Page 30 of The Secret Word
Chris was looking mystified and Clem felt the same. What had Chris’s grandfather been up to?
“I said to him, ‘What do you suggest, Satterthwaite? I do not like to think of my daughter with a broken heart.’ And that is when your grandfather hinted you might be prepared to change your mind about marrying my daughter. For a small fee, you understand. Payable to himself.”
“So that was it!” Chris said. “The swine! The fiend. I hope you sent him off with a flea in his ear, Mr. Wright.”
Father laughed. “I am glad now, that he came. I think you will be, too, young people. I had not made up my mind, but I don’t like being dictated to, and I like even less to be conned out of brass I worked hard for. Young Chris—since my daughter calls you Chris, I might as well do likewise. Young Chris, do you want to marry my daughter and get her with child?”
“I do, sir,” Chris said, his words laden with sincerity.
“Clementine, do you want to be Chris’s wife and to bear my grandson?”
Clem ignored Father’s focus on the prospective male heir for the key point. “I do, sir.”
“Well, and why not?” Father said. “My advisers were impressed. They say you have a good mind. You have a lot to learn, mind, but you are not afraid of honest work. My daughter likes you and her mother would have wanted her to be happy with my choice. It will show Satterthwaite that I cannot be pushed around. Yes, I’ll do it. I’ll let you marry her. We shall need a marriage agreement, mind, all signed up right and tight!”
“Yes, of course, sir,” said Chris, looking a little as if he had been whacked over the head. Clem felt the same way—almost dizzy with surprise, excitement, and yes—joy.
“That’s settled, then,” said Father. “Run along now, and enjoy your evening.”
*
The marriage agreementwas gargantuan, with long sentences riddled with triple and even quadruple negatives, and full ofheretoforesandnotwithstandings. Some sentences droned on for pages before a full stop.
Chris had not expected to find it difficult to understand. He was well accustomed to combing his way through thickets of legal phrases and preparing summaries in everyday language for Billy. This document left his head reeling.
Wright had thought of every possible contingency and had ordered his legal experts to hedge them about with conditions and consequences. The enormous dowry he’d dangled before suitors was, for the most part, not a cash sum, but was made up of properties, shares in businesses and other income-producing investments.
It was divided into portions. Most of it was to be held in trust, and paid out in increments based on certain events and milestones. A small payment after the wedding. A set of small payments associated with business achievements—to be approved by Wright.
The announcement of a pregnancy would trigger another payment, and the birth of the first son, another. And so it went. Wright intended to control their marriage, their family, and their entire lives by means of a breadcrumb trail of income-earning assets.
“I will need a copy so I can study this in detail,” Chris told Mr. Harcourt—the senior of the three lawyers who had appeared in Wright’s office to present Chris with the document.
Wright made a harrumphing noise. Chris was learning to interpret them, and this one, he thought, meant, “I’m not going to tell the lad I approve, but he’s doing the right thing.”
The lawyer nodded to the most junior of the three, who took a folder from his brief case. “Mr. Wright had us prepare you a copy, sir,” he said.
“Do you have a copy for Miss Wright?” Chris asked.
The lawyer’s eyes widened, though he caught his jaw before it could drop. His gaze shot to Wright as he repeated Chris’s words. “A copy for Miss Wright?”
Wright had begun to scowl, so Chris hastened to speak before he could refuse outright.
“Miss Wright has inherited her intelligence and her ready grasp of realities from her father. She is young, of course, but she has been well educated. Furthermore, the matter of her marriage agreement is certainly of great significance to her, and the details it contains will affect her life as much, if not more, than it will mine.”
Harcourt’s brow creased with worry as Wright wiped all expression from his face.
Chris tried the argument that was most likely to sway his prospective father-in-law. “Do not fall into the trap of thinking that a lady’s role is merely to produce children and be decorative. Many of Society’s ladies are actively involved in running great estates, charities, and businesses. The Countess of Jersey, for example. She is the daughter of an earl and married to an earl. She inherited her grandfather’s wealth and is active in running Child’s Bank, since she inherited his position as senior partner. She has so far given her husband four sons.”
“She can read your copy,” Wright conceded. “Don’t need to have another made.”
The lawyer’s frown lightened at that, and he nodded. “Indeed, sir. That would be highly acceptable.”
“We shall meet tomorrow for the signatures,” said Wright.
“It is a big document,” Chris objected. “Give me three days, please.”
“Two,” Wright countered, so quickly it was obvious he’d intended the first timeframe as a negotiating position. “Two, and I am firm on that. In two days, we shall sign the agreement.”
