CHAPTER THREE

She then left to tell her daughters of our conversation. They were quite surprised at hearing the news. The old lady called her youngest son to come speak with them, asking him about what I had told her. He explained to her that I spoke the truth.

"Miss Betty still refuses to marry me," he told them, "I have asked her five times since she recovered from her illness, but she refused me every time."

"I hope you are not speaking the truth," said his mother, looking quite confused.

"I am, indeed, speaking the truth. She has refused me because she knows you would not agree to our marriage. Although, I am satisfied with her; I care little that she has no fortune."

His answer was surprising to them all. The mother and daughters felt terrible for their rude behaviour towards me, and regretted thinking that I had a love affair with their youngest brother.

"I shall not marry my dear Betty unless you agree to the marriage," Robin told his mother, "but I hope you will agree, as I will never marry another woman."

I was quite upset to hear this news, as I feared the old woman would soon agree to the marriage, and I would be forced to marry a man I did not love, but had been his brother's lover, and was still in love with him.

Their mother asked the elder brother his opinion, and he argued that she must allow his brother to marry me. The father was too concerned with his business affairs to worry about family matters. Therefore, the decision was entirely given to the mother, who eventually agreed to allow Robin to marry me.

The elder brother then came to me to speak of the matter, insisting that I must not refuse his brother again.

"And now," he told me, "you will be married to a gentleman of a good family with a good fortune to take care of you. If you do not agree to the marriage, however, you will live in poverty, known to have had lovers. No other man will consider marrying you. I shall always be your secret friend, but I will, as well, always be suspected as your lover, and so we will never meet," he paused, but quickly continued. "Our past love affair will always remain a secret. I beg you to consider marrying my brother; you will be safe and comfortable," and he added, "I here offer you five hundred pounds for the trouble I have caused you, which I hope you will forgive me for."

He then told me that if I refused his brother, he could not continue to be my lover. He still loved me, but he could not make love to a woman that his brother had asked to become his wife.

I was surprised to hear this, as I still loved him dearly. He begged me to consider marrying his brother, and to think of my future life of comfort if I did so. I was terrified by this news, as I had no other friends outside of that town. If I did refuse the brother, I could never remain living in that town, and would be forced to leave immediately, but I feared agreeing to a marriage to my lover's brother.

I then decided that I must marry the younger brother, to save myself from poverty and suffering.

After the mother agreed to the marriage, we were soon quietly married. The elder brother made certain that the younger brother was quite drunk when he came to meet me in our bed, and could remember nothing the next morning. I sincerely regretted having cheated such an honest, loving man, but he was truly in love with me, and I could not tell him that I was his brother's former lover.

We were married happily for the next five years, and had two children together. At the end of the five years, he died. He had been a very good husband to me, although he had quite a small fortune himself. I had kept the 500 pounds that his brother had offered me to agree to marry his brother, and had a total of 1,200 pounds when my husband died. My two children were taken happily by the family, and I left the family.

I must admit that I was not too upset at my husband's death, as I never loved him as a wife should love her husband. His brother was always there to remind me of my first love. Before my husband died, his elder brother was married. My husband went to the wedding, but I could not bear to see my former lover married to another woman, and so I did not attend the wedding.

After the death of my husband, I was still quite young and beautiful, with a small fortune of my own. Several gentlemen were interested in me, particularly one, whose house I was living in, after my husband's death, as his sister was a friend of mine. I enjoyed myself with my new fortune and freedom. I decided that I now must be married, and be married to a wealthy man, or not at all.

This young man, whose sister was a dear friend, wished that I would become his lover, but I realised that I must never make the mistake of becoming his lover, as I had my own fortune. He soon became my husband, and spent my small fortune as he pleased, and rather quickly.

Two years later, my fortune was almost all spent, and he went to jail for some silly crime. I went to see him there, where he told me that he would soon escape from the jail, but would leave the country immediately. He told me to sell our furniture and jewellery, and to save the money myself. If I did not hear from him within a few months, I should believe him to be dead.

"I wish you well; I am sorry to cause you this pain," he told me during our visit.

After selling our things, I discovered my fortune was much smaller than two years ago, as I now had only 500 pounds left. Although, I had only myself to care for; our child had died soon after its birth.

My husband had many unpaid bills, and I feared my small fortune would be taken to pay them, so I immediately left, taking another name for myself, Mrs Flanders. I soon found a room to rent far from where my husband and I had lived, and told the new people I met that my husband had recently died. These new people in my life did not know my real name or anything about my past.

I soon discovered that there were few women in that area, but a great many men, several of whom were interested in me. I decided that I must be careful, and guard myself. I could not begin a love affair with a man, and not have the security of him taking care of me. My fortune was small, and I had to be more careful than I had been in the past. I had learned not to trust a man's promises. I stayed in this new place for a short time, but soon learned that these new men who seemed so interested in me could not be trusted. They were more evil than I was, and the little fortune I had was quickly being spent, which terrified me. I would soon have nothing, and no one to help me.

