Lachlan strikes it lucky, he thinks
If Lachlan didn't have much luck in the war department at this time, he had somewhat more in the love department. Or so he appears to have reckoned. Recovering from his illnesses, he danced his way into the heart of a young woman called Jane Jarvis.
Jane was the daughter of a leading judge in the Caribbean (Jamaica), who was also an extremely wealthy plantation and consequently slave owner. Fortunately for Lachlan, when he met Jane old daddy had carked it. Very fortunately for Lachlan, despite her wealth, she was insufficiently "bred" to get a husband in London, so was trying her luck in Bombay, disguised as a companion for her sister, who had married a bloke posted to Bombay - a civilian, not a soldier.
To help her realise the right way to turn her eyes and think "Ba-ba-Boooom", Lachlan noted in his diary that in future he would get dressed by half-past two in the afternoon, drink no more than twelve glasses of plonk and only one strong beer a night, and only drink whisky during daylight hours.
This was an officer in an army defending the British Empire's frontiers. Or, really, expanding them into other peoples' areas of rule. Indians, you have a powerful right to feel robbed by bad luck. Or were your blokes worse? Perhaps as bad as your public service? Mind you, the British public service is pretty grim, as well. Worse, in fact.
Right, perhaps after implementing his instructions to himself, if he ever did, Lachlan must have been positively teetotal by Jamaican standards, because Jane seems to have been impressed enough to agree to marry the boozing, pretty much broke, but, according to one later portrait, wonderfully handsome Scot.
But if Lachlan thought he was on to a winner, he was mistaken. Before he could marry her, Jane's brother-in-law, with an unfortunate degree of English distrust of Scots, cannily and with great perspicacity insisted Macquarie sign away his rights to her wealth. It's easy to see Lachlan as just marrying Jane for her inherited wealth, but to be fair to him, he would probably not have signed the agreement if all he wanted was her cash. Or maybe he reckoned he was smart enough to get away with it anyway.
Well, the truth didn't take long to surface. Soon after marriage Lachlan discovered he was expected to keep his new wife in the manner to which she was accustomed. His outlays ran at 800 rupees for every 500 he earned, and none of this was made up by Jane's supposed fortune, which was kept under lock and key, well away, it was thought, from Scottish fingers.
Looking for a way out of his sudden and unexpected financial woes, Macquarie seems to have decided that the document he signed before the marriage was just a formality, and he attempted to draw on Jane's cash. But his now brother-in-law by marriage and clever guardian of Jane's wealth, caught him in what Macquarie described as a "misunderstanding".
Jane was the daughter of a leading judge in the Caribbean (Jamaica), who was also an extremely wealthy plantation and consequently slave owner. Fortunately for Lachlan, when he met Jane old daddy had carked it. Very fortunately for Lachlan, despite her wealth, she was insufficiently "bred" to get a husband in London, so was trying her luck in Bombay, disguised as a companion for her sister, who had married a bloke posted to Bombay - a civilian, not a soldier.
To help her realise the right way to turn her eyes and think "Ba-ba-Boooom", Lachlan noted in his diary that in future he would get dressed by half-past two in the afternoon, drink no more than twelve glasses of plonk and only one strong beer a night, and only drink whisky during daylight hours.
This was an officer in an army defending the British Empire's frontiers. Or, really, expanding them into other peoples' areas of rule. Indians, you have a powerful right to feel robbed by bad luck. Or were your blokes worse? Perhaps as bad as your public service? Mind you, the British public service is pretty grim, as well. Worse, in fact.
Right, perhaps after implementing his instructions to himself, if he ever did, Lachlan must have been positively teetotal by Jamaican standards, because Jane seems to have been impressed enough to agree to marry the boozing, pretty much broke, but, according to one later portrait, wonderfully handsome Scot.
But if Lachlan thought he was on to a winner, he was mistaken. Before he could marry her, Jane's brother-in-law, with an unfortunate degree of English distrust of Scots, cannily and with great perspicacity insisted Macquarie sign away his rights to her wealth. It's easy to see Lachlan as just marrying Jane for her inherited wealth, but to be fair to him, he would probably not have signed the agreement if all he wanted was her cash. Or maybe he reckoned he was smart enough to get away with it anyway.
Well, the truth didn't take long to surface. Soon after marriage Lachlan discovered he was expected to keep his new wife in the manner to which she was accustomed. His outlays ran at 800 rupees for every 500 he earned, and none of this was made up by Jane's supposed fortune, which was kept under lock and key, well away, it was thought, from Scottish fingers.
Looking for a way out of his sudden and unexpected financial woes, Macquarie seems to have decided that the document he signed before the marriage was just a formality, and he attempted to draw on Jane's cash. But his now brother-in-law by marriage and clever guardian of Jane's wealth, caught him in what Macquarie described as a "misunderstanding".