The Broken Daylily

The Lively Lilac: Preview

CHAPTER ONE: DEAR DIARY

Dear diary,

She held her pen over the paper, thinking of how to formulate her sentence.

Life is quite a bore, is it not? Every day I spend with my mother, and she keeps asking me about a husband. I thought I had found the perfect way to make her stop asking. I simply told her I was considering courting Joseph Kipling. But now she has her hopes up, and I cannot bring them down again.

Twas a lie for her own good, she had thought. But it seemed it had backfired. Joseph Kipling was the brother of Grace Kipling, Mary's best friend since she went to school. He seemed like the best option to tell her mother, but if the woman really expected her to court the man, she was wrong.

But of course, I understand tis not boring for other people. Andrew, Elizabeth and Thomas certainly were. And Grace and lady Anne looked happy too. Is it only me who feels like this is a boring life?

Elizabeth, her older sister, had finally given birth to a second – and even a third – child. Francis finally had two brothers to play with, although their was a five and seven year gap.

Elizabeth is happier than I have ever seen her before. She had had a difficult time when she could not get pregnant anymore, so Henry was a blessing for her and William. And when two years ago they got surprised by another boy, Evan, they were so happy, they held a ball in his honour.

I understand Elizabeth is happy. Her husband is a great man, and she has full power of him. Not that William is weak, but it is obvious Elizabeth is stronger.

The next one to marry was Andrew. The oldest of the Brompton children married Victoria Blackburn after they were in an untrue rumour that all of London had whispered about. They had two children together, Alice and Louis.

Though he wants a bigger family, he also wants to keep his wife alive. And ever since she had trouble with her second pregnancy and she almost died during labour, he was very protective over her. He suddenly does not want a bigger family anymore, but loves his two children like I have never seen a man love children before.

As to their relationship, Andrew and Victoria were true equals. Andrew was not like most men, just as his relationship was not like most. Where most men have more to say, Andrew kept quiet and listened to his wife. But she is equally odd as him, if not even more, and allowed him to speak about things he did not know a lot about.

And Thomas' relationship was quite similar. Though they started out hating each other, their love grew. Thomas is not as odd as Andrew, but he too saw his wife as an equal. Although I find that a woman goes through harder labour, as she is pregnant and must give birth – which is excruciatingly painful.

Madilyn, Thomas' wife, had gone through many labours. Unlike Elizabeth, she easily got pregnant. And unlike Victoria, giving birth went smoothly for her. They were married for six years, and they already had five children, with a sixth – or mayhap seventh – child on the way.

She had the habit of giving birth to twins. Her first pregnancy was of twins – Gwendolyn and Hazel. After that, she gave birth to one child at a time – Marion, Lionel and Florence – but she now believed she ought to expect two again.

And then there is Arthur, of course. But I shall not speak of him. I do not want to pollute my diary.

She sighed before she wrote down the next sentence. I am twenty-eight now. That is one year older than Andrew when he got married, and that is a lot older than when Thomas and Elizabeth got married. Yet everyone pretends like I am only eighteen. They look down on me like I am a little girl, they ask who I will court like it is a game, and I cannot venture outside the walls of the house on my own.

Of course I have done it, while Mother thinks I am with Grace. But I cannot tell her that, or she will send a chaperone everywhere I go. And I truly do not want that.

The only person who seems to understand me, is Grace. That is why she allows me to go outside without her. She is also not married yet, and she too feels the strings her parents are pulling.

And that is where I finally come to what I wanted to get off my heart. Grace is to be married. Her parents have introduced her to a man, and they hope he will ask for her hand. But Robert Leigh is not the man Grace can fall for. Yet her parents will probably push her, and that is not good.

I know all about arranged marriages... Well, I have heard all about arranged marriages. And they do not turn out well. At this moment, Adelaide Hayes is still in our estate, hiding from her mean and abusive husband her parents had arranged her to marry.

Her sister, Madilyn, Thomas' wife, was meant to marry the lord of Colston for his wealth. Yet she did the most unthinkable and lost her virtue with another man, so that she would not have to marry the horrid Colston. Little did she know she would be expecting a child and actually fall in love with her husband.

She sighed again. Why is life so difficult? Not Elizabeth, nor Andrew or Thomas have had easily found love. I hope that is not a family thing, for I do want to find a husband. But every man I have met, is not one I like. Either he is only interested in the Brompton name, or he is very rude or ugly. But all of them are the same: the see themselves as better people than every woman.

Yes, even Joseph is like that. And I cannot, not in the world, imagine myself for the rest of my life until my dying day with a man who thinks he is more important than me. I have a voice too, and I wish to use it. And a man has ears, and I wish he uses it too. That makes a great combination, does it not?

But in all truths, marriage and a husband is not quite on my mind. I do not expect myself to find a man that is suited, so I do not bother worrying about it. Tis only Mother who keeps reminding me of it. If I had my way, I would go about the streets on my own, and probably live alone.

No matter. If I die without a husband, the only person disappointed will be Mother.