Ghost Bride

‘We do not really have a choice,’ Claire's father lamented, ‘we will lose face, our good name and every plan we have made for our future. We NEED the money.’

‘Surely it isn’t that dire, darling? Oh, I know it is bad. But surely not THAT bad.’ Her mother's voice was muffled by the door, but with her ear pressed against the wood, she could still hear what her parents were saying.

‘I'm afraid it is. My brother, God rest his soul, bled the family fortune dry. The estate I should have inherited, farms and rents, is all long gone. All that is left is this house and the gardens surrounding it. We do not have enough finances to secure the future we hope for our sons.’

Her father must have turned away from the door at that point, because what he said next could not be heard. She moved closer to the crack between the two sides of the door pressed her ear more firmly, hoping to eavesdrop on the rest of the discussion.

Mother sounded concerned now where she had been calm and dismissive of Father's assessment of the family’s finances before. Which in turn caused Claire to worry more than she had been. They were discussing something to do with her. She had heard Father say something about an arranged marriage.

Perhaps he had finally talked Mother around to marrying her off to old Lord Barney who had been paying her attention, the same way Father’s blood hounds paid a downed goose. It made her skin crawl to think of having to marry that man. Especially after his last two wives had met their ends in the birthing chamber. The maids had whispered that he chose brides too small in the hips to safely birth his over large offspring. She was too young to really understand what that really meant and Mother had chided her for listening to the crass gossip of the servants when she asked her, but she knew it was not good.

Claire would NOT marry that man, even if she had to throw herself out a window on the top floor of the house! And she would tell her parents so!

‘You are certain? They put the bride price into writing?’ Mother spoke like this piece of information would decide Claire’s fate.

‘Yes. The bride price, the terms of the agreement, everything. The price is everything we need and all it will cost her is twelve months. Afterward we can entertain… other suitors. All I need do is add my signature to the betrothal contract-‘ Father was interrupted when the catch on the door gave way and Claire tumbled across the threshold into Father’s study.

‘Child! What is the meaning of this!’ Her father drew himself to his full height, an intimidating head and shoulders taller than her, even when she wasn’t sprawled on the floor.

‘Claire! For Heaven’s sake! This is behaviour I would expect from your younger brothers!’ Her mother stood up, her disappointment at her daughter’s actions clearly etched on her face for a moment before she smoothed her expression out again. It was un-lady-like to frown.

‘Ah! I swear, boy children are a gift from Heaven. A girl child is a plague sent to try their father!’ Her father’s temper looked close to boiling point.

Mrs. Arden gently placed her hand on her husband’s arm and gave him her most winning smile. Claire was always mystified by Mother’s ability to calm Father.

‘Darling, perhaps it is time we discuss this with her?’ Mother tilted her head and held Father’s gaze for a long moment. Clare knew her mother had won him over when his posture relaxed.

‘I WILL NOT MARRY LORD BARNEY!’ She stomped her foot in a childish tantrum.

‘Claire! Have a care on how you address your parents!’

Mother’s tone made Claire cower. Sometimes Mrs Arden‘s quiet temper was even more intimidating than her husband’s harsh anger.

‘Close the door and sit down. We have much to discuss.’

Claire complied with her mother’s wishes.

Father sat at the top of the table with Mother seated on the chair to his left. Lord and Lady Napier were a mirror image on the other side with the lawyer at the head in between.

Claire, whose presence at this meeting was necessary, but felt superfluous, stood behind and to the left of her mother. Where her groom should have stood was an empty space. However, his portrait hung above the ornate sideboard draped in black fabric. His piercing blue eyes seemed to stare at her, following her every movement. She would have very much liked to have met him in life. The fact that he was deceased gave her the chills. Breaking her gaze away from the life-sized oil painting to focus on the meeting, she met the eyes of Lady Napier. She could see where her son got the beautiful colour of his eyes from. The Lady smiled slightly. Since their first meeting, Claire had felt comfortable in her presence. She calm and charming. And sad. She obviously missed her son terribly. He had been the eldest of her three sons. A handsome young man she remembered seeing from a distance as both their families enjoyed the summer sunshine beside the lake years before. He had made his entry into society as an eligible bachelor a year ago, with many families hoping to match their debutant daughters with him. Her own mother had lamented that Claire’s age precluded her from being eligible for debut for another year at least.

