He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 171

171. Ballroom

Teo led Princess Maria and Count Dominici into the Office of Academic Affairs.

“Have you arrived, Representative?”

As they entered the office, Headmaster Scipio Marshall rushed to greet Teo.

Teo introduced the princess and the count to Headmaster Scipio and explained why they were here.

“…So, Count Dominici is very interested in our school’s facilities and operations, and I brought him along.”

After hearing the situation, Headmaster Scipio volunteered to give a tour of the school.

“Ah, I see. Then I will guide you myself.”

* * *

Showing them the multi-story education building, Headmaster Scipio explained,

“This place was originally a building being prepared as a hotel. However, construction stopped due to bankruptcy during the process. The representative purchased this building and transformed it into an educational facility.

Since it was a building made with a hotel in mind, structural changes and reinforcement work were needed more than expected.

So, it took more time and money than expected, but thanks to the representative’s generous support, it seems to have become a very useful school.”

It was such a neat and wonderful educational facility that it was hard to believe it had been a hotel if Headmaster Scipio hadn’t mentioned it.

The Georgian architectural style, popular in this era, was applied, and the balanced appearance, symmetrical structure, high ceilings, and large windows were impressive. Above all, the large windows created a bright and well-ventilated space, which helped to improve the learning atmosphere.

Inside the classrooms, many students were gathered, enjoying their lessons. Princess Maria was very moved as she watched the children’s bright faces through the windows.

She seemed to be reminded of the children of the Kingdom of Naples.

The princess, who had been looking around every corner of the school, asked,

“Headmaster? What is that place over there?”

A yellow hinged door was visible where she pointed.

“Ah, that is the cafeteria.”

“Cafeteria?”

“Yes, we provide morning snacks and afternoon lunch to the students there.”

“So, are the meals all free too?”

“Of course. In fact, the cost of meals, along with the weekly wages, accounts for a significant portion of the school’s expenses. It also reflects the representative’s firm belief that growing children need sufficient nutrition.”

“…….”

Out of curiosity, the princess opened the door to the cafeteria and couldn’t help but be amazed.

The school cafeteria, which Teo had paid attention to, borrowed a modern structure and was designed with hygienic and efficient traffic lines in mind.

In the kitchen, five cooks were working hard to prepare food, and assistant maids were moving the neat dishes they made onto a long buffet table.

Both the appearance and the smell were excellent.

The princess praised the structure, facilities, and food of the restaurant, which she was seeing for the first time.

These sights, which would be taken for granted in modern times, were simply amazing to Princess Maria.

“Wow- I’ve never seen a school like this before. Who came up with all this?”

Headmaster Scipio Marshall looked at Teo, who had entered the kitchen, and said,

“The structure and system of this school mostly came from the mind of Representative Sanderson.”

“Really? Sir Sanderson?”

“Yes, I used to be a professor at a university, but I have never seen a school with such an education-friendly form. All the facilities of the school are focused on the education of the students.

In my opinion, I am confident that Teo School will become the best school in England, or even the world, over time.”

At this time, even the most prestigious universities in England, such as Oxford and Cambridge, had facilities that were so poor that they could not be considered educational institutions from a modern point of view.

With little financial investment, professors’ academic research was not properly conducted, and it had degenerated into a place where low-level aristocratic students played and wasted their time.

“Headmaster, you were a professor at a university?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How do you eat at the university?”

While watching the children’s lunch being prepared, Headmaster Scipio said,

“At the university where I was, breakfast is usually brought to the students’ rooms by students from the poor lower class. And from 1 or 2 p.m., at the formal gatherings held in the banquet hall, we enjoy several courses of meals. It’s supposed to be lunch, but we’re wasting time eating, drinking, and playing.”

Aristocratic children in their late teens and early twenties put their studies on the back burner at university, spending most of their time playing, drinking, and indulging in entertainment.

Having seen this countless times, Headmaster Scipio expected that Teo School’s educational policy would be able to excellently handle even higher education at the university level.

Teo came into Princess Maria’s eyes as she admired Headmaster Scipio’s story.

Teo was listening to the chef’s story with a serious expression.

‘…….’

He was a person who had strangely caught her attention from the first time she saw him, but he was a man who became more and more attractive as she got to know him.

Count Dominici had told her that Lord Sanderson was a typical businessman who was only interested in money to the point where he ran a matchmaking business, and that he was a somewhat despicable person who had even obtained a noble title by flattering the powerful.

But so far, he was completely different from the count’s assessment.

Count Dominici, who didn’t know any nobles in England, seemed to have gotten the wrong information from somewhere.

Moreover, after seeing and hearing his passion and belief in scholarship today, he came to her in a different light.

‘…….’

At that time, Teo, who was greeting the other chefs, accidentally met her eyes.

He gave her a slight smile.

Instantly, the princess’s face flushed.

The princess nodded her head and quickly turned her head away.

‘Why… am I doing this?’

The sound of her pounding heart seemed to be audible to her own ears.

◈ Mid-November 1788, Teo Marriage Agency.

Teo was just passing the third floor stairs when he heard a sobbing sound from somewhere.

The sound was coming from the manager’s office.

‘What is it?’

Teo glanced into the open manager’s office and saw a middle-aged woman pouring out complaints in a resentful voice.

‘It looks like a member’s mother? What’s going on?’

Lucy and Isabel were standing there with very embarrassed expressions.

“Now my daughter Sophia’s marriage is over, isn’t it? No one proposed during the three royal social events, and there’s still no connection here… It’s all over! It’s all over! That kind child is going to be pointed at as an old maid and die old! Sob-”

In England, for more than a decade, young ladies from aristocratic families had been participating in social events held by the British royal family from April to June.

