He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 4

4. A Matchmaking Agency in London?

◈ One Month Later

London, the Intelligence Club.

“Mr. Theo Sanderson!”

As Theo opened the club door and stepped inside, a member called out his name and rushed over.

It was the Baron, with whom he had shared a table a few times.

“Mr. Sanderson? Why weren’t you here last week?”

The club met once a week, on Mondays.

“Ah, well, I haven’t been here long, so I had various things to take care of.”

“Haha, I see. Settling in is always difficult. I was worried when you didn’t come. There’s a flu going around London these days, and I wondered if you might be ill.”

But the Baron kept closing the distance more than necessary.

Everyone has something called ‘Personal Space.’ And the meaning of invading this personal space varies depending on the level of intimacy.

In other words, the ‘distance’ between people varies depending on the relationship between them. Generally, in relationships where intimacy is low, people instinctively maintain a distance of around ‘1 meter’ [approximately 3 feet].

If that distance is breached and someone enters the personal space, most people instinctively step back due to a sense of discomfort.

However, if they feel intimacy, they may approach more closely.

Now, unlike their previous meetings, the Baron was trying to maintain a distance that suggested a great deal of familiarity.

‘He’s feeling affection for me.’

Realizing this, Theo didn’t step back but continued the conversation at close range.

“Thank you for your concern. But is there something you wanted to tell me?”

“Ah, yes. I happened to meet Admiral Matthew Bentham on the street a few days ago.”

Theo asked with a delighted expression.

“Ah, really? Is the Admiral coming to the club today, then?”

“No. He won’t be able to make it. He was on his way to the harbor that day because he had to set sail urgently.”

“Ah, I wanted to see him… But, it seems something has happened to the Admiral?”

The Baron’s face became quite serious.

“Well… I heard that something has broken out in North America.”

“?”

“The Admiral said that a skirmish had occurred in Lexington, North America, between the Massachusetts militia and the British army.”

“A skirmish in Lexington?”

‘If it’s the skirmish in Lexington… the Battles of Lexington and Concord?’

The Battles of Lexington and Concord. It was the first skirmish between Britain and America, recorded as the opening of the ‘American Revolutionary War.’

‘I didn’t know the exact date of the first battle, but if it’s the Battle of Lexington, then it’s definitely the first act of the American Revolutionary War.’

The Baron began to praise Theo.

“It’s still too early to judge, but it seems a skirmish has broken out between the British army and North America, just as Mr. Sanderson predicted.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“When I heard about the battle from Admiral Bentham, I was so surprised that I told him exactly what you had said. The Admiral said that he completely trusts Theo Sanderson’s assessment of the situation and praised you immensely. He boasted about how he had recommended someone with such great insight to the club.”

“The Admiral is too kind to me. I’m just grateful and a little embarrassed.”

Having heard the news of the skirmish in Lexington, club members began to gather around Theo one by one.

“Hey—isn’t Mr. Sanderson going to sweep up all the money we bet last time?”

“I thought you were very clear-headed and confident in your analysis of the situation back then, but I didn’t know you were this good. By the way, do you really think our Britain could lose?”

Theo nodded.

“I believe it will inevitably happen. North America will be at a disadvantage in the early stages of the war, but the British army will become more disadvantaged as the years go by.”

“As the years go by? Then how many years do you think the war will last if it really breaks out?”

“Yes, I believe that will be the case.”

“What is the basis for your thinking?”

“Didn’t our British government spend too much money driving France out of the American colonies? And to make up for that depleted treasury, they decided to increase taxes on the North American colonies.

But that has angered the North American residents, creating an ironic situation where they will join forces with France and others. In the end, our financially struggling Britain will have to fight a very long war.”

The war between Britain and the North American colonies was the biggest issue in the club for a while.

Every day, heated debates took place over the issue, and predictions about what would happen in the future were rampant.

But the story always ended with Theo summarizing and concluding.

“Of course, Mr. Albert’s opinion also has considerable merit. But considering the current situation of Spain and the Netherlands…”

As his frighteningly accurate assessments of the international situation continued every week, Theo became the most popular figure in the club.

