Marry For Money

one

Her father was dead. 

Thankfully, it wasn't an open coffin funeral. Eleanor was sure that she would faint right there on the church floor if she saw her fathers lifeless face and colorless beard. They had originally planned to have the funeral at the family's humble cottage home until the entire town got word and everyone wanted to come. 

Eleanor listened to the pastor speak as she held her youngest sister in her arms. The baby, Ada, was normally screaming at the top of her lungs but even she was as quiet as a mouse today. Everyone could sense the tension in the air and muffled cries from the rows. The girl and her sisters were all dressed head to toe in black. Eleanor adorned a plain black dress that covered her black heels. She wore long black gloves that reached up to the dress's puffy sleeves and, of course, a veil to top the outfit off. 

The actually ceremony inside the church had ended, and everyone had started shuffling out to the graveyard in the back. Although it was a relatively small town, everyone had make an appearance which had crowded the small graveyard area. Eleanor tried to walk around the other graves with a shiver going down her spine. 

Unfortunately, Eleanor and her sister's had been awarded front row seats to their fathers coffin being lowered into the ground as the pastor announced a passage. She saw her second youngest sister, Mary, shedding tears and trying to wipe them away quickly. 

After the coffin was lowered everyone lowered their heads in a respectful bow. Some clasped their hands together to pray, others cried, Eleanor stayed their stagnant. She couldn't move a single muscle in her body, she felt so cold that the girl wondered if she herself had died in that moment as her father's grave lowered into the shadow of the earth. 

When the coffin hit the dirt, Eleanor and each of her sisters stretched out a palm. They all held a handful of dirt, including the baby sister Ada. 

"Go on, girls," Eleanor said quietly. They all dropped the dirt onto the top of their father's casket. After it happened, the graveyard keeper started to shovel the dirt back on the top. People immediately swarmed the girls. Giving their condolences and hugs. It all felt like a big bundle of pressure to her chest. 

It was somehow over. Her father's entire life. She thought about him as a young boy, growing up in Hastings and loosing his older brother at seven. She wondered what he was like in school, to his friends. If any of them were even still alive. She had seen her father when he was a father, as he read in their study and tending his garden. 

But she wondered. 

How he was as a teenager, working on a farm to support his family. She thought about the day her father had met her mother when he was nineteen, the age Eleanor was now. She remembered him retelling how beautiful her mother was. He had just moved to Ely and as soon as he saw her, her father wanted to marry her. So they did. And they had an entire life together. And she died in childbirth. But he never left this town, or his daughters. Eleanor wondered if her father had any goals or secrets that he had never completed, never said. Parts of his life that died with him. 

"I'm sorry for your loss," A deep voice uttered. Eleanor jumped, being shocked out of her dream state. In front of her was, Anthony. He stood at a tall statue with a smart crop of busting red curls and small frame wire glasses. When he smiled, dimples appeared in his smooth cheeks, however he wasn't smiling down. He took a deep gulp and studied her, his sharp jawline becoming even more defined. 

"Anthony... thank you," Eleanor gave a polite smile toward him. Her hands were held in front of her as she looked down. 

"If there is anything, that you need. Anything at all, with your family or the farmhouse-" 

"You'll be there, I know. This is the seventh time you've said that." 

"Right... sorry," He said. Eleanor suddenly felt bad. 

"Wait, I'm sorry Anthony. I'm just feeling, well, confused right now." Eleanor sighed. She felt bad about her snap toward him earlier. And bad that she had described her feelings toward her father's death as 'confused'. But it was the only word in her vocabulary that she could grab at the moment. 

"It's okay, I completely understand." He smiled in that moment. Eleanor brushed the dark veil out of her face slightly, admiring his dimples. Anthony was a lovely man. He was a year older than her and had moved to this town at sixteen. The two had met in school and bonded quickly. They enjoyed talking about novels and the weekdays catch from the fisherman. Like, what else could two teenagers discuss in their area? Some gossips talked about their relationship, conspiring something deeper. But it had only ever been purely friendship. 

"Actually, it would be nice to have some... company?" Eleanor said at him. "My sisters are all going to the repast but I just- I can't get myself to talk to anyone else right now."

"I'm someone else," He said. 

"You're different," She said, not being able to smile but mustering a quirk in her eyebrow. 

"Alright let's go," 

"Would your mother disapprove if she knew you weren't going?" Eleanor asked. Anthony rummaged it over in his mind. 

"Yes, but you're worth it." He smiled. Eleanor felt an explosion in her stomach. Out of all the people trying to consol her and talk her through the pain, Anthony was the only one who could make a dent.