The hopes of the young ladies and their families had been dashed when he began courting Miss Louise Yardley. There had been a few unrelenting families who would take nothing less than marriage vows as a deterrent, until the day Bryant’s famously willful horse bolted and threw him.

Being deceased did not prevent one’s family from seeking a match, however.

Ghost weddings were quite common between a deceased bride and groom. Although, matches could be made even if one of the pair were still in the land of the living. Men could take a ghost bride, make an offering of a bride price paid in decorative paper to her family and after an agreed period of ‘mourning’, the groom was free to remarry. Being a Widower did not make him less desirable. His first marriage meant he was owed a favor by his ghost wife’s family and grooms were known to collect.

To marry a daughter to a ghost groom? Entirely different. The bride price had to be paid in real money, owing to the stigma a living bride would encounter after the morning period was served. There was little for a family to gain. The marriages were still legal. And Widows, even when still a virgin, were less likely to find suitors after the mourning period was done than her male counterpart. It tended to be poorer families who agreed to marry off living daughters.

Mother was sure that this would not be the issue for Claire. ‘Taking a name like Napier, I am sure doors will open for you. Lord Barney will need to wait until the end of your mourning period before he can petition your father for betrothal. You can use that time, and Lady Napier’s connections, to find a suitor more to your liking.’

The promise of putting off Lord Barney ended any arguments from Claire.

‘If all parties are agreed?’ Mr. Vernall, the lawyer for the Napier family, looked to Lord Napier first. The Lord nodded and the lawyer looked to Claire’s father next. He nodded decisively. ‘Very good. Your signatures please.’ Mr. Vernall passed the pen to her father first. His signature swept the bottom of the page before he passed the pen to Napier, who’s signature somehow made Mr. Arden’s look unrefined.

‘Is that it? Is it done?’ Claire watched as the contract that sealed her fate was folded and stowed safely in the lawyer’s satchel.

‘Hush, Claire, this is not the time nor the place.’ Her mother barely turned her head as she chided her.

‘It is alright, Mrs. Arden. She is a girl possessed of a curious and excitable nature.’ The words sounded innocent and polite enough, but Claire had been around society long enough to know there were barbs and reproach in her comment. After all, a good mother should have taught her daughter better restraint. For once, it was nice not to be the one the comments were aimed at. ‘There will be a ceremony tonight and a dinner.’ Lady Napier address Claire directly. ‘I’m afraid it will not be as lavish as you may have hoped for your wedding, however, it will be suitable for our family’s status. Your new family.’

‘Thank you, Lady Napier, my family and I are honored, of course.’ Father inclined his head to the Lord and Lady. ‘Mrs. Arden and I must take our leave to make preparations for this evening’s ceremony.’

And with that, Claire found herself traded away, to be bride to a ghost.

Mother had been right about one thing, wielding the Napier name opened doors. Claire attended balls and parties she would never have received invitations to otherwise. Her mother-in-Law had explained to her the expectations that her father had agreed to. Claire would be required to observe a period of seclusion, as was only proper when a Lady’s husband passed away. The agreed timeframe had been three months. Lady Napier had not allowed her to waste the time, however. She had used the period when the young bride would be expected to be absent from company to improve Claire’s education, to transform her from the petulant child of a social climbing couple into a Lady worthy of a Lord’s son and the Napier name. Once the isolation period was finished, Lady Napier made introductions for her new daughter to all the right people.

