Falling for the Wrong Man (Mature 18+)

Chapter two - The sacred ceremony of bidding for the marriage contract

The next few days were filled with excitement as Jess, Chloe and Joanna waited to receive their offers. Chloe was a tall, attractive and thin girl who looked older than seventeen while Joanna was short and overweight with lots of pimples and awful hair. Both girls immensely disliked their half-sister Jess and they had cried for weeks when they found out she would be attending the ball with them. It meant their chances for a good match were lowered. They appealed to their father with crying and fretting.

"Stop being fools" said Abner, "if your sister makes a good match, perhaps I will include one or both of you in the deal. Some of the men like to take girls from the same family."

The idea did not appeal to either girl or their mothers, as they realised that if a man took sisters, he would still elevate one, and the other would suffer. A single match was the best as it meant the new bride would be the youngest wife and if her husband lusted after her, she could gain great favours in his household. Nothing was worse, than to be trapped in a man's house as an unwanted wife. It meant the woman would be like a slave to the elevated wives, doing their bidding and often taking the blame for anything that went wrong in the household. Men were required to control their women. As a result, corporal punishment was regularly meted out in important households as a way to humiliate and dissuade women from rebellion. In fact, it was so important that the law set out how much a man could punish his daughters and wives for transgressions.

Joanna, the less attractive of the three girls, received an offer from a neighbouring farmer who had had some good crops and wanted to take on a second wife. Poor men often worked as farmers in society and lived difficult lives. They struggled to survive and gain funds to buy wives. Jess was surprised such a man had even been allowed to attend the ball, but her mother explained that at every ball, a bride agent watched and sought out the less attractive girls for the lower classes. The farmer arranged to pay Joanna's bride price in instalments over six months, which suited Abner because it allowed him to change Joanna's class from daughter to servant, and until she married, her labour would be free. On signing the contract with Abner, the farmer asked that Joanna be sent to him a few nights each week for his comfort, hoping that by the time she was sent to live with him she would already be with child, and soon after, add to his household. The farmer had ambitions and wanted to create a great house like Abner's. Joanna cried greatly at her treatment. Life with a poor farmer would be hard work and she would have to birth and raise many children. The man already had five children with his first wife who would be sure to bully Joanna and make her do the bulk of the work.

In contrast to her sisters, Jess received many offers. Abner didn't tell his wives the exact number, but he was extremely happy with her display, and that week moved Lydia and Jess to the head table in the great eating hall. They were seated proudly beside him and the room was filled with jealousy and gossip about who had asked to marry Jess. It was no surprise the following week when Jess and Chloe were summoned to Abner's library where a number of old men waited for them.

"Gentlemen," Abner began "these are my daughters Jess and Chloe." The men murmured their appreciation as the girls entered. Jess felt their eyes prying over her. Her father had them walk around the room for their inspection. Jess kept her eyes low but was able to see the men through her lashes. Some of them were older than her own father.

"Are they both pure?" one of the men asked, his lustful eyes had stared at Jess from the moment she entered.

"Of course" Abner replied, "neither of the girls have ever spent an evening outside of my property, they have been guarded and chaperoned at all times. Both girls have slept in a locked room with my other virginal daughters since they were five years old. Both are pure and Jess is the most beautiful girl in this entire region. She will not disappoint her husband. Her sister Chloe, is also a fine girl and we can offer..."