CHAPTER 62: NEGOTIATIONS
The next night
Thomas Barrow's Pantry
Thomas and Minnie agreed to stay a bit late each night to negotiate their marriage contract. Minnie wanted to be ready for a June wedding, and Thomas was anxious to begin a family.
Minnie knocked and opened the pantry door. "Are you ready for our first session?"
"Has everyone gone for the night?"
"Yes. Mrs Patmore was the last."
Thomas grinned and patted his lap. "Come here, Missus."
Minnie laughed. "Now, Thomas, we're supposed to be serious about this."
"I am serious. I seriously want you to sit on my lap." Minnie obliged, and Thomas brought her to his chest. "You're wearing vanilla again. You're making me hungry." he murmured in her ear.
"Thomas, stop playing," Minnie chided gently. Thomas' warm breath in her ear made her tingle with excitement, but they had work to do. "Are we going to tackle these questions, or not?"
"The first one is a cinch."
"We'll see. I'd like to agree on something before we begin."
"What's that, Missus?"
"I'd like to keep our contract between us, Thomas. It's too personal too share with John and Anna or anyone else."
Thomas shared Minnie's feelings. "Agreed."
"Then I'm ready. Are you?"
"Ready." Thomas flipped open his notebook and found the page. "Here we are. Will we limit our sexual relations to our marriage?"
"No."
Thomas laughed. "Missus, I don't think you understand the question."
"Yes I do. Will we give each other permission to have sex with other people?"
"That's right, and we won't."
"You won't, Thomas, but I will."
"Minnie, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I'll be married to the man I love, but you'll need a special friend."
"No, I won't!"
"Thomas, let's be honest."
"I am being honest."
"Listen to me, darling. I don't want to be happy in marriage only to have a husband who's miserable. Don't misunderstand me. When I say a special friend, I mean a man, never a woman, and I mean one man, not a horde. And I don't want to know who he is."
"I thought you had faith in me, Minnie."
"I do have faith in you, Thomas. I believe that, if you promise to be faithful to me, then you'll keep that promise. You may be happy at first, but soon you'll resent me, and eventually you'll despise me. Is that what you want?"
Thomas fell silent.
"Tell me what you're thinking, Thomas."
Thomas gazed at Minnie's large brown eyes. "I'd have to allow you the same, Minnie. I'd have to say, We're married now, Minnie, so go find yourself a handsome playmate. I don't mind. I would mind! The thought of another man being intimate with my wife ... I wouldn't be able to bear it. I won't be a cuckold, Minnie! And what about the children? How would I know they were mine?"
"Thomas, this marriage won't be fair from the beginning. I'm getting everything I need, but you're not. You're the one who's allowed a special friend, not me."
"But, Minnie, won't you be jealous?"
"I demand to be the only woman in your life, and that's enough for me. I do expect you to be discreet."
Thomas was shocked. He had thought this was going to be easy. He didn't know why he was finding it difficult to agree to Minnie's terms. Wasn't she offering him the perfect situation? He laughed at himself. I'm such a child. I want the fairy tale, and husbands don't have special friends in fairy tales. Thomas hadn't realized that Minnie was such a realist. Perhaps a realist was the kind of wife he needed.