It was at one of the many sparkling society parties that Lady Napier introduced Claire to Johnathan Hazel. The son of a wealthy businessman who was set to replace his father in the business when the older man retired. He showed great promise in business. The two became firm friends quickly, with Claire always reserving a dance for him at the balls and parties. It would not have been proper for him to court her before the end of her year long mourning period, but that did not stop them from being friends. And after tomorrow, the twelve months would be finished, Claire would be free to give Johnathan the attentions she yearned to. She would be free to marry again. A real marriage, to a living man! And she would finally have her wedding night! Sarah Gracie had married at the end of the last social season and after her honeymoon she gave some of her closest friends a few salacious details Claire’s mother would have been horrified at her daughter hearing. Despite being married herself, Claire had more in common with the unmarried girls in the circle of friends than the happily married and expectant Sarah. She longed to feel that glow Sarah described.

Only one day away from freedom, from the promise of her own marital enjoyment! She smiled to herself as she treaded a familiar path, carrying a lantern, white candle and a wreath of fresh flowers in a weekly ritual that had been her obligation as windowed bride for the past year.

The Napier family crypt was located at the bottom of the immaculately kept grounds that spread out the Lord’s manor standing majestically in the middle. Dark was settling slowly over the grounds when Claire reached the ornate marble structure that housed the entry to the crypt, followed a few steps behind by Lady Napier and Mrs. Arden. The older women rarely spent time in each other’s company. Claire had formulated the theory that it was in part due to her mother’s feeling inferior to the Lady. In turn, she suspected the Lady found Mrs. Arden somewhat lacking in her social graces, having had a lesser women’s education than that the Lady would have received. Lady Napier had accompanied Claire on her weekly pilgrimage to attend to her husband’s tomb every week, but this was the first time her mother had accompanied her since the first week Claire had spent in her In-Law’s home.

The two older women had exchanged mundane gossip on the walk through the grounds and continued on reaching the crypt.

‘I hear tell that your eldest son is very likely to be the first wedding of the new season.’ Lady Napier seemed to hear everything.

‘Oh, yes! Mathew is delighted. Mr. Arden and the girl’s father have been informally negotiating in the colder months. After the discussions amounted to little at the close of the last season, both fathers were keen to come to an understanding as early as possible at the first of the new one. The young people are looking to set a date as soon as is proper.’

‘I could imagine. Please, watch your footing on the steps, Mrs. Arden. The marble is worn and can be slippery.’

Claire made her way into the cool damp interior of the crypt, the lantern she carried illuminating the stairs under her feet.

The crypt gave her a horrible feeling. If it were not for this duty being stipulated in the marriage contract, Claire would have avoided it. She had heard of other ghost brides, as rare as they were, being permitted to have a shrine in their place of residence rather than having to visit their dead husband’s burial site. Even some Widows who had known their husbands kept shrines in their homes and visited grave sites infrequently. But the kindness her mother-in-law had shown kept her from making any complaints. She had been gifted beautiful clothes her father could never have afforded, jewels of an aesthetic and quality reserved only for those with titles. Her rooms were spacious and with the most relaxing views, which would be hers until she remarried. Being a Napier certainly had perks.

These things were what she thought about as the dank smell of the underground crypt filled her nose. A chill ran down her spine. This place may have been for the remembrance of deceased loved ones, but it felt evil.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and set to work. The sooner she was finished her duties, the sooner she could leave.

Behind her, the women continued their gossiping. Lord and Lady Napier had two living sons, the second eldest, now the heir apparent since his elder brother’s death, would be of age to seek a bride this social season.

‘Lord Cathaway’s second daughter will be making her debut this season… surely her father will be expecting a number of suitors to make offers for her hand. And with two more sisters to find suitors for in the following years, he will not want to delay. More than one wedding in a season… even a Lord will want to avoid that.’ Mrs. Arden seemed to be suggesting something.

‘I suppose he possibly will want to resolve the issue of her hand in the first season.’ Lady Napier’s tone gave nothing away. ‘An unmarried eligible daughter tends to create some issues.’

