Page 24 of Beyond Pride, Past Prejudice

“What happened?” Mrs Gardiner asked impatiently.

Elizabeth cast a grateful glance at her aunt and sister.

She needed them, even though she had rarely heeded their advice before.

But this time, she was in a turmoil she barely understood and had even less idea how to navigate.

Her heart was torn between her affection for a man and her unwavering commitment to her beloved family.

She tried to recall the conversation she had just concluded.

But it had been so intense that she feared many details eluded her.

She recounted it in a halting manner, with many pauses.

Yet, her aunt and sister remained patient and understanding, comforting Elizabeth as she struggled to bring order to her mind and heart.

“We feel the same way Lady Oakham does about your story—it is a loss, Lizzy. You love each other, and believe me, nothing else matters,” Jane said with rare intensity, as if speaking from her own experience.

“How can you say that? You of all people!” Elizabeth protested, torn between her affection for a man and her unwavering commitment to her beloved family.

“Cease tormenting yourself, Lizzy,” Jane ordered while Mrs Gardiner nodded in approval. “Face the facts. Upon marriage, your obligations shift to your new family. Our parents and brothers and sisters remain in our hearts, but your husband and children take first place in your life.”

“She is right,” Mrs Gardiner said. “I am fortunate that Mr Gardiner and my father share an amicable relationship, but if a conflict were to arise—”

“What if Mr Gardiner is mistaken and you know it?”

“Then, I would gently seek to show my husband the error. All you did was criticise Mr Darcy’s behaviour, not try to change it.”

“I see your point, but when I uttered those words to Mr Darcy, I was unaware of my feelings.”

“That is not an excuse, my dear.” Mrs Gardiner smiled.

“He too was at fault—”

“Nor is that an excuse,” Mrs Gardiner continued, her tone affectionate. “His family is not perfect—there is no such thing as a perfect family or individual. You should have described your family to him as it truly is, with all its foibles.”

“But Jane…she is blameless in this matter.”

“Untrue, little sister!” Jane cried out at her words. “You told us that I seemed like a ruthless woman, intent on securing a marriage. An indifferent and cold woman—”

“You appeared that way, but you are not,” Elizabeth answered with the force of her conviction and her immense love for her sister.

“And what is the difference to someone observing me? I am far from blameless if I looked like an indifferent and cold woman when I was truly full of love.”

“It is also true that your mother spread rumours about Jane’s engagement,” Mrs Gardiner added. “That is not something I approve of either. Furthermore, I doubt Mr Darcy was the only culprit. Mr Bingley’s sisters…I am certain they did not welcome the idea of Jane marrying their brother.”

“I cannot absolve him…I simply cannot, for we are not his inferiors, and even if we were, he has no right to disdain us. The most deplorable character trait is the inability to respect others, regardless of rank, wealth, or intellect.”

“I concur.” Mrs Gardiner gently prodded her, “Pray, do tell me of another fault you find in him.”

“He is excessively proud and prejudiced.”

“Yes, we just discussed that. Can you name any more?”

“His haughtiness…”

“Which, my dear, is but another facet of his pride, much akin to conceit.”

“But how would I know about other shortcomings? I am not sufficiently acquainted with him—he might have many more.”

“Exactly my point. Our judgments are confined to what we presently know about him. We also know that he is unfailingly honest, a trait I do not entirely admire in the context he used in Kent. Still, it has an important merit in marriage. That gentleman will never dissemble with you.”

“He would rather wound me with his words than utter a falsehood,” Elizabeth responded, her cheeks flushed with innocence as they spoke about him as her future husband.

“Yet it is a far lesser fault than dishonesty, deceit, or duplicity. When he gazes into your eyes, you will see unwavering candour. He has cared for his sister as only a parent would. At an age when most of his peers revel in youthful pleasures, he manages one of Derbyshire’s largest estates.

Lastly, even though you harboured huge resentment in Kent because of Jane, you cannot deny that he was a loyal friend to Mr Bingley.

He considered Jane a fortune hunter and acted according to his conscience.