Eventually, every Monday when Theo appeared at the club, a remarkable scene unfolded where London’s intellectuals, nobles, and emerging capitalists sat in a circle around Theo, sharing various stories.

In particular, Adam Smith and other prominent London intellectuals occupied the seats next to Theo, engaging in serious conversations, and club members would watch their high-level discussions with interest and take time to ask questions.

Theo didn’t have any special education or title, but since the club’s atmosphere prioritized knowledge and insight, interest in the young intellectual who had appeared like a comet was bound to be intense.

Members who had been seriously discussing the North American colonial war and the British Parliament’s response changed the subject to light travel stories.

“Mr. Sanderson? If you’ve been to Antarctica, you must have seen glaciers? Someone said that the ice thickness in Antarctica is over 3,300 feet (approximately 1,000 meters), but that’s a bit of an exaggeration, right?”

“It’s not 3,300 feet, it’s 6,600 feet (approximately 2,000 meters).”

“What? 6… 6,600 feet?”

“Yes. That’s just the average thickness, so there are many places where it’s even thicker.”

Based on Theo’s vivid experiences from his trip to King George Island in Antarctica, the members listened with bated breath.

Travel and exploration of the unknown world was a great desire that any intellectual at the time dreamed of.

However, due to the poor transportation system and enormous costs, only a very few people could travel around the world.

“Mr. Sanderson’s experiences are truly amazing every time I hear them. It’s amazing that you’ve been to nearby Europe, Africa, the Orient, and even Antarctica.”

Among the club members, there were quite a few upper-class nobles who had traveled the world through grand tours costing over 3,000 pounds (approximately 400-500 million won [equivalent to roughly $300,000 – $400,000 USD today]).

However, even they couldn’t help but believe it when Theo poured out specific explanations that they would never know unless they had traveled there themselves.

That’s because Theo had traveled to many countries since college, and before going, he always studied the history of the place thoroughly and traveled, so he had plenty of stories to tell.

After the travel stories ended, they drank tea and exchanged miscellaneous stories.

They mainly talked about various social ills and solutions to them.

At that time, a young nobleman carefully opened his mouth to Theo.

“Excuse me… Mr. Sanderson. I am Lord Anthony Burns. There is something I would like to ask.”

<** In England, when a nobleman inherits a title, they usually call the received title instead of their name, but in this novel, for the sake of convenience, the title is attached to the name as is, as the appearance of multiple titles other than the name may interfere with the reader's understanding.>

“Ah, yes. Please speak, Lord Burns.”

“What do you think of the current marriage system, Mr. Sanderson?”

Theo was taken aback by the sudden question.

“The marriage system?”

“While watching you for over two months, I have been deeply moved by your broad and deep insight and wisdom.

In fact, I am interested in stories related to world affairs and experiences, but I am really curious about how long the current terrible marriage system will last. I thought you might be able to predict the future of this flawed marriage system.”

18th-century European nobles tended to view love and marriage as separate.

The marriage system was seen as a means to maintain the noble lineage, so they thought that they should marry someone designated by the king or parents, even if they didn’t know their face.

And they believed that once they had children to maintain the lineage, they had fulfilled their marital duty, and after that, they were free to meet and date people they liked.

From a modern marriage perspective, it was an absolutely incomprehensible and immoral relationship, but Lord Anthony Burns was criticizing this marriage system.

Theo hesitated for a moment, wondering how to answer, and then opened his mouth.

“I am confident that our Britain is in a period of great transformation, and accordingly, the value of marriage will also undergo tremendous changes.”

“Are you saying that the perception of marriage itself will change?”

“That’s right. First of all, there will be a storm due to the war with North America, and revolutionary waves will sweep through the fields of knowledge and industry, leading to the emergence of new values throughout society and leading to a completely different world.

In other words, as the perspective on humans changes rapidly, I believe that the perception of marriage will also be completely reversed.”

“When will such a wonderful change come?”

“Well, it will inevitably take time. But I guess visible changes will start to appear about 20 years from now.”

