He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 9

9. Sarah Clarke’s Story

◈ November 1775. Intelligence Club.

As Theo exited the club restroom, someone called out to him from behind.

“Mr. Sanderson!”

Theo turned to see a middle-aged gentleman approaching. It was Lord Carrington.

Lord Carrington, a nobleman from a distinguished family, was someone Theo recognized from previous gatherings.

“Lord Carrington.”

Theo bowed his head in greeting, and Carrington returned the gesture before explaining the reason for his summons.

“I have a rather urgent request to make of you, Mr. Sanderson.”

“Oh? What is it…?”

“A friend of mine, upon hearing the news of Lord Monson’s marriage, asked if I could introduce him to you.”

It seemed he was looking to commission a matchmaking service.

“It sounds like your friend is seeking a marriage partner for his child?”

“Yes, that’s right. And quite urgently, I might add.”

“Ah, is that so? Well, as it happens, I have business in town tomorrow. I could meet your friend there.”

Instantly, Lord Carrington’s eyebrows angled downwards, and the corners of his mouth drooped.

“Well, the thing is… my friend hasn’t been in good health lately.”

The subtle display of multiple sorrowful expressions at once indicated that his friend’s condition was indeed grave.

“It seems your friend’s condition is quite serious?”

Lord Carrington nodded with a somber expression and continued.

“Indeed. He was once a picture of health, but he received a sudden diagnosis of a severe illness five months ago. They say there’s no cure. As such, my friend is unable to go out, so he was hoping you might visit him at his home.”

“At his home?”

“Yes. His house is right next to the church. If you go near the church and ask for Sir Robert Clarke’s residence, anyone will be able to direct you. But to give you precise directions…”

After hearing Lord Carrington’s explanation, it seemed the location would be easy to find.

“Understood. I don’t mind either way, so I’ll visit Sir Clarke’s residence tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, thank you. In that case, I’ll inform my friend that you’ll be visiting tomorrow on my way now.”

***

The next day, morning.

Theo rode in a carriage towards the residence of Sir Robert Clarke, as he had been told the day before.

As Lord Carrington had said, finding Sir Clarke’s house was not difficult.

Clatter. Clatter.

Passing through the main gate, Clarke’s mansion was quite large.

The garden was spacious, and the landscaping and surroundings of the house were meticulously decorated.

‘Sir Clarke must be a man of considerable means.’

“Whoa, whoa.”

As he arrived at the main entrance and stepped out of the carriage, someone approached.

“Are you Mr. Theo Sanderson?”

A man with a white wig approached Theo and asked politely. He appeared to be the butler of the Clarke household.

“Yes, I am.”

“Then, please follow me, Mr. Sanderson.”

The butler led Theo to the second floor.

As they ascended the stairs and walked along a rather long corridor, the sound of coughing grew louder and louder.

Cough- cough- hack. Cough-

As he had heard, his condition seemed quite severe.

Knock, knock.

“Sir? Mr. Sanderson has arrived.”

“Oh, really? Cough-. Tell him to come in.”

Clunk-

The door opened to reveal a spacious room with a large bed in the center.

An elderly man with snow-white hair was lying on the bed.

“Ah, Mr. Sanderson, is it? Pleased to meet you. Welcome.”

“Yes, pleased to meet you, Sir Clarke.”

“Betty, could you help me sit up a bit?”

The maid next to the bed quickly supported the baronet, helping him to raise his upper body.

“I apologize for my condition…”

“Not at all. It’s quite alright.”

While the butler left and Theo sat on a chair beside the bed, the baronet coughed severely several more times.

“Cough- cough- haha. I’m truly embarrassed and sorry to show you such a sight upon our first meeting.”

“Please, don’t mention it. Anyone can fall ill. You’ll recover soon.”

While the baronet calmed his cough, Theo glanced around the room.

It was quite a large room for one person, and it seemed to double as a study.

In particular, the large bookcase to the right of the bed was impressive. It was filled with a vast number of books, more than one might expect an individual to possess, easily exceeding a thousand volumes.

