Page 59 of First Impressions (Passion and Perseverance #1)

Chapter Forty-One

“Mom! What happened? Are you ok?” Jane yelled as they ran down the hall into their mother’s room.

She was no longer lying down but standing in the middle of the room, her phone in her hand with the biggest smile on her face.

Jane rushed over to her, “Mom, sit. What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Sit! Why would I sit! I want to jump and dance for joy!” Their mom grabbed Jane’s hands in excitement, “I’ve just heard from your father.”

“Did they find Lydia?” Beth interjected, wishing her mom would stop drawing it out and just tell them what happened.

“Yes!”

“Oh, thank God!” Jane exclaimed in relief and hugged her mom.

“Beth, go get Mary and Kat, I want to tell them the good news!”

Beth returned with her younger sisters a moment later.

“So when will she be home? What about George? What’s going to happen with the baby?” Beth asked now that the rest of the family was present.

“Girls, your father and Uncle Phil have found your sister,” her mother began, completely ignoring her questions. “But that’s not the best part,” she squealed with glee, “Lydia and George are getting married!”

“What?” “When?” Jane and Beth asked simultaneously.

“Right now! Of course, we will have to look into throwing them some sort of party when they return, but your father called and they were at the courthouse as we spoke signing their marriage certificate! Isn’t this wonderful?

!” her mother was in heaven. “Just think, my darling little Lydia, a married woman with a baby on the way. Yes, we will definitely have to have something here. Now, who should I call first…” sh e trailed off in thoughts to herself, leaving the remaining Bennet sisters staring blankly at each other.

Charles knocked on the door, wondering if everything was ok and Jane left to share the news with him.

All Beth could do was watch as Kat and her mother began to discuss excitedly parties and weddings, letting their conversation turn into white noise behind her thoughts.

Lydia is marrying George.

What is she thinking? She probably doesn’t even know all of the things that he has done.

How did they even get him to agree to it?

It was a terrible thought, but knowing what she now knew about George and his situation and how he was definitely trying to escape from any commitment to Lydia, there was no way she would believe that he wanted to marry her.

Did her dad offer him a place at the firm? No, that can’t be it; it’s basically Charles’ firm now and there’s no way that Charles would agree to hire George, even ignoring the fact that he has absolutely no training in the law field.

Did he pay him off? George seemed too smart, too conniving to be bribed into doing something just for a singular monetary benefit.

That’s the whole reason he was back in the US - he wanted a position to make even more money than what Darcy offered him as an allowance; there was no way he would be happy with whatever sum of money her dad could offer him.

Was it Phil?

Did Phil and her dad offer to pay him? Or worse, did Phil offer him a position at the Gardiner Group?

It was the only thing that made sense. It was a very large, successful PR company and Phil was the CEO,;he could hire whomever he wanted.

Maybe since Darcy obviously was unwilling to hire him, George figured a position at Gardiner would be the best that he could swindle. What a slimy piece of shit.

“Beth!” her mother practically yelled in her face as she grabbed her shoulder and shook her. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“I see. Well, you don’t look too happy for your sister,” her mother observed, “There’s no reason to be upset; I’m sure someone will want to marry you eventually.

Even though Lydia is younger than you and getting married first, there’s nothing to be ashamed of; you are very successful.

” That last statement definitely sounded like an afterthought.

“Thanks, mom,” Beth said, trying so hard not to roll her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m very happy for Lydia; I’ve just been so concerned that’s all. Did dad say how they got George to change his mind?”

“Of course not! You know how indecisive men are. I’m sure George wanted to marry Lydia the entire time; he probably just had some cold feet, especially with the thought of a baby on the way,” her mother reasoned, her tone indicating that she would never believe that George had to be convinced to marry her ‘ darling Lydia.’

“I see,” Beth responded tightly, knowing Jane would never forgive her if she picked an argument with her mom right now. “When are they going to be back?”

