“I have no objection, Mr. Bingley. You are a guest in our home so you are free to sit where you please,” Mary replied displaying her dry wit.
“If I am ignorant, Miss Bennet, I beg your pardon, but did you sayourhome?” Bingley enquired.
Mary explained how she and Kitty were now wards of the Gardiners, and that the youngest, Lydia, was now Miss Phillips, a ward of their other aunt and uncle. “You have not asked about my parents, Mr. Bingley,” Mary challenged.
“And you have not asked about my sisters,” Bingley returned. “If you wish to tell me what led to all of you leaving Longbourn, I would be interested in hearing it, but I will not force a confidence if you are not ready to share.”
“There is no need for me to ask about Miss Bingley because Lizzy related the ‘Miss Hampton-Downs’ incident to us. William shared the news your sister is on her way to the Americas,” Mary informed Bingley. “I believe that we were fortunate she was in the middle of the ocean when the announcement of Lizzy and William’s betrothal was printed.”
“A very astute observation, Miss Bennet,” Bingley grinned. “It matches my reaction when I read the papers the other day.”
“You know about my former mother and older sister engineering Lizzy’s banishment from Longbourn do you not?” Mary verified.
“Yes, I do,” Bingley replied softly.
“What you do not know is Lizzy was well liked by the people of Meryton. When it became known Mrs. Bennet had disowned Lizzy and banished her from our family, the rest of us were ostracised in local society. She tried and failed to bring Lizzy home to Longbourn.” Mary related the facts evenly. “My eldest sister, who by all accounts has made significant changes to her character, was sacrificed for Mrs. Bennet’s future comfort. It seems she descended into madness and is now a resident of Bedlam’s private wing. I would rather you hear this from me than in the form of idle gossip in Meryton. Her final act of insanity was attempting to harm Lizzy, but she never came close to succeeding.”
“It pleases me Miss Bennet, excuse me, Mrs. Collins, has amended her ways. I was shocked when I heard the truth of her character, as it used to be, from Darcy,” Bingley replied. “Do you hear from her?”
“Since she moved to the parsonage at Hunsford my sisters and I have not had a letter. Other than one to Mrs. Bennet, who replied to her without sympathy or kindness, nothing further has been heard from her, until Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie told us of the changes she has made,” Mary explained. Seeing Mr. Bingley did not recognise the names, Mary clarified, “The Earl and Countess of Matlock.”
Bingley was entranced by Miss Bennet’s dry wit and intelligence. Had he still been the shallow man he was on his first visit to the neighbourhood; he would not have given this enthralling woman a second glance. On the spur of the moment, he decided to take a chance.
“Miss Bennet, are you engaged to dance the first at the pre-wedding ball?” Bingley asked hopefully.
“No Sir, I am not,” Mary replied, blushing lightly.
“If that be the case, may I engage you for the first two dances?”
“They are yours, Mr. Bingley.”
“If you do not think me too forward, could I reserve the supper set as well?” Bingley requested.
“Yes, you may,” Mary averred, her blush deepening significantly.
When Lizzy, Tiffany, Giana, and Kitty convinced her to do away with her glasses—which she admitted she did not really need—and then restyled her hair, Mary had gone along with them to please them. When they suggested different colours and styles of dresses for her, she had allowed herself to be convinced again.
When they were finished and she was dressed in a pale pink muslin day dress, her hair arranged attractively, Mary almost had not recognised her reflection in the mirror. Over the weeks since she had adopted these changes, Mary’s confidence had grown significantly.
So, when Mr. Bingley showed an interest in her, she was surprised such a handsome man would pay her attention, but not as much as she would have prior to building her self-confidence and changing her appearance.
Elizabeth and Darcy sat with Charlotte and Richard, watching the scene opposite them unfold. “It seems Bingley has matured over the last few months,” Richard observed.
“So it would seem,” Darcy agreed.
“They have just now started to talk to one another,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I trust you two will not tease him about his interest in our Mary.”
Both men promptly dropped their plans to do just that; neither wanted to deal with an angry Elizabeth. Richard looked at his fiancée and saw her warning look, letting him know she agreed with her friend.
Lord Matlock approached the four with a letter in hand. “It seems that Mrs. Collins' changes were genuine. I have just received this letter from Anne,” Lord Reggie stated as he handed the missive to Darcy. He held it so Elizabeth could read it as well.
14 February 1811
Rosings Park, Kent
My dear Aunt and Uncle,
My friend Jane, Mrs. Collins, consigned the page with the announcement of William’s betrothal to her former sister, Miss Gardiner, to the fire just in case it was one of the days her husband read the newspaper.
