The most important thing is to land a good marriage. A wealthy husband equals a happy life.
Eleanor was the only child of her parents. Her father doted on his daughter, her mother pampered her and always repeated the same mantra:
The key is to marry well. A rich husband guarantees a blissful existence, she would tell Eleanor, and Eleanor would nod in agreement.
Where, then, is this rich fellow? they’d ask. The university had plenty of decent lads, of course, and the fiancé came from a respectable family.
But her father kept a tight rein on her no latenight outings, no student parties, no weekend hikes. Everything was under his watchful eye.
Soon enough her oncecherished fiancé found a more exciting and adventurous lover, leaving Eleanor in the cold.
Then came the dissertation defence, and romance fell to the wayside. With her father’s help she secured a job, and with her mothers guidance she began to sort out her personal affairs.
Mother knew what she was doing. Her only daughter had to marry well, and as luck would have it a new suitor appeared the nephew of a close family friend.
Eleanor, dear, you ought to look more closely at this gentleman. Hes older than you, but thats a plus, not a minus. Why settle for a boyfriend? Think it over. Mr. Stanley Whitaker is a serious man with his own company. You wont have to work a day in your life.
But hes already married, Mother! He has a daughter, which means alimony.
Dont let that bother you. His wife was rather unsuitable, and shes lived in another city with their child for years. No problem.
The introduction took place. Eleanors father remained ominously silent; ever since she finished university hed stayed out of womens business. Let them decide for themselves, he seemed to say.
Strangely enough, Eleanor found Mr. Whitaker attractive. A tenyear age gap didnt faze her; with his looks hed still be dashing a decade from now. Handsome, wellmannered, dressed to the nines.
Eleanor made a good impression as well, and they married. Mrs. Clarke sighed with relief, having fulfilled her maternal duty, and devoted the rest of her life to herselfshopping, spa trips, and sunny vacations with her husband, now without a daughter to mind.
Eleanor, for her part, followed the example and didnt lag behind. Her husband encouraged her whims, so she lived for her own pleasure. Household chores were delegated to the housekeeper, who managed fine without Eleanors meddling.
One clearsky afternoon a thunderclap struck so suddenly Eleanor barely registered it. Mr. Whitakers former wife had vanished under mysterious circumstances, and Eleanor didnt bother to inquire. He was forced to bring home a daughter!
It was unheard of. Well, thats a problem solved! he declared. Now Eleanor would have to become a second mother, as Mr. Whitaker phrased it, to a girl shed never met.
There was no choice. He brushed off her opinion, simply presenting the fact and asking for a dash of mercy. The girl was innocent!
A few weeks later he whisked the child away in a shabby suitcase and a schoolbag. Mary was in Year3, already tall, quiet, and, as Eleanor noted, almost mute.
She said very little; everything was done in hushed silence. Yet one comfort was that she looked just like her father unmistakably his daughter, not some wayward offspring of the exwife.
Living in the big house with a father, a stepmother, and a housemaid felt heavy for Mary; she wasnt used to such grandeur. After dinner she would dart to wash the dishes, ask for the broom, try to iron her own clothes, and all of this grated on Eleanors nerves.
Marys father, absorbed in work and business, came home late and had little time for tenderness. He was generous with his wife, but Marys only affection came in the form of a pat on the head and the occasional:
Hows school going?
Eleanor soon felt her time squeezed: she could no longer pop out for a coffee, hit the gym at a whim, or binge on socials after a night in front of the computer. After dinner Mary would appear, and the husband demanded Eleanor keep an eye on her studies and help with homework.
Eleanor mused whether she should suggest sending Mary to a good boarding school. She didnt dare, but offered instead:
You see, its hard for me to monitor her lessons. Im not a teacher. And look, her grades have slipped to Cs. At school she actually does the work properly. Its for her own good.
Stanley got so angry that Eleanor regretted the suggestion. The relationship grew stale, full of irritation and discontent.
Two years later Eleanor gave birth to a boy, Dennis. A nanny was needed, but Mary was nearly twelve and offered to look after her little brother. She turned out to be the best nanny one could wish for, juggling lessons, games with Dennis, and keeping the house in order.
