Page 55 of The Talented Daughters of Longbourn
Church
Meryton
Lydia’s hand, delicately gloved in silk and lace, rested on Charles Bingley’s coat-sleeve.
Her beautiful face was radiant beneath her flower-decked hat as she glanced up at her betrothed.
The sanctuary was filled with the delicate scent of the flowers that decorated it in glorious displays of blue and purple and white.
Mr. Allen looked admiringly at the couple for a moment, Lydia in her straw bonnet and elegant dress, Charles in his evening dress, and both blissfully, brilliantly happy. He smiled a little and looked down at the well-worn book open in his hands.
“ Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people...”
Elizabeth Darcy, seated in the second row, leaned a little closer to her husband, who shifted to wrap an arm around her. They were both overjoyed that Darcy’s close friend Charles Bingley, and Elizabeth’s sister, Lydia, had fallen in love and were marrying.
Elizabeth glanced to her left and observed Sir Joseph and Lady Caroline Tyrell, who were occupying the pew across the aisle.
The former Caroline Bingley looked happy in her marriage to an honorable, if impecunious, baronet, and Lady Tyrell’s plump face and form made it obvious that an heir to the baronetcy was on the way.
“Into this holy union Charles Bingley and Lydia Bennet now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now; or else for ever hold your peace.”
Elizabeth suppressed a grin at these words, reminded of Anne de Bourgh’s recent marriage to Mr. Geoffrey Hampton, a younger son of Viscount Arrington.
The two had tied the knot the previous year, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, enraged that her only daughter was marrying a mere third son, had actually tried to disrupt the wedding at this very point in the ceremony.
Anne, who knew her mother too well, had arranged for several large footmen to be present, and they had promptly ushered Lady Catherine out of the church, allowing the ceremony to continue to completion.
“ The Lord be with you ,” Mr. Allen said.
“ And also with you ,” Elizabeth replied, along with the rest of the congregation.
The Bennets were here in force, naturally.
Charlotte, now pregnant with her third child, sat nearby with her elder son, Samuel.
The little boy was preternaturally calm in church and was watching with eager attentiveness.
The Bennets’ younger son, little Thomas, was back at Longbourn under the care of nursemaids.
Jane’s son, and Elizabeth’s daughter, both toddlers with an excess of energy, were at Netherfield, attended by their own nurses.
“ Now that Charles Bingley and Lydia Bennet have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder.”
“Amen,” Elizabeth said along with the rest of the congregants .
She smiled as she thought back to those dark days when her father lay dying, and her mother wailed and fussed about their future.
She still missed her father, but her uncle Josiah had proven a wonderful master of Longbourn; the estate was thriving. As for the elder Mrs. Bennet – she was still silly, but had grown calmer now that four of her daughters were well married.
“God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you; the Lord mercifully with his favor look upon you, and fill you with all spiritual benediction and grace; that you may faithfully live together in this life, and in the age to come have life everlasting. Amen.”
To Mrs. Frances Bennet, a good husband was a wealthy husband, but the Bennet daughters had gained so much more; Mary with her husband Isaac, who served his parishioners with dedication and his family with committed love, and Jane with Richard, who would soon take control of the estate of Fairhaven.
Jane had continued to mature as a sculptor, and thanks to the income from her work, the Fitzwilliams were sufficiently well off that Richard had promised to build her a building apart from the main house for her artistic endeavors.
“ The peace of the Lord be always with you ,” Mr. Allen said, turning toward the congregants.
“ And also with you .”
Mr. Allen gestured to Charles and Lydia Bingley, and the two embraced, and then Lydia, being Lydia, raised up on her toes and planted a hearty kiss on her new husband.
Elizabeth felt her eyes fill with happy tears and a moment later, her dear husband had pulled her into his own arms, and the two kissed in the very church where they had been joined before God several years previously.
Yes, they were incredibly blessed.