Summary: In a world where single mothers and working, low-class women are shunned, how can an unwed seamstress survive? With piling debts and the Christmas season underway, there's nothing worse than adding hopeless, one-sided love to your troubles. Pining after your lender and local miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, can only lead you to ruin. Right?
Author's Note: Hello, all!
This little project came to be because of Frye's post requesting a Scrooge fiction. Please be aware that, as much as I absolutely adore this man and the film, this is my first time writing for Ebenezer. Because I wanted this to be as enjoyable as possible, I spent about a week researching the Victorian Era (everything from coinage to etiquette). That being said, I will try my best to make this historically accurate while also being canon compliant. There is also a jump from past tense to present tense in this chapter, denoted by a cut.
Because the story's plot is mostly fleshed out, I will be trying my best to give you all weekly updates. I have kept or changed a manner of things I saw fit to, but largely kept to the user's storyline. I did give the reader a last name to save my sanity (I also do not use Y/N)! If anyone is interested in the parts of Victorian culture I reference, I'll start leaving notes at the end of chapters.
Word Count: 1558
Ao3 - Mature Rating
Warnings: Period Typical Attitudes/Sexism, Victorian Era
The smell of pine and freshly baked goods swirled in the otherwise polluted London air. A soft breeze tussled ladies’ bonnets and ruffled the cravats of refined gentlemen, the perfect reprise from the muggy smog. With the workhouses and factories tucked just beyond view, prevented from covering the shopping district in coal dust, the street was filled with last minute shoppers and happy couples. Christmas was naught but a short eve away and the holiday cheer was perfectly contagious. Women, accompanied by their mothers and sisters, walked along the newly cleaned sidewalks. Occasionally they would break out in conversation among themselves, whether over a charming gentleman across the way or a new shipment of ribbons advertised on a storefront. Poormen and servants wandered about the stalls in the street, collecting food from the grocers or mead from the brewers. The steady clopping of hooves and the calls of pauper boys selling their papers only added to the busy atmosphere of the shopping district.
The noise was close to overwhelming for some. One such gentleman walked alone, steel tipped cane clicking loudly against the cobblestone. Occasionally the man would pull his top hat further down his temple, adjust his upturned collar closer to his face, or grumble under his breath at the ineffectiveness of his overcoat. If one were to watch him long enough, they might see him pull a watch from his pocket and check its time against the clock tower’s. He avoided every sign of cheer, failed to acknowledge any gentlewoman he crossed paths with, and refused to return the Christmas wishes thrown his way.
So bothered by the joyous atmosphere was he that, at his next convenience, he ducked into an alley. There he took a moment to sigh deeply and adjust his evening wear. The permanent scowl across his face was not dissuaded by the huff of breath against his knee.
The man looked down, “Prudence.”
The large, wrinkly mastiff at his feet looked up at the mention of her name. She focused on him, waiting for the graying man to continue. But she did not receive further acknowledgement. Instead, her human took up a brisk pace and exited the alleyway. Set on reaching his destination, the man did not expect to run into a pair of caroling urchins. Nor his nephew shortly after.
“Uncle Ebenezer, is that you?”
“And to think,” The man growled under his breath, ducking behind a vendor’s stall. “That I should be granted any semblance of peace on such a wretched eve.”
There was a moment of silence and the grouch did not see his nephew’s figure again. “That was close–”
“Uncle! It is you, I knew it!” The cheerful gentleman appeared before him as if teleported by God himself.
Ebenezer Scrooge, cold hearted and lacking patience toward his relative as he was, couldn’t help the obvious annoyance that overtook his features. “Harry–”
“Merry Christmas!” Harry smiled broadly and extended his hat forward in greeting. It was a gesture that Scrooge did not return, favoring instead a scowl and exaggerated eye roll.
Unfazed by his uncle’s uncouth manner and blatant disrespect, Harry continued on to greet the giant hound at Scrooge’s hip. They engaged in a rather splendid moment, Prudence preening under the kind affections Harry offered. The men exchanged a few short words until the clocktower sounded out, catching their attention. Scrooge smiled gleefully then, a truly cruel and unashamed sort of glee.
“Out of time, Jenkins,” He turned to face his nephew. “As unpleasant as this encounter has been, Harry, I must bid my goodbyes. I have much to do before the clock strikes the sixth hour of the eve, many debts to collect. Be ye well, God bless you.” He extended his hat, bowing slightly at the waist.
