#like marian did not love dashiell and she almost married him

[mariusperkins]

Like obviously I will be absolutely deranged for the length of whatever fight George and Bertha have in season 3 but honestly I think I will also be really upset if Bertha and Marian fight too, when the first two seasons show them as more aligned than not.

I mean even leaving aside the two Marian Brook Conveniently To The Rescue (Due To Being In The Right Place At The Right Time)*, every time Bertha is brought up to Marian (especially in S1!) she is immediately like We Should Ask Mrs Russell We Should Involve Mrs Russell not just because she thinks blocking out the new money people just because they're new isn't right, but because she has this streak of practicality. She's obviously sheltered, but not at all as sheltered as Larry and Gladys (especially Gladys!) are shown to be. She's seen the extremely unglamorous, unromantic side of money and marriage and I think it does make her look at Bertha's actions in a different light to most of the other characters.

And Bertha gave her that fan, after she said she wanted one. And Bertha does keep inviting her to the opera even though I'm sure there are families higher on the New York society lists. And I mean if you're the kind of person to sear every slight into your mind like a Bertha is, you might be the kind of person to remember moments of kindness as well, like when someone visits you when they absolutely did not have to, like when they risked their own tenuous position to accept your invitation.

*the glove shopping trip that saves George from going to jail, obviously, but she's also the reason Bertha finds out about McAllister's turn back to Mrs Astor's side