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Elizabeth turned over the piece of the wedding down to determine if her stitches in the lace could be seen.

For the last thirty minutes, she had worked to affix the new lace to the bodice of Jane’s wedding dress because Mrs Bennet was unsatisfied with the first lace the sisters used and determined that a different lace should replace it.

‘If Mamma decides to change the lace again, I shall have to begin again with the top of Jane’s gown. There will be too many holes to use this cloth again,’ decided Elizabeth. ‘And it is only a week until the wedding.’

‘I wonder that Jane and Bingley are in such a rush to marry,’ the young woman marvelled as she turned her needle to attach the new lace to the sleeves of Jane’s gown .

‘They met in September and courted the whole of autumn. There is likely to be snow, which will keep the guests away. Mamma will be disappointed if she cannot lord over Lady Lucas the fine wedding breakfast at Netherfield.’

Determined not to create strife in the neighbourhood, Elizabeth decided, ‘I shall avoid all comparisons when I write to Charlotte about the wedding.’

At that moment, Jane and Mr Bingley entered the parlour with Mamma, Lydia and Kitty following behind. Mary looked up from her chair where she worked through the mending but said nothing.

Jane announced, “Lizzy, Charles received a letter from Mr Darcy. He sends his regrets that he cannot attend our wedding, but he wishes us both all the happiness in the world.”

Elizabeth doubted those were Mr Darcy’s exact words, but the happiness on her sister’s face stilled her tongue. Moving to stand in front of her second daughter, Mrs Bennet instructed her daughter. “Lizzy, hide that gown. Mr Bingley, do not look at Elizabeth.”

“Do you believe it is bad luck to see Jane’s gown before your wedding day, Mr Bingley?” asked Kitty when she realised her mother meant to hide the dress from Bingley’s sight.

“Miss Catherine, when we are in the same room, I only see Jane,” Charles replied, keeping his face turned from Elizabeth on the sofa and Mrs Bennet standing in front of her. “I do not notice anyone or anything else.”

Lydia laughed, “And I only see red coats when officers are in the room.”

Mrs Bennet frowned and added, “And that is why I keep my eye on you, my girl. Officers in red coats are handsome but must be kept at a distance.”

~~~

The sisters spoke before bed that night.

Elizabeth asked if Jane felt pressured or rushed by the quick approach of her wedding day.

Jane’s answer was surprising, “Lizzy, every hour I am with Charles feels as if it were only a moment of springtime, and every minute we are apart is a long winter’s night.

I want to be Mrs Charles Bingley–his wife–more than I could ever imagine. ”

“I am glad for you,” Elizabeth replied, the love for her sister fuelling her answer.

Jane smiled and replied, “Your turn will come, Lizzy. If not with Mr Darcy, another gentleman will touch your heart and set it on fire.”

Curious, Elizabeth asked, “Are you not afraid of the flames?”

“Not with Charles holding my hand,” Jane replied. “We shall walk through the fire while holding hands.”

In bed, waiting for sleep to come, Elizabeth remembered the flame that ignited in her heart during that second dance at Netherfield.

Her thoughts ran wild, ‘How did he not see the fire in my eyes? Perhaps he did and regretted it. No, I know he was just as taken as my heart. But then I spoke so out-of-turn and drove him away.’

The young woman finally slept; her dreams of the handsome man from the north filled the night.

~~~

Her wedding was everything that Jane Bennet hoped it would be, with Charles Bingley waiting for her at the altar, his eyes smiling and feeding the fire in her heart and soul.

This feeling was something she would treasure.

Her family was present, as were the neighbours and friends of her childhood who witnessed her becoming Mrs Charles Bingley.

While the newlyweds, the Bennet family and their neighbours left the chapel for Netherfield to attend the wedding breakfast, light snow began to fall.

The storm continued throughout the celebration and shortened the time the guests remained to eat, drink, and celebrate the marriage.

Even Mrs Bennet agreed to leave before the snow accumulated on the road.