“Well, they were going to finish up at the courthouse and then your father said he hoped to be back in time for a late dinner. Lydia just texted me though from his phone and said that she is dying to see everyone as a married woman; she is very excited to come home and celebrate with all of us and her new husband tonight so don’t think about leaving before she gets here,” Irene warned her lightly.

An hour and a half later, the search party, along with their quarry walked through the front door.

Lydia walking arm-in-arm with George, a giant, smug smile on her face wasdying to tell her mother and sister all about their “ romantic elopement .” Her father and Phil looked exhausted and grim from the stress and exertion of the day.

The first thing Beth noticed was that Lydia was in a white dress and heels; clearly, she had made them stop somewhere for her to buy clothes and change in order to make her post-wedding homecoming look more official.

Beth forced herself not to roll her eyes and scoff at the ridiculousness of her younger sister - always so concerned with appearances .

“Lydia, my darling!” Irene exclaimed as she rushed to hug her daughter and her new son-in-law. “And you, George, such a handsome son-in-law I have! Just wonderful!”

“Oh, mom! Isn’t this a wonderful surprise! Do I look any different now that I’m a married woman?” Lydia semi-joked to their mom, making sure the rest of her sisters heard her. “Am I not your favorite daughter now?”

You’ve got to be kidding me. That time she did roll her eyes, not caring who saw.

“Of course you are, my darling! I’m so happy for you and George! I want to hear all about it - every detail!”

“Of course. Why don’t we sit in the living room and I’ll tell you all about the day.

Then I can give my sisters a heads up on what being married feels like.

” She winked at Jane with that last snide comment and Beth almost walked out of the house, unable to take her sister’s immaturity.

Jane grabbed her elbow, knowing that she was on the verge of going off on their sister and guided her into the living room.

Meanwhile, George just stood there silently, refusing to meet Beth’s eyes as she took a good look at him. He looked semi-happy and semi-annoyed - probably at the prospect of being married to her obnoxious sister for the rest of his life.

“Ooo!” Mrs. Bennet squealed, grabbing ahold of Lydia’s arm as they sat down on the couch together. “I just can’t believe I have a daughter married, and just think, one of the youngest ones at that. Just wait until Mrs. Lucas hears!”

Lydia gave her a smug smile, “Yes, isn’t it just wonderful mom! Now let me share our story so you can tell everyone.”

These two are like two peas in a pod. Beth rolled her eyes. If Jane wasn’t holding her here, she would have found a reason to leave now that she knew Lydia was safe.

“So, my darling husband and I have been forced to meet in secret these past few weeks. I know you were just trying to be protective, mom, but when two people are just so in love like we are, it’s impossible to keep us apart,” Lydia paused to look adoringly at George, who gave her a small smile at the clearly exaggerated state of their relationship .

“So, when we found out that we were going to have a baby, George asked me to run away with him, not wanting to upset our families that we hadn’t been married first.” That statement had George raising his eyebrows slightly at his new wife.

They clearly hadn’t rehearsed their story yet.

“I agreed; I would go anywhere for my dear George. And, you know that I’ve always wanted a romantic elopement! ”

“No you didn’t,” Kat mumbled from the armchair, earning her a death stare from Lydia. It was ok though, they all knew it was a blatant lie; Lydia had always wanted the largest, showiest wedding possible. The only persons she was fooling were herself and their mom.

“Oh, how romantic!” Irene exclaimed, trying to diffuse the tension between the two younger girls.

“It really was, mom. So, as you know, we left yesterday. George had to pack some of his things and arrange some details with the friend he was staying with so we didn’t get on the road until today and decided to head out to the Hamptons to get married and that’s when dad and Uncle Phil found us, right before the ceremony! ”

“Oh, how wonderful! I wish I could have been there,” her mother extorted. “Well, we will just have to have another celebration here. Just think, my first daughter married - what a party that will be!”