I had become close to a woman whose husband had died, as well, but she had more of a fortune than I had. Her husband had been the captain of a ship, but had died at sea. She discovered that I had little money myself, and soon suggested that I go stay with her, explaining that I would immediately meet a wealthy ship captain who would marry me. I lived with her for half a year before she found a wealthy ship captain to marry. I, unfortunately, had not found a wealthy captain to marry me, but realised that my small fortune was quickly decreasing. It seems that ship captains were willing to marry women of fortune, with no concern for love. My sister-in-law at Colchester had said that beauty, manners, good behaviour, and education were not important without a fortune. I discovered that she was correct, as no man would marry me without a fortune to give them, even if the man had no money himself.

The women, however, did not have the choice to refuse an offer of marriage. If a man were refused, he would go to the next house, and surely be accepted. Besides this, I observed that a woman could not ask about the man's own fortune without angering him terribly. I learned this from a lady at the next house to me.

A young ship captain had become quite interested in her, with her 2,000-pound fortune. She was fond of him, as well, and soon asked about his fortune. He was not pleased with such questions, and quickly told her so, explaining that he would no longer continue to visit her.

She told me this story, and seemed quite worried about the situation, as she cared for him deeply, and wanted him to return. I explained that if she took my advice, he would soon return to her. She quickly agreed. I told her that she must first proclaim to the other ladies that she had discovered him to be quite an evil man, with no fortune and a terrible humour. He had announced to the other ladies in town that he had left her, but she must explain her story quickly to save herself from embarrassment.

As the other women in town discovered the news, I assured them that her story was correct, which proved the information to be true. Soon enough, her father and mother refused to allow the young man to visit her. He began to take interest in other women in town, but they all strongly refused him, as they believed him to be without a fortune. The captain could attract no women, and was soon laughed at by everyone in town,, particularly by other ship captains. He immediately realised the terrible mistake he made, and returned to beg her to forgive him. She explained to him coldly that she did not wish to continue with him, as she now knew of his terrible character. He wrote her loving letters, attempted to visit her often, and even delivered her documents proving that he, indeed, was a wealthy captain of his own ship. After many questions about his wealth and love for her, she finally accepted his offer of marriage, although she refused to allow him any information about her fortune. He happily obeyed, and they were soon married.

I decided that I, too, must find a good husband, but must not agree to a marriage until I was certain of my husband's good character. I told my friend of my plans, the captain's new wife, who I had helped. I had only 460 pounds left of my fortune, aside from some jewellery. My dear friend advised me that if I would trust her, she would help me find a husband very soon. I agreed, and she soon invited me to stay with her and her husband in town. She then told her husband that I had a fortune of at least 1,500 pounds, and would soon have more. He then proclaimed to the other captains in town that there was a woman of fortune living with him and his wife, whose husband had just died. I did not speak about this matter, but soon many others were told of my great wealth, and I immediately had several men interested in me.

I chose a handsome young man, who declared that he was in love with me, and wanted only to marry me. I told him I was poor, but he paid no attention to those words; perhaps he did not believe me. Although he asked me no question about my fortune, I did ask him a bit about his, as I had heard from the other ladies that he owned land in Virginia, far away in the western side of America. I politely told him that I was not fond of travelling across the ocean to live in America. He then told me of all his business affairs, explaining that he had a yearly income of 300 pounds, but if he lived on the land, he could make nearly 1,200 pounds. I told him that I did not have a fortune suitable for a gentleman of 1,200 pounds a year. He replied that he would not ask what my fortune was; he told me from the beginning that he would not. He promised me, however, that we would not go to Virginia if I did not desire to go.

I was quite content with his words. I decided that he would make a good husband, and would not be too disappointed at my small fortune, as I had told him many times that I was no wealthy gentlewoman. We were soon married, and very happily married. I did soon find out that his income in Virginia was much less than 300 pounds per year, but I was satisfied still.

After we were married, my husband still did not ask about my fortune, so I decided to discuss it with him when we were alone.

"My dear," I said, "we have been married for two weeks, and you still have not spoken to me about my fortune."

"You must tell me when you wish to, my dear," he told me, "I am satisfied that I have the wife I love."

"That is true," I said, "but I have been worried lately, as I heard that the other captains have told you I am quite a wealthy gentlewoman."

"Well," he said, "the others may have told me, perhaps, but you never told me of your fortune, so I have no reason to blame you."

I then gave him 160 pounds, telling him, "Here is something, my dear."

Though the money was little, he had previously believed that I had nothing, and was delighted with the money I placed in his hand. He then told me that he had supposed that my fine clothes, gold watch, and my diamond ring had been all my fortune.

