Page 46 of Five Gentlemen at Netherfield (Pride and Prejudice Variations)

Breakfast Parlor

Longbourn

The Next Day

Jane took a sip of coffee and shifted slightly so that the morning sun, which was shining through the window of the breakfast room, would light up the letter in her hand.

Dearest Jane,

Mary and I are both doing very well indeed. We sleep deeply and long, and go for pleasant walks, and eat good meals, and we are both largely recovered from our exhaustion.

Yesterday, a group of us went to Lambton, the little town where our aunt Gardiner grew up. She did not come with us yesterday as she was spending time with the children, but she did visit a few friends there three days ago and has intentions of doing so again on Monday.

Lambton is a charming town, and we enjoyed a pleasant walk followed by a trip to a bookstore, where Miss Darcy and Mary purchased some music, and Mr. Darcy purchased two new novels for us ladies. Then we went to a delightful little shop that sold ices and cheesecakes. It was truly wonderful.

I am tempted to crumple this letter up and throw it away, Jane, because I continue to feel very guilty that we are enjoying ourselves here while you are toiling endlessly at Longbourn. I do wish you had come with us!

But no, I do not, because I feel guilty enough for leaving Father, and if you were with us, Longbourn would probably be in ruins by the time we returned. Perhaps that is overly dramatic, but I am well aware that Mother is not assisting in the least.

I am glad that Kitty is reading to Father and that Mr. Wallace is doing so well.

With much love,

Your Lizzy

P.S. I am more and more impressed with Mr. Darcy by the day. I will say no more on that matter.

Jane read the entire letter twice and then folded it and tucked it into her sleeve.

She did not wish for her mother to come across the missive, as Mrs. Bennet was still not aware that Darcy was courting Elizabeth.

The mistress of Longbourn would, of course, be very pleased to gain such a son by marriage, but Elizabeth did not want gossip to spread throughout the area about the possibility of such a union, and Mrs. Bennet was entirely incapable of holding her tongue.

The door opened and Miss Fairchild entered and pulled the door behind her.

“Miss Bennet, good morning,” she said.

“Good morning, Miss Fairchild. I hope you are well?” Jane replied, though a trifle absently, her thoughts still on her letter.

The governess hesitated, and Jane sat up, suddenly aware that the woman’s expression was perturbed.

“What is wrong?” she asked, rising from her seat. “Is it my mother?”

“No, Miss Bennet, it is Miss Lydia,” the governess replied.

“What about Miss Lydia?” Jane demanded worriedly. With so much going on, the last thing she needed was Lydia causing problems, but the youngest Miss Bennet had often acted as if she had been born to cause problems.

“She is acting rather oddly,” Miss Fairchild said, “and has been since the dinner party at the Phillips home a few days ago.”

Jane frowned heavily. “You think something happened. She was not … that is, she did not…”

“I was watching her carefully all night, I promise you. She spent a few minutes sitting with Captain Denny, and she was quieter than usual afterward. I did not think a great deal of it, but she has been odd ever since. I am worried about it, but maybe I ought not to be. I have not known her long. Perhaps she has had seasons of solitude and silence in the past?”

Jane shook her head decidedly. “Lydia has always been boisterous. I should have noticed she was acting strangely. I am sorry.”

“Nonsense, Miss Bennet. I am well aware that you have been extremely busy.”

“I have, but I will speak to her as soon as I can,” Jane promised.

***

School Room

Longbourn

That Evening

The hinges of the old schoolroom door no longer creaked because a diligent servant had oiled them when the room had been cleaned up and returned to use.

Therefore, there was no immediate announcement of Jane’s arrival, and she was able to take stock of the room in peace for a few seconds before the lone inhabitant noticed her.

Lydia was hunched over the large table near the fireplace, which currently sat cold and dark, with her head bent close to the candles sitting beside her and casting small pools of golden light.

Across the solid oak surface of the table were scattered bits of ribbons and lace and a few silk flowers, a straw bonnet half-trimmed in front of the youngest Miss Bennet, who was entirely focused on her work in the gathering shadows.

The curtains at the windows had been fully pulled back, and the late afternoon light was a rich honey color across the wooden floor and soft rug and halfway up the walls.

Only halfway, though, as the sun was already brushing against the western horizon, and soon it would be full dark, with evening’s chill in the air.

If Lydia intended to remain upstairs and keep working on her bonnet, that cold fireplace would need to be lit, Jane thought.

She took another step into the room, and a board creaked beneath her step. Lydia’s head jerked up and towards her sound, and she started at the sight of her eldest sister.

“Jane!” she said in surprise. “What are you doing up here?”

“I came up to see you,” Jane replied, walking over and sinking down into a chair near her youngest sister. “I have not spoken to you much of late. How are you doing, dear sister?”

Lydia wrinkled her nose and sighed deeply. “I am confused.”

“Confused about what?”

The girl huffed and said, “I had the most peculiar discussion with Captain Denny a few days ago when we visited our Aunt Phillips.”

So Miss Fairchild had been right. There had been a problem with Mr. Denny, whom Jane had always thought to be a gentleman.

“What did he say?” she demanded. If the captain had offered Lydia a carte blanche , she would have Mr. Phillips or Mr. Gardiner speak sternly to the man.

“He said that he does not wish to marry me!”

Jane blinked and relaxed. “Well, of course he does not. You are far too young.”

This provoked an outraged glare from her youngest sister, who said, “I am fifteen years old and am not too young! You came out at fifteen, and Mamma wished for you to capture a husband as quickly as possible! I thought it would be a great joke if I were married first of all my sisters.”

Jane suppressed a groan. For many months, she had watched her youngest sister chase after officers with reckless abandon, so she ought not be surprised at these words.