“Oh, mother, I know how you love those grand affairs,” Lydia began, “but I’m a married woman now, and I have to do what’s best for my husband so we actually won’t be in town for very much longer.”

The amount of bullshit coming out of her sister’s mouth was astounding. Beth just sat there in shock, knowing that not one thing that Lydia had said was true. It was probably a good thing she couldn’t think of anything to say because if she had, it wouldn’t have been very nice.

“ What?!” her mother exclaimed, her excitement transforming into distress. “What do you mean you won’t be in town?”

“Well, my darling George, has just been offered a very good, highly sought-after job in Chicago so we are flying out there in two days. We’ve already booked our flights,” Lydia explained.

“Where are you working?” Beth finally interjected, suspicious at what job he would have taken knowing that he had his sights on a management position at Fitz.

“I was offered the Vice President of Operations position at FWD and then with the baby, I just don’t want to be traveling too much and putting my health at risk.

You are all welcome to visit me once we have our house situated.

Maybe George will have some eligible, single men that I can introduce to my sisters!

As a married woman, I just feel like it’s my duty now to help you guys find marital happiness like I have. ”

Beth turned to Jane with a stare that said, I’m going to strangle her.

“I’m sure we would love to come visit you,” Jane said, trying to placate her younger sister.

“Yes, well we should get going. I’ll be back over tomorrow mom to pack up my stuff but we are staying at the Plaza tonight since it is our wedding night.” Lydia batted her eyes at George and Beth almost vomited .

“Oh, so soon?” This was clearly not how Mrs. Bennet envisioned the evening going. “Ok, well, of course, we will come out to see you, dear. If you change your mind, your father and I would love to throw you a reception.”

As she hugged her daughter, Beth saw her father’s jaw set in a firm line as though he was not in agreement with what his wife had just offered but because Lydia had refused, he was able to avoid making a scene.

Interesting. Even though what Lydia had done was reckless and stupid, she would have thought her father would show a little sign of happiness now that Lydia was safe and ‘happily’ married.

Lydia and George made their rounds to the rest of the family, eagerly awaiting and accepting all the congratulations and best wishes that she could extract from her sisters.

As Lydia turned to Beth, she forced a smile onto her face and hugged her little sister.

“Congratulations, Lyds. I wish you both much happiness,” she ground out. “I’m not sure I’ll be here tomorrow so safe travels. Good luck with your new job, George.” Ugh, that was painful.

“Thank you,” George mumbled as he quickly moved on to shake hands with a stiff Charles.

“Oh, thank you, Beth! I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be married.

I promise I’m going to be on the lookout for some single coworkers that we can introduce you to.

I would hate to see you alone and miserable forever,” Lydia replied so sweetly, it took a moment to sink in just how insulting she was actually being.

Beth just stared blankly at her, not trusting herself to respond.

“I just think you need a new set of eyes to find you a potential mate. Your judgment of men seems to be completely off, just like with my George here; he turned out to be a wonderful husband!” She flashed a brilliant smile.

Seriously? Ok, that’s it.

“Actually, I think my judgment of men is pretty good thanks. While I appreciate your sincere offer, I don’t think I need any help finding a boyfriend, thank you,” Beth finally responded tartly, really wishing she could just lay into her sister, but trying so hard not to leave things between them on a sour note.

“Ha! You’re so silly, Beth – so blind to your own faults. I told you, you didn’t see how wonderful a man my George is. You even completely missed what a gentleman that Mr. Darcy is!”

Why would she bring up Mr. Darcy? Beth’s eyes narrowed as she knew her sister was purposefully drawing out her pause, waiting for Beth to respond.

“What do you mean? Why would you mention Mr. Darcy?” Beth didn’t even care that she was playing into her sister’s attention game, she just needed answers.

“Well, just that he was such a wonderful help at the wedding today, making sure everything was squared away at the courthouse and then with our flights; you were completely wrong about him,” she said smugly.