While most nobles proudly displayed paintings or expensive porcelain, Sir Clarke filled the space with books.

“You have a great many books?”

“Ah, yes. I have quite a fondness for books. I acquired them one or two at a time, and before I knew it, they had accumulated like this.”

Theo got straight to the point.

“I heard from Lord Carrington yesterday that you specifically wished to meet me?”

Sir Clarke nodded with difficulty.

“Yes, that’s right. In truth, I have a request to make of you, Mr. Sanderson, and I asked my friend to ask you to come all this way, despite the imposition.”

Seen up close, the baronet looked even more ill, perhaps due to his gauntness. The light in his eyes had also faded considerably.

‘His smile vanishes so quickly…’

The changes in one’s mouth convey a wide range of emotions, and when a smile or laugh appears and disappears in an instant, it almost always indicates a false sentiment.

Often, a great worry in one’s heart, combined with the lethargy caused by illness, causes smiles or laughter to vanish quickly without one’s awareness. It seemed the baronet was experiencing something similar.

As expected, Sir Clarke began to confide in Theo about his worries.

The baronet’s concern was for his children, who would be left behind after his death.

“I have five young daughters who are not yet married. With my wife also gone, I am greatly concerned about the economic hardship they will face after I die. Cough- cough-.”

The inheritance system in 18th-century England was very harsh on daughters.

When a father died, the largest portion of his estate, real estate, went only to the eldest son, leaving the daughters with almost nothing.

Moreover, Clarke’s estate was subject to the condition of ‘entailment,’ meaning that to pass on his estate to the next generation, there had to be a ‘male’ heir.

Entailment in England at this time was a system that limited the inheritance of real estate, such as the family’s mansion and land, to the eldest male heir.

Thus, in the absence of an eldest son, the mansion and land assets were limited to inheritance by the closest male relative in the line of succession.

This system, which may seem highly unreasonable at first glance, was actually a kind of safeguard to prevent the extinction of a ‘family’ in a class-based society that valued the family above all else.

For any aristocratic family to maintain a dignified, aristocratic life without labor or occupation, a recurring and stable income was required each year.

This was to ensure that the men who carried on the family line could escape menial labor and receive a life of leisure and education, thereby continuing the lineage of their family.

In this context, real estate, especially ‘land,’ guaranteed a large income through crops each year, making it the optimal asset for maintaining a family in an agrarian-centered society.

If such important family real estate were to be divided among sons other than the eldest or daughters, income would inevitably decrease, leading to the decline and fall of the family.

In particular, if the family’s real estate, such as the mansion and land, were divided among daughters through inheritance, the property would pass directly to the daughter’s husband under the marriage customs and laws of the time. Therefore, aristocrats had no choice but to strictly adhere to the ‘entailment’ system to maintain a ‘family.’

Given this situation, Clarke, who only had daughters, was in a position where most of his property would be inherited by a male relative of the family.

As a result, the five daughters would have to leave their beloved home, where they had lived their entire lives, with the cash assets that the baronet had personally accumulated, and find a shabby and uncomfortable house to move into.

Such an inheritance law would be unthinkable in modern society, but there was nothing to be done since English law prioritized the family over the individual.

For this reason, Clarke could not help but worry about his young daughters who would be left behind. After much deliberation, he decided to discuss the matter of his eldest daughter, Sarah Clarke, who was of marriageable age, with Theo.

If Sarah, who was acting as a mother figure, could at least find a good husband and lead a prosperous married life, he seemed to be hoping that the lives of the remaining daughters could somehow be sustained as well.

“I heard from Lord Carrington about the story of connecting you with Edward Monson, which I found very interesting, cough.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes. Cough- hack- cough. In fact, Monson was a child I had known well for a long time. People dismissed Monson as arrogant, but having seen him since childhood, I knew that he was intelligent and possessed excellent character.

However, I thought that marriage would never be easy for him because of his high academic aspirations and prickly personality, but after hearing the story, I realized that Mr. Sanderson had found him a truly wonderful match. Cough, cough-.”

