” she said.
“We are the victims of our traditions,” she said thoughtfully.
“Girls are expected to marry in their first season. They get presented at court and are supposed to find a husband immediately. They meet them a few times, go for a few walks in the park with chaperones trailing behind them, or their mothers. They wind up married to a total stranger they know nothing about. They discover all the bad habits and problems later. Two strangers married to each other, after a negotiation with the girl’s father, often just to make a marriage that’s advantageous financially.
It never appealed to me. I was much happier staying with my father.
I never wanted to be married, until I met Bert, and I was considered a spinster by then. ”
“It was a social mistake,” he said bluntly, “but a financially wise move. Now you’re a rich widow,” he said, tipping his hand as to why he was there.
She had figured it out herself by then. She was rich in her own right when her father died.
And Ed wanted to trade a boring woman for a much richer one. He was painfully obvious.
“That’s not a label I like much,” she said coolly.
“But it’s the truth, isn’t it? Bert Banning was the richest mill owner here.”
“I never asked him,” she said, looking Ed dead in the eyes and he didn’t flinch. He was on the hunt for a big prize and she was it.
“You wouldn’t have to sell the mills if you marry a man who could run them for you,” he said, coming out in the open with an offer he thought would appeal to her.
“It would be advantageous for both of us. We get along well enough. It could be a fantastic business arrangement,” he said, nearly salivating at the thought.
He’d been waiting two months to approach her, and he wanted to do it now before she put Bert’s mills up for sale and he missed the opportunity.
“And what do you propose to do with Jane? Kill her and bury her in the woods?” she asked, and he looked annoyed.
“People get divorced these days. You could pay her a big settlement. We don’t get along. We never have.” But they had four children in spite of it, as many people did.
“I’m sorry to hear it.” Victoria was sorry for his wife. Ed was an opportunist and a fortune hunter of the worst kind, even worse than she and Bert had thought. “I’m afraid I can’t accept your offer. I’ve already chosen someone to run the mills.”
“You’re not selling?” He looked stunned. “I was sure you would.”
“In fact, Bert had selected someone, in case something happened to him. It was in his will.”
“I haven’t heard a word about it,” he said.
“You will, all in good time. But thank you for your offer,” Victoria said, standing up to indicate that his visit was over.
“We could do something quite wonderful together,” Ed said, looking desperate and giving it a last try.
“Actually, I don’t think so. Bert and I were very well suited. I don’t believe you and I would be. I’d rather hire someone to run Bert’s mills than marry him. Bert and I actually loved each other, unlike you and Jane.”
“He was too old for you,” Ed almost snarled. “And he wasn’t from your social world.”
“I think that was a blessing, given what I see of ‘my world’ these days. I think the morality of the upper classes is dubious at best nowadays. And the age difference never bothered us. I’m going to stay a widow, Ed.
I have no desire to marry again. I don’t think I could ever find anyone as decent and kind and smart as Bert was.
He was very rare, a man of honor and great wisdom. ”
“Think about my offer,” he said hopefully, ignoring what she’d said.
“It’s not much of an offer if I would have to pay your divorce settlement to your wife,” she pointed out.
“You might want to rethink that before you offer it to someone else.” But there was no one else who had what she did now.
She owned several mills that made her the biggest mill owner in Manchester, or the country.
For someone like Ed Wheaton, she was a prize, and she suddenly realized she would be for others.
She was furious with him after he left. His offer to her was sleazy, and the idea of someone like him owning or running the solid empire Bert had built made her even angrier.
She knew what she had to do now, what she wanted to do.
It was time to be courageous and worthy of Bert’s faith in her.
She tossed and turned for most of the night, and got up early the next morning.
She wore a businesslike navy-blue dress, and drove herself into the city. She realized that she had to be independent now, and strong. Ed Wheaton’s offer had jolted her awake and made her brave.
She walked into the office building where Bert’s office had been.
It made her sad to be there, but she had come for a good reason.
Hubert Maddox’s office was down the hall from Bert’s, and she stopped to see Hubert’s secretary, and asked if he had a moment to see her.
The secretary reacted immediately, and disappeared into his office.
He came out to greet her himself and invited her to come in.
She followed him in and looked at him seriously.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“What about?” He was startled by her appearance at his office and she looked determined and alive.
“I want to learn to run the mills. It’s what Bert wanted me to do. I want you to teach me everything I need to know.” He stood there smiling at her, wondering what had happened and why she’d changed. It was Ed Wheaton and his repulsive proposition that had woken her up and made her change her mind.
“Well, that’s good to hear,” he said, beaming. “When do we start?”
“Now. Tomorrow, whenever you want. I won’t be a nuisance. I’ll follow you around as much as you’ll let me.”
“Your husband would have been so pleased,” Hubert said to her. “And I think he was right. Tomorrow, nine a.m., I’m taking a tour around the mills and the factories. Come with me.”
“I’ll be here.” She frowned then. “Let’s not tell the workers yet. They’ll get wound up about it. Let them get used to seeing me around first, and I’ll step in when you think I’m ready.” They were used to seeing her with Bert, but not on her own or with Maddox.
“Bert said you’re a fast learner. And I’ll teach you everything I know. It’s going to be a shock for them and everyone else to have a woman owner. I kind of like the idea myself. It’s modern, and there’s no reason why you can’t do as good a job as any man.”
“I hope that’s true, and Bert wasn’t crazy to suggest it.”
“He was a visionary, beyond his time. There’s going to be resistance at first, but I’m confident that you can turn it around.”
“I hope you and Bert were right.” They sat and talked about it for a little while and then he had to go to a meeting.
“See you tomorrow. I think you’ve made the right decision. It’s certainly the one that would have pleased Bert.”