With Maria, I mean maybe she could have grown to be happy even if she was never in love with Mr. Rushworth, depending on how he turned out and the circumstances. She was happy enough with everything else about being engaged to Mr. Rushworth, that I think depending on how much leeway she got and how well she could use soft power, she could have found a way to be happy. If she must have a romantic relationship with a man to be happy, that she might have become practical enough to take lovers and hide them well, or find a way to run away with one who would stay with her, and still be able to have a high social status.

It's melodramatic enough for a Shakespeare comedy! Or a soap opera.

Housekeeper - it would give her a way to manage things and be in everyone's business, and it's possible she would have done a lot less harm if she had something like that to channel her wishes and energies. It could have kept her away from trying to manage actual families.