His actions were not against your family but in defence of his friend.

And, above all else, the greatest virtue I find in Mr Darcy is that he loves you, and I assure you that you are not easy to love! ”

“Why do you regard that as a virtue?”

Mrs Gardiner and Jane looked at her with something akin to pity, and at last, Elizabeth smiled. “Do you pity me?”

“Yes,” both ladies said simultaneously, laughing.

“Why?” Elizabeth asked.

“Because you are exceedingly intelligent yet seemingly incapable of understanding this man’s true character and the profoundness of his feelings,” her aunt answered.

“He loves you, and I assure you that falling in love with you is not easy. I do not foresee many men willing to make you their bride.”

“Mr Collins attempted it!” Elizabeth replied in jest, though she looked to her aunt for an explanation.

“Indeed, but he was ignorant of your true self. He was pompous and narrow-minded, assuming he could secure any woman’s hand without concern for future marital happiness. He sought a housekeeper, believing any woman would do.”

“What can I say? Regarding Mr Collins, you have seen it right,” Elizabeth accepted.

“While Mr Darcy wanted you—the woman he has come to know and appreciate. He did not fear your intelligence or independence but deemed those traits essential to his happiness—”

She halted abruptly as Elizabeth’s tears began to flow unexpectedly. However, her niece was not looking for sympathy; she yearned for the unvarnished truth.

“You must change and strive to prompt a change in him, and then…marry the man. Regardless of your convictions, regardless of what ideas your dear father has sown in your mind, distinctions exist within our society. A marriage proposal from the master of Pemberley is a significant honour, believe me! I spent my early years but a few miles from that place, and I speak from experience. Your father may be a gentleman, but Mr Darcy and his family belong to a different sphere. Even the fact that he is acquainted with Mr Bingley is in his favour, as the Bingleys are the offspring of men of trade, nothing more.”

“Oh! You are quite capable of twisting everything to suit your own argument,” Elizabeth said with a trace of humour that hinted she was moving towards understanding and some wisdom.

“Perhaps I am. But look attentively at your situation. Are you free of prejudices? You judged Mr Darcy too quickly and with too little information. Overcome your prejudices and make him correct his pride.”

“Beyond pride, past prejudice,” Jane said with a smile at her sister, attempting to conclude the conversation on a meaningful note.

Mrs Gardiner nodded and passed her younger niece a handkerchief. “Now, my dear, we must prepare you to look like a queen and request that your uncle escort us to Covent Garden,” she said, proving that she already knew the plan and that it didnot please Elizabeth.

“I cannot do that!” she exclaimed. “It is like a plot that Mother might conceive!”

“Absolutely not. This man has strong feelings for you, and he has proposed. You love him, and you rejected his offer in a grievous error. You have since reconsidered your sentiments, and now is the time to convey them.”

“Even if his family want him to marry another lady?”

“My dear, Mr Darcy is not a man who follows advice or orders. There is no other lady in his heart. If he is thinking at all of marriage, it is solely to forget the woman who refused him.”

“That is what Lady Oakham also said.”

“And we are right. What we see is a fight between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. No one else is on the battlefield. Make peace and win him back!”

∞∞∞

“What about Jane?” asked Elizabeth later when her sister had left the room.

“What about Jane?” Mrs Gardiner echoed, though she understood precisely what Elizabeth meant.

“Mr Darcy has asked for your hand in marriage. This is not some fanciful scheme of your mother’s but reality.

If you did not love him, we would have long since ended this conversation.

But this love you have discovered within your heart for a man who is utterly worth fighting for is, at this moment, our sole concern. ”

“We could ask Lady Oakham to arrange a meeting between Jane and—”

“No,” Mrs Gardiner interrupted with firm resolve. “Diana has taken these steps in your case because she cares for Mr Darcy and cannot bear to see him unhappy or to let him act foolishly at a time when his distress clouds his judgment. But that is all.”

“I did not ask her to do this.”

“No, and she does not do it for you. As for Jane, I believe she received her answer when she visited Mr Bingley’s house and the gentleman in question did not trouble himself to see her.”