Claire knew her mother would be angling to call on a favor from Lady Napier. Her son was rumored to be Lord Cathaway’s preference for a suitor for his daughter. And if her son was to marry Cathaway’s daughter, the Napiers may be able to put Claire’s second brother in the right position to be courting one of the younger sisters in the following years. Always the social climber.

She finished replacing the wilted flowers and lighting the new candle in front of Bryant’s tomb quickly, not wanting to linger with the dead.

Approaching her mother and the Lady at the bottom of the steep staircase, she waited patiently and politely for the two to pause in their conversation.

Lady Napier smiled at her and placed her own lantern down to take the young woman’s hand in both of her own. ‘Today is the last time you will perform this duty for my son, Claire. Thank you for the diligence and tenderness with which you have performed this task. You do me such a great honor. You have been a model daughter-in-law.’

Clair blushed in the gloom and smiled. ‘You have been so kind to me Lady Napier, I cannot thank you enough for the opportunities you have given me.’

‘I think you have and will.’ Her words sounded strange in the context of the conversation, but her smile was genuine.

The chill ran down her spine again as a foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach. It is just the crypt, she thought, I will never have to come back here.

The two mothers made their way up the stairs to the fresh air with Claire following close behind. Night had settled in by the time the little party arrived at the threshold and a new moon made the path ahead darker than normal.

‘Oh, dear! I’ve left my lantern at the bottom of the stairs. In this low light, I will twist an ankle on the path.’ The Lady turned to Claire. ‘My dear, would you quickly retrieve my lantern?’

Claire frowned briefly. The last thing she wanted was to return to the dank crypt.

Her mother caught the expression. ‘You are as sure footed as a giselle, you will be able to retrieve the lantern with more speed than either Lady Napier or I.’ Claire smoothed out her expression and nodded, setting her jaw and turning back to the stairs.

Behind her, her mother cleared her throat as Claire took the first step. A rush of air brushed her arm from behind as the gravel of the path crunched under someone’s step behind her. A hand brushed her arm and snatched the lantern from her hand as simultaneously something slammed into her back, knocking the breath from her lungs as she tumbled face first down the slippery stone stairs.

The world tipped and whirled around her as a sickening snap sounded from somewhere in her body. At the bottom of the steps, she careened bodily into the huge urn flanking the landing. She landed flat on her back, staring up at the top of the stairs where the light of two lanterns illuminated the passive faces of Mrs. Arden and Lady Napier.

A grinding sound filled the air as the heavy urn rocked and tipped. There was no feeling as the heavy stone crushed her ribs.

Through a strange whistling sound and the darkness encroaching on her vision, Claire could see her companions arrive at the bottom of the steps. Both watched her as if observing something curious.

‘She isn’t dead.’ Her mother sounded disappointed.

‘Her lung is punctured. My husband’s favorite hound was stomped on by a horse and broke ribs. He made the same sound. It won’t be long now.’ Lady Napier’s assessment was mater-of-fact.

‘Thank goodness for that urn. I suspect she may have snapped her neck in the fall, I am not sure it would have killed her though. I would hate for it to require you to… make further hands-on action to… take care of… the situation.’

‘Yes, thank goodness.’ Lady Napier turned her head a little and watched as the life ebbed from Claire’s eyes. ‘Now my son will have a bride to share eternity with.’ She took a purse tucked away in a fold of her dress and handed it to Mrs. Arden. ‘And with this… gift… and Claire’s bride price, you now have more than enough to pay the bride prices needed for your eldest son’s bride and Lord Cathaway’s daughter next season.’

This story is entirely fiction. Any similarity to real people is coincidental.

Ghost marriages are not uncommon in some cultures and is a tradition that dates back centuries. Marrying a deceased child to either another families lost loved one has been done for a number of reasons, the primary reason is to provide company in the afterlife for those who did not get the opportunity to marry while living and is a innocent tradition.

Unfortunately, in recent times, this innocent tradition has taken on a darker side.

Included below are some articles about the traditions which mainly center on the current state of the tradition in China, though ghost marriages have been tradition in many other countries including medieval France.