“Yes.”

The baronet, having calmed his cough, said with a bitter look in his eyes.

“Three years ago, I made a firm promise to my wife, who passed away before me, that I would take responsibility for our daughters until the end. So, my last wish was to see all five of my youngest daughters grow up safely and get married, but now my situation is…”

“No, you must do so.”

At Theo’s words, the baronet gave a wry smile and shook his head.

“I know my body best. It’s clear that I won’t last much longer. I doubt I’ll make it past a few months. Cough- cough-.”

“You mustn’t have such a weak heart. You must be more steadfast, thinking of your daughters.”

The baronet, who had been smiling faintly at Theo’s words, spoke to the maid behind him.

“Betty, go and ask Sarah to come here.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the maid went to call his eldest daughter, Sarah Clarke, the baronet continued.

“I would like to entrust the matter of my eldest daughter’s marriage partner to you, Mr. Sanderson. From hearing about you from Lord Carrington, I believe that you possess not only knowledge but also truly outstanding insight and judgment regarding people. That’s why I understood Monson’s sudden marriage.”

“I’m grateful that you think so highly of me.”

“Please, have pity on my children and take care to ensure that at least my eldest daughter’s marriage is connected with a good person before I die? Also, that way, I can at least provide her with a generous dowry while I’m still alive.”

“Yes, of course.”

Sir Clarke was concerned about the cash assets he had accumulated, even if he could not do anything about the real estate assets that were subject to entailment [a legal device that restricts the inheritance of property].

He said that this money had been saved little by little for a long time for his daughters’ dowries. Since it was not real estate belonging to the family, he was somewhat free to dispose of it, but what he had saved so far was not enough to provide for all of his daughters.

“It’s not a small amount of cash, but it’s not enough when I think of my remaining daughters. Moreover, even the dowry that I provide will effectively become the property of the husband’s family, so if they were to meet a wicked spouse who only cares about money, I can’t be sure whether it would be helpful to our daughters or not.

I even thought that it might be better to hand everything over to the relative who is scheduled to inherit the estate and hope for his kindness as much as possible. Cough- cough-.”

The baronet seemed to have considered handing over all of his cash assets, except for Sarah’s dowry, to the relative who would inherit the entailment.

This was because some generous heirs would give the remaining bereaved family a pension in the form of annual income and other benefits from cultivating the land for decades.

However, even this was a hesitant choice, as it could be worse than inheriting all the remaining cash to the daughters if their minds were to change.

These unspoken concerns of the baronet were fully conveyed to Theo.

“I need to find a bridegroom who will truly love and be compatible with her, but my body is like this…”

In the midst of all this, after hearing about Mr. Sanderson, I decided that I should ask you to arrange a marriage for my daughter right away. I don’t care how much the matchmaking fee costs. I just want to be introduced to a warm-hearted and solid bridegroom who is well-suited to my eldest daughter in every way.”

The affectionate heart of a father facing death was deeply felt.

“…Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Knock, knock.

“Father, it’s Sarah.”

“Yes, come in.”

Clunk.

At the sound of the door opening, Theo turned his head.

Sarah Clarke bent her knees and greeted Theo.

Theo also bowed his head and politely expressed his respect.

The baronet, watching his daughter exchange greetings, opened his mouth.

“Sarah, this is Mr. Theo Sanderson, whom I told you about. I was discussing your marriage with him. Cough-.”

“Ah, yes.”

Smiling briefly as she answered, she had a very pure image. She was not a flamboyant beauty, but that made her even more attractive.

“Mr. Sanderson, I hope you will have a good conversation with my daughter. I’m afraid I need to lie down, as I’m not feeling well.”

“Ah, yes. Please do.”

As soon as the baronet finished speaking, Sarah rushed to the bed and helped him lie down comfortably.

*

Theo had tea with Sarah Clarke in the study next to the bedroom and talked with her.

‘She has a very likable appearance and a personality that makes people feel comfortable.’