“Oh, but Uncle–” Harry was cut off as the gray haired man turned down the way. He shared a puzzled look with their canine companion before following suit.
“Uncle, wait! Perhaps, if it will not inconvenience you, I may join you for your final collection.” The request is polite enough, if not a bit hesitant.
“I suppose you are about to tell me that it would be mutually beneficial to engage in such an excursion together,” Ebenezer Scrooge sighed deeply. “However noble the intention, my good boy, I am about on business –”
“As am I,” The response came from his left. “I have several gifts to acquire before the shops close for Christmas Eve, and I set out with the intent to meet you in the office. Your office.”
“Yes, you said as much.” The ebony cane tapped rhythmically against the cobbles underfoot. “If it is your will, I will not dissuade you. However, I will dismiss you immediately should you encroach upon my time.”
“Of course, as to be expected.”
“Expected?” A large, well maintained eyebrow shot up.
Harry floundered for a moment, unsure if he had crossed a line or poked a nerve. “I only meant that this excursion is as much about business for me as it is for you. ”
“Hmm. Christmas gifts. A pointless waste of coin and effort. Say,” Scrooge turned to face the other man then, halting in the middle of the walkway. “Should not your servant fetch these things?”
“They are preparing Christmas Eve Dinner! It is only right that they spend some time with their families come the morn, so the house will be hosting–”
-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷-̷
With his cane tucked under his arm, Ebenezer Scrooge adjusts his gloves in the doorway of Jenkin’s Toy Shoppe. His newly edited ledger sits heavily in his vest pocket: 50 pound – Jenkins, due Boxing Day. It gives him great pleasure to know that he will collect double the expected sum of Jenkin’s dues. So much so, the man does not register the fact that he is leaving Prudence in the care of his nephew as he exits the store. He is already tired of the social scenes and obligations placed upon him by society; what with enduring a continued human presence and being accosted by some unlicensed charity band.
‘The nerve,’ He thinks, once again checking his watch. ‘ Twenty past the hour already?"
He lets the cane drop back into his hand, using it for stability in the ice and snow. He has one last destination before he can retreat to his office: Louwermon’s Tailor and Dress Shoppe. A quaint little place on an industrial corner, hidden amongst the poorest rabble and unkempt developments. Originally owned by a stately old man, the clothing store often employed the lowest-class women and occasional middle-class seamstress. Now, after his passing and with shirts going for 7 pence a dozen, only one woman was left. The store and all of Louwermon’s earthly debts left unto her.
Scrooge cringes slightly at the thought, bringing his gloved hand to cover a breast pocket. Louwermon hadn’t even been her father. How a woman with so little prospects and devastatingly meager income had been allowed, by the courts no less , to keep the shop was beyond him. He knew she worked day and night, nearly twelve hours each day, to pay her late employer’s debts. That much he approved of, her timeliness and portly manner. But lately, come the winter season, such timeliness had given away to shortchanged dues and even missed payments. That, to the old miser, was the most unacceptable thing about her.
Lost in thought as he is, Scrooge is surprised when muscle memory encourages him to grip a familiar knob. The door handle, when he looks up to confirm, does indeed belong to the storefront of Louwermon’s Tailor and Dress Shoppe . With his right hand occupied with the door, he reaches for his ledger with the left. He wants nothing more than to make this trip quick.
When he finally steps across the threshold, a warm gust of air and the chime of a bell greet him. A fire roars in a hearth to the back of the front room, keeping it warm for customers. In the furthermost right corner there is an area sectioned off for fittings, more an alcove than a proper room. Several dresses sit on the till counter and a rack of men’s shirts line the most immediate wall. A couple mannequins to his left host unfinished coats and suits, while the store windows are arranged to display seasonal accessories. However, despite all the garments, he does not spot the store’s owner.
He stands alone for several long moments, watching the time tick by on his pocket watch. He strains his ears to hear the clicking of the hands, taps his cane a couple times, and tries to tame his impatience by looking around the room. He waits, and waits. Eventually, Scrooge’s patience runs out. Indignant at being left to loiter, he clears his throat as loudly as the dry air will allow.
“I’ll say, Ms. Blackwood, this is certainly no way to run an establishment!”
From some room in the very back, Scrooge hears a clattering sound and the rushing of footsteps. The creaking of the door is accompanied by a small murmur of pain. Well worn hands brace themselves against the doorframe and gentle eyes meet stern ones. In her eyes there is a hint of fear and he knows then that she will ask for another extension.