And Elizabeth thought that Jane and Charles were pleased to see their guests leave Netherfield so quickly.

~~~

Ten days later, Charlotte Collins received a letter from her friend, Elizabeth Bennet. Mr Collins took the letter to read and determine if it was suitable for his wife to view.

“Cousin Elizabeth writes of Cousin Jane’s wedding to Mr Charles Bingley. They were to marry on Lady’s Day, two days ago. It was abysmal timing of Cousin Elizabeth not to have sent the letter before the wedding.”

“Perhaps the snows kept the post rider from moving about, sir,” said Charlotte.

“No doubt, Mrs Collins. No doubt,” Mr Collins replied. “But I wonder at the rush to marry. Do you suppose there has been some licentious behaviour that sent the couple to the altar in such a hurry?”

Rather than reminding her husband about their rushed wedding after only a single fortnight in company with each other, Charlotte deflected her husband’s attention from the letter.

She asked about Miss de Bourgh’s cold, and the treatment prescribed by the apothecaries from Ashford and Folkstone.

It appeared to Charlotte that Lady Catherine required competitive diagnoses for her daughter’s illness.

As her husband described the two gentlemen who came to Rosings Park to treat Miss de Bourgh’s cold, Charlotte retrieved the letter from Elizabeth off the table.

She would read it privately after Mr Collins made his way to Rosings.

The only days the man remained home this winter had been during three days of continuous snow.

Before he bundled up and left to walk the two miles to Rosings Park, Mr Collins returned to the ‘rushed’ wedding of Cousin Jane.

“We shall watch for news of any quick blessed event,” he told his wife. “That will reveal if the couple anticipated their vows. And I shall preach on the evils of licentious behaviour on some Sunday soon.”

“Yes, Mr Collins,” Charlotte said as she saw him off and closed the door behind him.

Her thoughts were simple, ‘I hope Jane finds more fulfilment in the marriage bed than I have. And if Mr Collins wants an heir, he must come to my bed more than once a week.’

After returning to the table in the dining room to drink another cup of tea and read Eliza’s letter, Charlotte imagined the happy scene in the chapel near Longbourn.

The woman decided, ‘I must have a son to secure my future. I have greater sympathy for Mrs Bennet’s lament now that I understand her position more clearly. ’

~~~

Longbourn was very different after Jane’s wedding.

Mrs Bennet’s new complaint was that she was restricted to her own home and allowed to visit Netherfield only on Wednesday afternoons.

When she declared her intention of calling at Netherfield the morning after the wedding, Mr Bennet insisted his wife wait a whole week before venturing to call.

“But why, Mr Bennet?” inquired Mrs Bennet.

“Our daughter and her new husband are on their honeymoon. I am confident they are not receiving guests.”

“But I am her mother, not a guest!” argued Mrs Bennet while Mary and Elizabeth smirked at each other across the table.

“For the next month, you would be an unwelcome intruder,” the man reminded his wife. Mrs Bennet frowned as her husband continued, “Allow your daughter time to enjoy her new husband’s company in private. Their felicity will be strengthened by privacy.”

Undeterred by her husband, Mrs Bennet reminded him, “They have servants in the house!”

“Mrs Bennet, no! You shall not write or visit Jane, and I shall not write to Mr Bingley for two weeks.”

“Two weeks! Mr Bennet, you said only one week.”

“Yes,” her husband replied. “And because you argued with me, I decided to protect their privacy for an additional week.”

There were several visitors to Longbourn that week, and Elizabeth avoided the company of Aunt Phillips on Thursday and Lady Lucas on Friday.

Each lady was anxious for gossip concerning the newlyweds, but Mrs Bennet left their desires unfulfilled.

However, Elizabeth missed her sister’s presence in the house and turned to Mary for company.

The pair of sisters spent time at the piano talking about music and looking at the old fashion magazines with patterns for new gowns.

While Lydia disparaged these discussions about using different stitches to sew different seams in gowns, Catherine found herself listening and participating in the conversation.

With nothing new to read in her father’s library, Elizabeth ventured into the kitchen at the end of February to learn a new skill for making her own home in the future.

She asked Mrs Hill to teach her how to bake bread–from mixing the flour, yeast, and butter, letting the dough rise, and then kneading the sticky dough before shaping it into small loaves to place in the pans to rise again.

The young woman found a new appreciation for the crusty bread served at their table after labouring over it in the kitchen.

Mrs Bennet ignored her second daughter’s eccentricities while Lydia made fun of Lizzy’s hands with flour under her fingernails during visits by a neighbour.

The youngest sister lamented teasing Lizzy when she discovered none of her clothes that needed mending had been repaired.

Lydia had to turn her hand to the needle to repair her stockings and favourite gowns.

~~~