Year 1 - Autumn - Dowrick, part 1
I’m going to jump around a bit with households this season, since I have some marriages to set up and, honestly, it’s how I prefer to play! We’re checking in with the Dowricks first. It’s Helen’s birthday today and Margery wants to get some last minute teasing in while she’s still taller!
With Helen about to age up, she needs to make sure Alexander Harwood, her steady boyfriend, has her parents approval to marry her.
I am choosing to make things difficult for myself and playing without telephones, so the girls bring their parents to a community lot. Luckily Alexander does eventually appear! Although he and Thomas don’t seem to be getting along too great…
Margery’s main love interest, Sir Roberte Mondegreen, also shows up. She’s not afraid to be agressive in romancing him! She’s ambitious about marrying rich, after all.
For a moment though, she wonders if marrying a fellow peasant, someone she already knows well and cares about, would be easier…
But, well, never mind that! She’s got her heart set on our Military Captain. He’s handsome, they have great chemistry, they’re both a little clumsy, both love the colour orange, both love politics and animals, and they’re even both vegetarians (a rarity in these times)!
So, she invites him home for dinner, to get to know her family better.
While at the lot, I also saw Elliot and Hannah fall in love! Interesting.
Dinner at the Dowrick house isn’t quite what I expected. Alexander eventually does manage to tear himself away fom Helen long enough to ask her father for her hand, which Thomas accepts.
Then, Margery and Roberte decide waiting for marriage and “permission” is for losers, and decide to skip a few steps in the courtship process. I wasn’t sure whether to allow it but, well, Roberte does have the “inapriopriate” trait, and they did both have wants for it. Maybe Margery is thinking crafty here - if she gets pregnant there’d be all the more pressure to do right by her… or maybe she’s just a girl in love?
Whether it was calculated or not, it seems to work. After a roll in the sheets, Sir Roberte wants to marry her!
Meanwhile, Helen grows up into an adult and gained the irrisistable trait, just like her older sister! TBH Helen’s traits are a little all over the place (Diva, star quality, coward, born salesperson, irrisistable). She and her mom are both shrinking violets who nevertheless seem to command a lot of attention and respect! I might make some tweaks though, as I’m getting more of a feel for the characters and am starting to think diva & irresistible don’t really suit how I see Helen.
Anyway, she moves out to live with Alexander. I deicded to set everything up so they could get married right away rather than waiting until the end of the season. Thomas doesn’t look too happy to see his little girl go...
Annie also grew up!! She’s not really been in the spotlight much since she spends almost all her time fishing, haha. She’s disciplined, excitable, a virtuoso and lucky.
As the third daughter she gets no dowry, but if a good match can’t be found for her I think life as a nun might actually suit her. So long at it isn’t a convent where vows of chastity are a thing - she’s (unexpectedly) a romance sim! She’s also bisexual, which could work well with the whole convent thing. We’ll see.