For the next two or three days, I said nothing, but then went to fetch another 100 pounds from the bank to give him. A week later, I brought him another 240 pounds.

"And now, my dear," I said to him, "I am very sorry to tell you that I have given you my whole fortune. My husband that had died took 600 pounds from me before he died, otherwise I would be a gentlewoman with 1,000 pounds."

He was pleased with the 400 pounds I gave him, as he had worried that I had nothing to give him. And so, I cheated a man into marrying me, but was never caught. Although, this manner of deceiving a husband into marriage is quite dangerous for a woman.

My husband was a good man who loved and respected me, but he was no fool. He had expected me to have a wealthier fortune, but after discovering my true fortune, he began to speak of his land in Virginia, explaining that we could make a great deal of money if we moved there. I did not want to disappoint my new husband in his choice for a wife, thus I told him we must move to Virginia to make a suitable income for ourselves. He was delighted with my decision.

We went on board a ship, with furniture and clothing for our new lives in Virginia. After a long and dangerous trip across the seas, we arrived. We lived together with his dear, sweet mother. My husband continued to be loving and respectful, and I thought we would live this way for many years, until an unfortunate incident ended all my happiness in a moment.

My mother was quite a cheerful woman. She told me many stories of her past to entertain me. She also explained that most people in the town came to America as either servants with their masters, or they were prisoners in England, found guilty of crimes, punishable by death, but were sent here, instead. They spent many years serving their masters, but then were freed, and promised land from the government.

"So, child," she said, "many prisoners from Newgate become great leaders in this country."

She then told me that she was of the second group, sent here from prison, after being found guilty of a small crime. She often told me about her past experience in prison, among other stories about her life. I was shocked to discover that she had spent time in Newgate, and was to be killed in prison for her crime, but was not killed, as she gave birth to a child seven months after entering the prison. After some time, she was then sent to America as a servant for many years. Her master's wife died, and her master quickly married her. She had two children, my husband and his sister. After hearing this story, I was silent for some time before asking her name while in prison. She told me, and I immediately realised that my husband's mother, was the same mother that gave birth to me in Newgate prison. I felt ill, and could not speak.

This discovery changed me. I was no longer living in happiness with my gentle husband and his cheerful mother as I had for the past three years. I already had two children by my own brother, and would soon give birth to another. I worried all day and all night about this terrible situation. I could not tell my mother of this discovery. I had no way to prove my story that she was my mother, as well as my husband's. My husband would never believe me either, as he thought me to be a woman of fortune and comfort my entire life. I was too afraid to tell them; I was in a new country with no friends but my mother and husband, or brother. Soon after my discovery, our marriage became unbearable. I refused to sleep in my husband's bed; he became angry and unkind after my behaviour had changed.

I reminded him of his promise before we came to America, that if I was not satisfied with my life in Virginia, I was free to return to England. I declared that I must return to England, insisting that he treated me badly and I was too far from my friends. He attempted to persuade me to stay, reminding me of my love for my children, but I continued to demand that I leave for England immediately. My mother, as well, tried to persuade me to remain in Virginia.

Finally, however, he became so upset with me, and my continual requests to leave, that he told me that I would never be allowed to leave him. He explained that if I left, my children would have no mother, and the family would suffer. After carefully considering my husband's views, I realised that he did not know the terrible secret I did, and was a hard-working, caring man, and believed this decision was the most suitable for his family. No wife that cared about her family would desire to leave, but I no longer saw him as my husband, but looked upon him as a brother, the son of my own mother. Therefore, I continued to insist that I leave for England. Finally, he called me a terrible mother, asking me how I could imagine leaving my children, never to see them again. He was correct, but I could not bear looking at them, nor could I look at him, my own brother.

My husband still refused; he would neither go with me nor let me go without him. We quarreled often; I was as disrespectful and hurtful as possible to force him to let me leave. At last, he proclaimed that if my terrible behaviour continued, he would send me to a crazy house. This terrified me, as I knew that if I was sent to such a place, no one would believe my story of my husband being my brother, as well.

After he threatened to hit me, I told him that perhaps there was a secret about our marriage that he did not understand, which forced me to act as I did. I then admitted that he was not my husband by law, although neither of us should be blamed. When I told him this news, he turned pale, and was soon ill.

A few days later, after he recovered from his illness, he begged me to explain to him the reason we were not legally married. I explained that I would tell him nothing unless he would agree to let me return to England. He refused. He begged his mother to find out the mystery; she insisted for quite some time, although I told her the secret involved her, as well. She was astonished to hear such things. Finally, I told my mother the story of my life, beginning at Newgate prison, born into her arms. She was shocked and silent for some time before she exclaimed, "Unhappy child! What a terrible situation! Married to your own brother, having three children together, two of whom are still alive!" Before she left, she promised she would not tell my brother before we spoke again.

(end of section)