These events were held under the auspices of the Queen at St. James’s Palace in London, and when this time came, nobles from rural estates moved up to their London townhouses and poured all their efforts into allowing their daughters to enter the royal social events.

At this time, the Queen received greetings from the young upper-class ladies participating in these events, and those who had the Queen’s approval attended various events such as balls, banquets, and plays, searching for a suitable groom.

However, the conditions for entering these social events directly hosted by the British royal family were quite strict.

In addition to the family’s reputation and wealth, the person getting married had to have a certain level of qualifications, and they had to comply with strict rules of conduct and dress, so if there was even a slight problem, it was difficult to set foot in the royal social events.

However, it wasn’t over even if you were invited to a royal social event with difficulty.

If you did not receive a proposal during the three event seasons, you had to go through the process of being expelled from the royal social events.

As a result, those whose family reputation was weak or whose level was low, or those who hated being swept away like this, tried to avoid the difficult royal social events from the beginning.

Usually, in these cases, they would attend balls held by wealthy aristocratic families to find a spouse, or they would go to the trouble of spending money to host their own balls.

If that didn’t work, they would hire a matchmaker with a good reputation to be introduced, but in this case, they were often caught up in fraud.

In the modern society of the 18th century, where information was tightly blocked, it was not easy to find a suitable spouse.

It was in these difficult times that ‘Teo Marriage Agency’ appeared.

Teo Marriage Agency was destined to emerge as an oasis in the desert for countless mothers who were struggling with marriage.

Compared to the clumsy information of matchmakers, which often led to fraudulent connections, Teo’s Marriage Agency was highly praised for opening a good opportunity by connecting with the most reliable partner on a 1:1 basis.

In fact, the satisfaction of the numerous couples who married through Teo Marriage Agency was quite high, and as these rumors spread far and wide, people from Scotland were now coming to Teo’s company.

However, as the number of members of Teo Marriage Agency exploded, it became difficult to proceed quickly, and dissatisfaction was bound to build up among mothers.

Sophia’s mother raised her voice again in front of the managers.

“My daughter will be in her mid-20s soon! I trusted you because you said it was the best, but what is this? Huh? Sob-”

“Mother, please calm down. I’m really sorry, but we’re not doing it on purpose, are we? Hundreds of people are joining every month, and we have to counsel and match them all one by one, so there’s bound to be a limit. So….”

“Then, can’t you hold a ball or something? If many people meet, opportunities can naturally arise!

If you close everything after September, you’ll just get older if you don’t get a match during the remaining period, right?”

Teo’s ballrooms on Teo Street had been opening in March and operating until September to coincide with the social season.

Since the social season usually started in April and ended in June, Teo’s company was opening a little earlier and closing much later.

However, after September, the ballrooms of Teo Marriage Agency were also firmly closed.

Of course, a small social season was held from September to November, before the fox hunting season began, but the scale and number of attendees were too small.

As a result, from October to February of the following year, there were virtually no official social ballrooms.

‘…….’

After listening to Sophia’s mother’s sad story for a while, Teo muffled his footsteps and moved to the representative’s office.

* * *

5th floor, Representative’s office.

‘As the rumors grow, more and more consultations and reservations are lining up. No matter how much I increase the number of matching managers, there is a limit, and it is not easy to manage them. I need to find another way soon….’

Teo sat at his desk and recalled the words of Sophia’s mother, who had been shouting in the manager’s office.

‘Ballroom… ballroom….’

The screams of Sophia’s mother, who was crying and begging to hold a ball, kept swirling in his head.

Sophia was the fourth daughter in a family of three sons and two daughters, and she had no special property other than a small dowry because her older brothers were getting married one after another.

If she couldn’t get married like this, she would have to live with her eldest brother’s family as a housekeeper or wander around as a tutor for the rest of her life.

It was an incomprehensible and unfortunate situation, but it was also a dark side of modern women who had no choice but to cling to marriage.

‘Yeah… when you think about it, there’s no need to think of the ball too grandly, is there? Even if the scale is small, if we have good facilities and regularly gather men and women with compatible personalities, it will be a place of opportunity where they can choose a suitable spouse on their own….’

In this era, there were facilities that were considered essential for a ballroom.

For example, there was a cloak room where guests could leave their clothes or fix torn clothes or disheveled hair, and a tea room where they could chat with their favorite partner while drinking desserts or drinks.

So, at this time, the money spent when a frugal middle class prepared a ballroom directly for their daughter’s wedding was at least 300 to 500 pounds, which was a burdensome amount equivalent to their two-year salary.

However, Teo Marriage Agency had accumulated a lot of know-how by operating many large ballrooms at high cost and holding several small balls.

Now, he was confident that he could operate a satisfactory ballroom even with a small budget.

‘Looking at the results so far, there have been quite a few couples connected not only in large ballrooms but also in small ballrooms. Then, what if we specialize in those small ballrooms and open them on a regular basis…?’

Instead of insisting on opening the ball only between March and September, it seemed like a good idea to open it regularly on a set day every week throughout the year.

In a situation where it takes so much time to consult with a matching manager and arrange meetings according to that schedule, this method may be more rational and faster.

Even if Teo only looked at the couples who were connected in that way, he could guarantee a certain degree of suitability.

Also, since the number of members of the marriage agency alone is not small, it seemed that there would be no major problem with profitability if we announced a small ball and held it every week.

Then, marriages can be made as much as possible even during the off-season between October and February.

‘Okay. I’ll prepare well and try to operate it on a trial basis starting next month.’

Swish- Swish-

Teo took out a piece of paper and quickly wrote down a plan for a small ballroom that would be held on a regular basis.