The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet: the Secret Life of Mary Bennet, Book 1 by Katherine Cowley

Author:Katherine Cowley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781953647108
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2022-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“There is a tendency in all states to reduce the tiller of the earth to a level with the oxen he yokes to the plough….Were I called upon to estimate the quantity of freedom possessed by any people, I would not enquire under what particular form of government they existed, but by what tenure the land was held by individuals, and into what portions it was divided and subdivided. If the freeholders were few in comparison to the whole population, I should be persuaded that slavery had taken deep root among them, although their political constitution should be of the most admirable construction. History can shew us republics, even democracies, in which three-fourths of the inhabitants are slaves….”

–A letter to the editor by “Agrarius,” The Liverpool Mercury, Liverpool, England,

November 5, 1813

Mary worried about Mr. Withrow’s soul. Even those willfully acting in error deserved an opportunity to change for the better, so after her next lesson, which had been scheduled for a Friday morning, she handed him a treatise she had painstakingly prepared, entitled “Man is more than money.”

Before her French lesson Withrow found her and returned the treatise. “Thank you for allowing me to read this.”

“What did you think?” She would not allow him to return it to her with no comment beyond thanks.

“Your paper tended towards the verbose and the sentimental, and took a rather circuitous approach to your subject, but many of your arguments were solid and you cited extensive sources.”

A warmth filled Mary’s chest; from Mr. Withrow, that was actually a compliment. “Thank you.”

“However, I stand by my original position on money.”

Mary did not know what more she could do to persuade him. She had done her part in showing him the folly of his ways, and it was his choice of whether or not he would make changes in his own life. Besides, she had other, more urgent ways she needed to spend her time.

After her French lesson she rushed to finish Lady Trafford’s assignments, which included both an analysis of two weeks of newspapers and a reading on the science behind mining techniques. In the past week and a half of lessons with Lady Trafford, Mary had discovered that Lady Trafford cared less about a particular subject matter than about an overall approach. They studied history, current events, newspapers, manners, literature, and science, and sometimes, Mary would leave after an hour with Lady Trafford and have no idea what they had studied at all. But regardless of the subject matter, Lady Trafford wanted Mary to come to her own conclusions, to think about the unstated goals and effects, and to consider how the subject impacted daily living.

Yet more important than the time she devoted to any of her lessons was Mary’s quest for the truth. It had been a week and a half since she had mailed the letters to Maria and Kitty, which should have given them enough time to receive her correspondence, gather information, and send a reply. The next morning she had several spare hours, so she decided to go to town.

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