“My dear Lydia,” she said carefully, “Mamma has long been worried about the entail, and perhaps naturally enough, she believed that her salvation lay in one or more of us marrying well. But thanks to Aunt Amelia’s kindness, there truly is no real concern about our future anymore.

We will lose Longbourn when our father dies, yes, but we have sufficient funds to live comfortably, if frugally, even if none of us should marry. ”

Lydia was now scowling ferociously. “Captain Denny told me that my fortune was not enough to entice him, especially since I will not gain control of the money until I am five and twenty. But surely if I were to marry, my uncles would allow me control of my fortune?”

“I would say that our dowries, except for Mary’s, are more independences than fortunes. We will only have two hundred pounds a year in interest and…”

“And that is another thing,” Lydia interrupted, her cheeks now very flushed.

“Why did Aunt Amelia choose Mary as her primary heiress? She is plain, and the rest of us are not. I realize I am the youngest of us all, but why did she not give you five and twenty thousand pounds or split up the money evenly?”

Jane hesitated for a moment and then said, “I suspect it was because Mary is not as handsome as the rest of us, though I think Mary would be prettier if she wore clothing that matched her coloring better. But in any case, our Aunt Amelia was the plain sister compared to Mamma and Aunt Phillips, and she probably thought of Mary as a kindred soul.”

“I do not remember Aunt Amelia. Was she very plain?”

“She was certainly not beautiful, and our grandmother Gardiner always looked down on her for it. I suspect that she was indignant on Mary’s behalf and was eager to assist her as best she could.”

Lydia scrunched her nose and said rather forlornly, “You really think I should not marry for at least a few years?”

“I absolutely believe you should wait, Lydia. Marriage is difficult, and motherhood is even more so, after all.”

“Motherhood!” Lydia cried out. “If I do marry soon, I will not have a baby for many years! It would make it harder to attend dances and parties!”

Jane stared at her sister in disbelief. Could it truly be that Lydia did not know…?

“That is not quite how it works, Lydia.”

“How does it work?”

For a brief moment, Jane considered asking Miss Fairchild to explain the realities of conception and pregnancy and birth to her young sister. But no, she could not do that.

“Well, you see…”

***

Drawing Room

Longbourn

Ten days later

“And now my brother and brother-in-law will not even give me enough money so that my girls can purchase new dresses,” Mrs. Bennet complained. “How are they to find husbands if they are not even decently dressed?”

Jane winced and turned worried eyes on Charles Bingley. He smiled at her reassuringly and said, “Mrs. Bennet, your daughters are so lovely that they do not need fancy gowns, unlike some ladies of my acquaintance.”

The older woman smiled at this and said, “Yes, they are very handsome, all of them except for Mary, and she is very accomplished to make up for it along with having a fortune, though I still do not understand why my sister Amelia gave Mary so much more money than my other daughters. Jane is the eldest and the most beautiful, and she ought to be the heiress, but apparently there is nothing to be done about it!”

Now Jane’s cheeks were burning, and she said, “Mamma, Aunt Amelia had the right to give her money to whomever she wished.”

“She ought to have consulted me,” Mrs. Bennet grumbled.

Bingley rose to his feet and said lightly, “It is the way of families that often our brothers and sisters and parents and aunts and uncles do not do exactly what we want them to.”

“That is true,” Mrs. Bennet said, “but pray do not leave, sir. We could have tea and biscuits, perhaps?”

“Regrettably, I have a meeting with my steward this afternoon and need to make some preparations for it,” Bingley replied, “but perhaps I can call tomorrow?”

“I am certain that Jane would very much like to see you on the morrow,” Mrs. Bennet said, turning a meaningful look on her eldest daughter.

“I would,” Jane agreed, also rising to her feet. “May I walk you out, Mr. Bingley?”

He held out his arm toward her, and to his pleasure, she took it.

They walked out of the drawing room and down the hall to the front door and then out the front door and down three steps onto a paved stone path.

He thought that she would walk him to the stables, where his horse awaited, but instead she struck off on another path, which led to the wilderness to the east of the house.

He followed her lead, of course, with alacrity.

He treasured every moment he could get with the lady he loved.

“Would you care to sit down, Mr. Bingley?” Jane said when they had arrived at a stone bench, which was placed under a spreading elm tree.

He nodded and sat down, and she lowered herself down beside him, and for a minute, they were silent. The lady looked out to the north, to the forest whose branches were full of new life, while the gentleman found himself, as usual, gazing upon her lovely face.

She turned toward him and said, “You are kind indeed to visit often and keep my mother company.”

“It is my honor and pleasure,” he replied.

“You are definitely honorable, but I am certain it is no great pleasure,” she returned with a sigh.

“I am well aware my mother is being difficult, but it is truly not entirely her fault. She lived for many years worrying about the entail, and then we all received at least a respectable portion, only to have my father fall ill. It has been a difficult time for her.”

“I assure you it is my pleasure,” he said, and then added boldly, “as is anything I can do which will ease your situation even a little.”

She smiled and said, “You have definitely proven a good friend to our family, and I wished to say…”

She trailed off, looked away, and then returned her gaze to his face, her expression determined.

“Mr. Bingley, when you first asked for my hand in marriage so many months ago, I did not know you well enough to be certain that we would be happy together. But now, I am confident … that is, I believe that we would…”

She trailed off again, flushed with embarrassment, and Charles Bingley, his heart beating madly in his chest, reached out his hands and took her delicate ones in his own.

“Miss Bennet, do I understand you?” he asked impetuously. “Might you … that is, I want above all things to make you my wife. Will you accept my hand in marriage?”

“I will,” she said. “I love you, Mr. Bingley, and look forward to being your wife.”