Free The Six Month Marriage by Amanda Grange

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confused feelings. Brutal, controlling and savage; yes, that was what men were
really like, and if Philip did not seem to be the same it was because he needed
her in order to claim his inheritance. No man would be brutal towards someone
who was to help him inherit a fortune which was, by Philip’s own admission,
immense. It was after men had gained the promised fortune – their wife’s dowry,
in most cases - that the problems really began. But fortunately for her, once
Philip had claimed his fortune the marriage would be over, instead of just
beginning, and she would no longer be his wife. There would be no risk of brutality;
no risk of the fate that had befallen her mother becoming her own; just a house
of her own and an annuity so that she could live out the rest of her life in
freedom and independence.
    ‘Hinch has been telling me all about Yorkshire ,’ Jenny said, as she helped
Madeline out of her gown. ‘And, mercy me! It sounds almost like another
country. The Yorkshire folk -
that’s what they call people up there in Yorkshire , my lady, folk – the Yorkshire folk speak an odd sort of language called dialect. Now what do you
think of that?’
    ‘I don’t know, to be sure,’ said Madeline, forcing
herself to concentrate on Jenny’s lively chatter.
    ‘They say some funny things,’ went on Jenny. ‘“Put wood
in t’ole”. That’s one of the things they say. And what d’you suppose they mean
by that?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Neither did I, my lady, but it means, would you believe
it, “shut the door”!’
    ‘Shut the door?’ asked Madeline in surprise. ‘Jenny, you
must have got it wrong.’
    ‘No, my lady.’ Jenny firmly shook her head. ‘”Shut the
door”. Put the wood in the hole, you see, my lady, that’s what it means, and if
you think about it, it makes sense. When you put the wood in the hole that’s
what you’re doing, isn’t it? You’re shutting the door!’
    Madeline laughed until the tears ran down her cheeks. ‘Oh,
Jenny, it can’t be true!’
    ‘It is, my lady,’ said Jenny determinedly. ‘As God is my
witness – and oh! my lady, up there they swear God’s a Yorkshireman, would you
believe?! – but as God is my witness I’m telling you the truth, just as Hinch
told it to me. And she’s not one for funning, my lady, isn’t Hinch.’
    ‘But how will we understand anything they say?’ asked
Madeline, her gale of laughter gradually subsiding. She wiped a tear of
laughter from her cheek.
    ‘Well, to be fair, my lady, it’s only the country folk
who talk like that. So Hinch says anyway. The ladies and gentleman, they talk
like you and me. Though they say their words differently,’ she added
judiciously as she unpinned Madeline’s hair. ‘They say b a th, my lady,’
she said, making the a hard and short, ‘instead of “baaarth”.’ She drew
out the sound to make the difference clear.
    ‘We will have our work cut out for us. Still, whatever
happens in Yorkshire , it seems
we will not be bored.’
    Jenny unlaced her corsets for her and, removing her
chemise and drawers she pulled her night-gown over her head.
    ‘No, my lady,’ Jenny agreed as she folded Madeline’s
things.
    Despite Jenny’s lively chatter, Madeline still felt
restless as she climbed into bed. Try as she might, she could not ignore the
fact that this was her wedding night.
    Determinedly she pushed the thought away. She picked up
her book and, by the light of the candle, began to read, until at last Miss
Porter’s tale about the Hungarian brothers sent her off to sleep.

Chapter Five
     
    Madeline
awoke with a start. The bedroom was still dark.
    What time is it? she
wondered.
    The moon was up. She could see its light through a crack
in the curtains. But what was it that had awoken her?
    She had a vague feeling that it had been a loud crash.
    This was not what she had expected of her first night as
Philip’s wife. She sat up in bed and listened, wondering if burglars had broken
into