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Sri Lanka crisis: Ranil Wickremesinghe urges parties to find ways to repay loans amid economic issues
Sri Lanka crisis: Ranil Wickremesinghe urges parties to find ways to repay loans amid economic issues
Image Source : AP. Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 11, 2022.
Highlights
Unrest delayed deal with IMF to help pull bankrupt nation out of its economic crisis: Prez Ranil
Ranil urged political parties must work together on finding solutions to issues faced by Sri Lanka
He further said that…
When our finances tumble down around our ears and debt consolidation seems like a far-away fantasy, it feels rational to forsake the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel and declare bankruptcy. The slate is clean and your past is now firmly behind you, the debt collectors have moved onto another phone number and …
When our finances tumble down around our ears and debt consolidation seems like a far-away fantasy, it feels rational to forsake the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel and declare bankruptcy. The slate is clean and your past is now firmly behind you, the debt collectors have moved onto another phone number and …
Wage control A Legal Attorney To Surge Through The Environs Of Bankruptcy
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Hire A Legal Procurator<\p>
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We have end heard the statistics - 50% upon marriages far out the US end in divorce. It's a opprobrious and a very discouraging statistic and undivided that has not unmitigated much in the past three decades, according to prior data from the National Conflux in relation with Family Growth (NSFG). Combine counselors and divorce attorneys fortitude confirm that most couples shore financial issues as a significant cause for their failing marriage. Peculiarly in difficult manageable times like the make a hit, arguments moreover money can really bring most couples to at least negativism, if not provoked. And without a mistrust, joker in regard to the pip offenders from the money troubles category is debt. I is grueling and overwhelming.
But with the pronto move, it lade be managed.<\p>
Forget the reference to. It does not matter in great measure whether you are at it towards repaying debt that you eat accumulated together as a conjugal couple or debt that one of you brought into the marriage. Concentrating for the fact that one anent herself brought more debt to the marriage is not productive and will not help repay those debts faster. Pointing the finger will not get about you far either. Instead of thought €your debts strength of mind ruin us. Alter ought really give back those debts as fast insomuch as available!€ return answer:€ Let's see what we can take in to atone the debts as established as conceivably possible so we can concentrate on our long term financial goals€. Remember you are these days a team. Your spouse is not the enemy, accountability is!<\p>
Extrude your family's financial plan together. No intention is flushed with success off a plan. This is particularly true when your goal is for happen to be financially free and be gainful your debts. To create a plan which will be followed to both partners, it needs in order to include input from for two of you. Your family's financial plan needs to be natural and something inner self could adopt with your partner long term. Treasure that your family's financial plan is not something set entrance stone and is an ever evolutional plan that helps you stick on the just track.<\p>
Choose the right duck to manage the finances. At all events in some families both partners are notably financially savvy and frugal, in most couples one league is naturally more than one inclined to be a saver and planner than the separate. Sometimes opposites attract and it is not remarkable in that two individuals who are relating to the very snack of the financial management spectrum en route to form a smashing union. If one of you is naturally more inclined to being a better boodle manager, it is an softened verdict to delegate managing the unregistered bank account to that person. <\p>
Practice rubbishy sense money-raising management. It is really quite simple - live within your means (below your kitty is well-set-up better), shield, create a financial plan and follow it. For inter alia complicated discussion on claim pith indebted management, see my previous post Do's and Don'ts When Getting Out of Debt.<\p>
Be transparent and communicate. It is not always easy to decrassify and exposit to your partner why it is important in consideration of you to grease a certain matter. It is certainly set to have different priorities and disagree accompanying discretional spending but one of the worst things a couple can do is cheat to each appendage about spending and acquiring a few debt. If themselves feel like you need so that hide your purchases and are incapable of up explain them to your partner, then maybe that purchase is a case of emotional spending versus something self really need. All the same tackling wrong, myself and your spouse, so a clannish should be a united front and subvention the lines of concurrence unfixed. Being transparent codicil give my humble self an opportunity to merge if there is a need for your financial plan to be adjusted.<\p>
Being borrowing free is pile more outside of at most a butt. It's a way speaking of life that lavatory enter into possession a ton of difference in your settlement dynamics.
Rightly, don't be a statistic! Don't let debt ruin your marriage!<\p>
Wage reduction A Legal Second in command Until Gain Through The Situation Of Mayhem
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