47
Afterafewmoreminutes, Aurelia and Oliver stood and said goodnight, then she waited until he’d gotten to the top of the stairs before opening the door to join Julia in the shop. Everyone was downstairs chatting but grew quiet as Aurelia came down the spiral staircase.
“Hi—I’m sorry I’m late,” she said with a wave. “I wanted to thank you all for talking with Oliver and my sister over the past week. I know it was a bit strange having to talk to them through the door—and through me—but I can’t tell you how much it’s helped.”
“It did,” Julia chimed in. “They believe us now. So I can get back to figuring out why you’re here to see me.”
“But I still don’t understand. Why can’t your husband see us?” Mrs. Jamieson demanded.
It took Aurelia a moment to remember that her ‘husband’ meant Oliver.
“Oh—well, because he doesn’t own the shop. Only people who own, or will own, the shop can see all of you.”
“That’s right,” Julia said importantly. “It’s not his shop, it’s hers.”
“You are forgetting, child: she is married, therefore the shop belongs to her husband,” Mrs. Jamieson replied tartly, as though stating an obvious fact.
“No, Julia’s right. The shop is mine. Women in my time can own property since it doesn’t automatically pass to their husbands when they marry.”
Just then, she spotted Miss Clack tucking another one of her tracts about sin onto a bookshelf and sighed.
“He let you keep it, then?” Kitty asked.
“No, he didn’t let me do anything because he didn’t have a choice in the matter. It’s the law during my time.”
Julia had been listening with a look of confusion and finally cut in, “Wait, the shop would have been Oliver’s if you’d inherited it back in their time?”
“Mm-hmm.” Aurelia nodded.
“What about your brothers?” Blanche asked. “Surely one of them should have inherited it instead of you?”
“I don’t have a brother. And that’s another benefit of my time—property doesn’t automatically pass down through male heirs.”
“Truly? How fascinating,” Blanche said with real interest in her typically disinterested voice.
“Your brother inherited everything in your family, right?” Julia asked her.
“He did,” Blanche said coolly. “It has made things a sight more difficult for my sister and me, as there is a dearth of potential husbands who aren’t in dire need of a woman of property.”
“So, you can’t just find someone and fall in love with them? They need to have money or they won’t want to marry you?”
“I might not have expressed the point quite so bluntly, but… yes.”
“Did you even like Rochester, then? Or did you just want to marry him because he was rich?”
Blanche demurred, saying, “You make me sound like a mercenary, dear.”
“Oh, wait—is that why you’re unhappy? Because you can’t marry for love and have to marry for money?” Julia asked eagerly.
Blanche raised her eyebrows and condescended to answer, “I would consider that sufficient cause to be displeased with one’s circumstances.”
“There you go, Aunt Aurelia. You can write a new story for Blanche where she has lots of money and doesn’t have to bother with Rochester.”
“What’s this?” Blanche asked.
“That’s not really how it works, Julia,” Aurelia said quickly. “It’s not that simple.”
“You said sometimes a character appears alone if they’re unhappy with their ending, and she says she didn’t like not having money and being desperate to find a rich husband.”
