Jul 22, 2022
The March Family 1900
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The March Family 1900
The March Family Home
Windenberg.
The new Mr. and Mrs. March were settling into their new home quite nicely. The two were renting the seaside cottage from Jacob’s employer. The home and its furnishings were not what Maude had been accustomed to, growing up as the daughter of a wealthy doctor.
But something about spontaneously marrying for love gave Maude a rose-tinted view of things. Marrying a poor sailer and living in a three room cottage by the sea made her feel like a character in a novel, and that was enough to satisfy her for now.
Maude hadn’t heard from her parents much since she had moved her family out of Brindleton Bay, so it was surprising for post to arrive from them unprompted. The contents of the letter were even more shocking, her Father was offering to send Louisa and Edith to finishing school as well as funding their dowry.
When Maude sat down with her husband to discuss the matter, Jacob was instantly frustrated by the offer.
“Your Father wouldn’t speak to you after we got married, he wanted nothing to do with us. Now he can change his mind?” Jacob argued.
“He’s still uninterested in me, he thinks that Louisa and Edith can do what I couldn’t,” Maude stands her ground. “Why would we take an opportunity like this away from our daughters? Especially one that only serves to help them make advantageous marriages and live comfortably.”
Jacob finally relented, agreeing that finishing school could be good for the girls. He was still unhappy to be accepting help from his father-in-law.
When Edith needed someone to accompany her on the journey to finishing school, Louisa jumped at the opportunity to make herself useful and get a change of scenery.
Maude and Jacob had a rather emotional goodbye with their second daughter. Edith was much less mature than her elder sister was when going away, her parents worried that the young girl may not be ready to leave home. Knowing that their eldest and most responsible child was accompanying her calmed their nerves.
Unbeknownst to her family, Louisa was still completely heartbroken from when she had rejected Edward’s proposal a few days prior. In truth, she was glad for the distraction of being her sister’s chaperone.
Jacob ages up into an Adult without much celebration, but Maude sets aside some time to make him a cake.
Business was growing at the general store as Jacob built the old shop back up, but all of the work was becoming too much for one person. His children were far too young and he had no living relatives nearby, so he posted an advertisement in the town paper.
A boy by the name of Edward Chappell came in asking after the ad. He was the youngest son of a local factory foreman and he had left school to bring income into his household with five siblings. He had aspirations of pursuing further education or working as a writer, but for now he was a shop boy at the March General Store.
It isn’t long after Louisa goes off to school when Maude goes into labor. This pregnancy had been her most difficult by far and her delivery was looking to be the same way.
Jacob was very attentive to his wife as the two of them wait for the doctor to travel through the snowy weather. She appreciated her husband’s support, but the hours of unrelenting pain were taking a toll on Maude. This delivery wasn’t going to be as smooth as her first three.