When the elderly housemaid, Nina, began to tire at sixty, the burden fell on Mary. Eleanor accepted the new routine, keeping her social lifea few brunches, a bit of shoppingwhile still preserving the polished veneer of a society lady.
Dennis grew, adored his older sister, and she adored him in return. When Mary finished school, Dennis was just starting Year1, and the whole educational load again landed on Marys shoulders, now looking far older than her years.
She enrolled at university, studied English, and tutored her brother.
One evening Stanley asked his increasingly absent wife:
Dont you think, love, youve handed the whole house and our son over to Mary?
She replied, pointing out that Nina merely pretended to work, cooked, and that was the extent of her duties.
Exactly my point, he said. Everything else rests on Mary, right?
Eleanor fell silent.
Yes, everything rested on Mary. But the girl didnt complain. Their mother sometimes took Dennis outlast week to an art exhibition, a museum, a childrens concert. Was that too much?
When Mary earned her diploma, her father hired her as a translator for his expanding firm, which now operated well beyond the UK market. There she met Ivan, a spry salesman.
Love sparked immediately, much to the astonishment of her modest, timid sister. Their father hadnt expected a quiet daughter to embark on an office romance, and it initially upset him. Mary declared they would marry, insisting for the first time on her own wishes, forcing the family to step aside.
Eleanor was as dismayed as her husband. She was losing her household aide, and Nina warned shed soon retire. Her husband wasnt in any rush to replace her.
Mary, ever proactive, offered:
Ill help, Mum, she said cheerfully. Ill come once a week to tidy and iron. Ive always done that.
Not just once a week, more often, the stepmother grumbled.
Nevertheless Mary moved in with her husband after a lavish wedding and began managing her own domestic front.
Ivan, meanwhile, talked about launching his own business. He quit his job, set up a laptop, but the venture floundered; starting a company from scratch is no picnic. His fatherinlaw, outraged by the rash decision, refused to help, though he did boost Marys salary slightly.
Mary, unaccustomed to splurging on herself, funneled most of the money into the family pot, occasionally slipping a few pounds to her nowgrown brother. The rest she and Ivan strained to stretch. Their flat was on a mortgage, and Ivan liked to eat out, travel, and indulge in a good restaurant whenever he couldtwohanded generosity, as they say.
Soon the family faced serious changes. Stanleys health declined, and at the same time foreign partners pulled out of his business. The firm teetered on the brink.
When Stanley realised his condition barred him from running the company, he had no choice but to sell it. Mary kept her job; her father convinced the new owner not to sack her, though her role as translator was becoming marginal. Her pay was slashed dramatically.
Stanley fell into despondency after his fathers funeral, and so did Eleanor and Dennis. They needed support, so Mary moved back in with them, leaving her husband to brood:
Either you find a decent job and bring home money, or we divorce! she warned him.
At the same time Mary realised she still had hope. Suddenly her husband blurted out something she could not believe:
What child? Get a grip! he snapped. No work, no money. Your father went bust and left you penniless. How are we supposed to survive?
Mary was stunned into silence. She filed for divorce immediately, without waiting for his conscience to awaken. Love had long since fled the man who constantly moaned and complained.
She now lived with her stepmother and brother, a bright schoolboy with a good character. Money was tight, though Stanley left a modest nestegg; Eleanor spent it sparingly, never on herself, always on the family.
Mary became the households sole breadwinner. When her own baby arrived, the stepmother, still relatively young, threw herself into caring for the grandchild, despite limited experience. Mary marveled at how Eleanor handled the situation, especially since the stepmother now had a new beau and seemed genuinely happy, a joy evident in her eyes and actions, which also warmed the infant.
About a year later, Eleanor married her true love and moved in with Dennis. Mary stayed with her sisterinlaw, working remotely as a translator. The stepmother and her new partner helped with groceries and sometimes took little Katie for the weekend.
On those weekends Dennis would visit Mary, still calling her the best sister in the world, and she adored him just as much.
Mary, sort your life out, blushed her nowgrown brother, offering to introduce her to his PE teacher, a lovely single gentleman.
Mary laughed, tugged his hair and replied:
Calm down, you romantic fool!
Life settled into its own rhythm. No major family crises loomed; each person found their own slice of happiness.
Even Mary, who loved her clan, secretly dreamed of her own bliss and a true love of her own. Before long, that dream materialised.