But when the topic of marriage came up, many criticisms erupted here and there. Theo was quite surprised.

There were mainly comments related to the marriages of their sisters or younger sisters, and in particular, there was a barrage of condemnations against marriage brokers.

“My sister couldn’t find a groom even after several social seasons, so she had no choice but to marry through a marriage broker.”

“Oh dear—matchmakers are only interested in lining their own pockets, aren’t they? You should never entrust them with anything.”

“That’s right! I was completely deceived. They tricked me into marrying a crazy drunkard like he was a decent guy. He wasn’t even a proper nobleman. It was practically fraud, and that damn marriage broker completely ruined my sister’s life.”

“My younger sister was also scammed. I don’t know why they don’t throw those humans who commit such fraud for a few referral fees in jail.”

At the time, marriage brokers often pushed for reckless marriages for the purpose of collecting referral fees, which caused great social harm.

This soon led to distrust of marriage brokers, and the perception of them was quite negative.

“But if there weren’t even such marriage brokers, wouldn’t desperate spinsters be blocked from being introduced to men and grow old as old maids forever?”

Many members agreed with someone’s words.

“Well… you’re right, because in a social atmosphere where women who can’t get married are not treated like people. If you get married through a broker, even if it’s a fraudulent marriage, you’ll at least be recognized in your family, right? If you don’t use a marriage broker, it’s virtually impossible for a spinster to meet a man, so those trashy matchmakers can run rampant, right?”

“Anyway, it seems too difficult to meet the right person and get married. It can’t be anything but a huge stress.”

Adam Smith, who had been silent, also added a word.

“Considering the reality that women have almost no social status in our society, marriage is bound to be the most important thing in their entire lives, especially for women.

But it’s not a social atmosphere where young men and women can freely meet and date and get to know each other, and there are many problems with forced marriages.

As a father with a married daughter, it is truly regrettable that cases of fraudulent marriages due to these absurd matchmakers are constantly happening around me.”

**

Clatter, clatter.

Inside the carriage returning home, Theo was deep in thought.

‘Both the conversation between the mother and daughter that I overheard by chance on Bristol Street, and the fiery condemnations of today’s club members.

It seems that the issue of marriage is very important in this society, but there is no way to solve it properly, to the extent that they have no choice but to rely on those absurd marriage brokers.’

Theo suddenly remembered a show that he had seen in his previous life, set in the modern era of England.

Theo had watched the customs of modern British society, where it seemed that everything was bet on marriage, with great interest.

‘In the drama, the whole society, especially women, were obsessed with marriage, but that drama was by no means exaggerated.’

But at that moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

‘Wait… isn’t the ultimate goal of European women in this era a successful marriage? If you don’t get married by your mid-20s, you’re done for. Also, there are more unmarried women than I thought, and dodgy matchmakers are rampant. But matching people was my best specialty, wasn’t it?’

There was a reason why Hyun Tae-oh entered the matchmaking industry, even after struggling to obtain a doctorate in psychology.

Rather than digging into psychological theories or providing counseling in the laboratory, he felt tremendous joy in thoroughly analyzing the behavior and psychology of men and women and finding strong connections between them.

His uncle, who recognized his abilities at a glance, dragged Theo into the matchmaking company he had founded, and the result was a great success.

But when he felt the expectation that he could feel that joy here as well, Theo’s heart suddenly began to pound.

‘Wow, this is really unexpected. Am I going to use the matching skills I learned in the 21st century in 18th century England?’

An era where crude marriage brokers were rampant. On the other hand, it was a society that bet everything on marriage to an extent that could not be compared to modern society.

There was an overflowing need, but a proper supply was completely zero in the market.

‘That’s right. This is it. I’m going to find really good grooms for unmarried women. Of course, I’m also going to introduce men to women who are perfect for them.’

Theo nodded involuntarily.

‘Now I’ve decided what to do in London. I’m going to pour all the remaining funds into starting a matchmaking agency. So I’m going to use my specialty from my previous life to grow the best matchmaking company in England.’