Even though they had not talked much, he could quickly sense that she was an intelligent and wise woman, with her bright eyes and attitude, and her articulate way of speaking.

Moreover, despite the fact that her life and the lives of her younger sisters could become bleak if her father were to suddenly pass away, Sarah’s expression was very bright and cheerful.

In addition to the conscious aspects that were outwardly visible, the unconscious energy emanating from her subconscious was so bright and positive that it seemed to be transmitted to others.

“So, Miss Clarke, are you currently handling all the household affairs in place of your father?”

“The detailed tasks are taken care of by the other servants, including the butler, Brown, and I simply listen to my father and do a little managing.”

Theo nodded and talked about various things, wanting to gauge Sarah’s level of education.

It was common for women in this era to have a low level of education, but Sarah seemed to be at a considerable level.

Theo pretended to have a casual conversation, mixing in questions that required basic common sense and difficult thinking.

But she answered more skillfully than he had expected.

“Miss Clarke, you seem to have a considerable amount of common sense and logic? Did you receive private tutoring at home?”

Even among the aristocracy at this time, most women did not attend school.

Instead, women of the aristocratic class often lightly learned languages, art, and music at home.

However, the level had to remain at the level of general knowledge. It was considered very undignified for a woman to study any one field professionally.

As a result, most of the 18th-century women Theo had met so far lacked logic and reasoning skills, making it difficult to continue conversations related to in-depth topics for long.

But Sarah had logic and strength in her words, even in a single sentence. She was as good as the male members of the Intelligence Club.

“No, I have never received private tutoring.”

“Then?”

“My siblings and I mainly read our favorite books in this study and spent a lot of time discussing the contents of those books with my father. It was also our sisters’ favorite time until my father became ill.”

“Ah…”

Theo was able to understand where Sarah’s wisdom came from. Clarke, who loved to read, was the best teacher for his daughters.

“This may be a slightly rude question, but if a man you meet is to your liking, would you not be hurt even if he doesn’t show interest in you, considering your situation?”

Considering the baronet who was facing death and the four young younger sisters who remained, Sarah Clarke was not actually a good marriage prospect.

Despite the sensitive question that could be offensive, Sarah answered without losing her smile.

“The value I actually have doesn’t change just because the other person doesn’t like me, does it? So, I’m fine.”

From her simple and clear answer, Theo was able to confirm that she was a person with a high level of self-understanding, that is, metacognition [awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes].

In a marital relationship, when the wife has a high level of self-understanding, it has a positive effect on the husband’s work and contributes to his success.

Theo admired Sarah’s excellent attitude several times as they talked about various things, and then he suddenly saw the documents on the table.

At first glance, it seemed to be house rental information.

As Theo looked at the rental information, Sarah opened her mouth in a slightly gloomy voice.

“I hope my father doesn’t pass away, but if something really unfortunate happens, I can’t help but think about my younger siblings. So, I’ve been looking for a place to stay in London in advance, doing various calculations.”

Sarah also talked about how her relative, Thomas Clarke, had recently visited the house with an architect.

Thomas Clarke was a relative who would inherit the family’s property after her father’s death.

He lived quite far from London and had come to visit under the guise of visiting the sick, but in reality, he had come to inspect the mansion and land that he would occupy after Clarke’s death.

“That’s when I woke up. When I think of my younger siblings who are still young, I can’t help but think about what will happen after my father passes away.”

Sarah herself was in a position where she had to rely on someone, but she was more worried about her young siblings who had no choice but to rely on her.

The task that remained for Theo was to quickly find a man who could recognize and embrace Sarah Clarke’s value, even knowing this situation.

‘Unfortunately, Clarke’s days are numbered. If I want to provide him with a dowry, as the baronet said, I have to find the most suitable man as soon as possible.’

If she was a smart and wise woman like Sarah, she was a woman who had the ability to make her spouse a great success, at least in a modern society where it was difficult for her to succeed on her own.

The task of finding a man who would be perfect for her, like a jewel, had now completely passed to Theo.