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“He still needs to find a wife, produce an heir. How is he to achieve this?”
“The family does not know. I do not think Darcy knows. I have not spoken to him for close to two years, and based on Georgiana’s letters nothing has changed in that time.”
He paused.
“Please do not think this an attack against your sister, but remember the words he used at that ball. Something about not wanting to talk to a young woman who had nothing to say. That is not a perfect recounting but it was something like that. I remember at the time upbraiding him for acting that way. Not just for the rudeness but for expecting anything else. Your sister had been trained, just as his own sister is being trained, to present well when in society. And that means steering clear of any controversial topics and being careful not to say anything that might offend the gentleman. What does Darcy expect? The debutantes are carefully moulded to behave and to speak in exactly the same way as your sister. I have come to realise there was absolutely nothing personal in his attack.
“Again, I am not condoning it or apologising for him. But Darcy is not looking for a standard society Miss. Whilst at the same time only searching within that narrow stratum of society.”
Richard refrained from throwing his arms in the air but it was a close-run thing.
“Now that time has passed I can look at the situation less passionately and can see the truth to it. We have all experienced moments where the bland murmurings have become very tedious. But you are right. The young ladies have had any individuality trained out of them. Based on some of the looks that have passed between mother and daughter, I worry that it has been beaten out of the them.”
They parted on excellent terms but Richard did not pass on the most recent news, the Darcys had returned to London.
--
The plan of the Bennet sisters came to fruition, well two thirds at least.
Catherine Bennet, she had dropped the childhood name of Kitty, met the son of a very successful, and rich, ship-owner. There was nothing respectable about the father or the business; it was a fleet of colliers satisfying the endless demand for coal in London. It was dirty, unglamorous, the very epitome of trade, yet was also extremely lucrative. The son had been well-educated and did not present as the son of a collier.
There was an attraction between the two of them but Catherine channelled many of the traits that Charlotte Lucas had once espoused. It was a good situation, would be materially comfortable and there were the early embers of love between the two of them. It was just as well for her that she was daughter of a gentleman. The lack of dowry was a serious impediment to the father and he was not shy in reminding her uncle of the fact. But in the end he acquiesced, this was a step up socially for the family and it was an indication of just how rich he was that he was prepared to overlook the lack of dowry in the end.
Catherine Bennet became Catherine Carter at the start of the summer. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were present at the ceremony but took a secondary part in the proceedings. The wedding was held in London, Mrs. Gardiner organised the wedding breakfast and upon their return to Longbourn Mrs. Bennet made little reference to the marriage of her fourth daughter. The lack of dowry had Bennet on the defensive, and the low roots of the groom’s family had Mrs. Bennet unhappy at the marriage. That Catherine was going to be materially very comfortable was the only silver lining.
Simon Carter was well-educated and socially very comfortable. He presented well whilst never trying to be someone that he was not. He could fit into nearly all social circumstances. Unlike the Rev Theodore Ascot-Thomas.
He was tall but looked consumptive, there was nothing to him. He was prematurely balding and wore spectacles. But set against that, he was courteous and devout. It was the most effortless of the Bennet marriages. Nobody had to do anything. He and Mary found in each other a kindred soul. Mary had imagined marrying a member of the clergy without ever considering the actual person, the pertinent details. And the Rev Ascot-Thomas did not imagine marrying at all. The fifth son of a minor family, he had little money and would receive little in the will of his father. Yet he was a man who was happy in his calling.
The rest of the family watched with pleasure as the two odd souls found each other and conducted a courtship with no drama. The Bennets were sufficiently genteel that Mary was acceptable and upon their marriage Ascot-Thomas was given a Living within the gift of his family. The couple moved to Oxfordshire and lived a quiet devout life.
--
Elizabeth and her aunt were enjoying the quiet of the house now that Mrs. Bennet was on her way back to Longbourn. Her father had been withdrawn during their stay and Elizabeth had been shocked at how much he had aged.
“How are you, Elizabeth?”
“How do you mean aunt?”
“Did the comments of your mother get to you. It seemed unnecessarily cruel to talk of you never marrying on the occasion of a younger sister’s wedding.”
Elizabeth sipped her tea.
“There are two parts to it Aunt Madeline. The first is that Mrs. Bennet has been thoughtlessly cruel to me my whole life. Nothing I have ever done has been good enough. It is only when she comes back into my life for a week or two, Mary and Catherine’s weddings, that it is clear. She is my mother and I there is still some maternal love buried within me but the amount gets smaller and more buried every year. So that is the first part, I just do not care.
“More pertinently and unusually, she may well be right. You and Uncle Edward have both counselled me to be less romantic, more practical in my outlook on marriage. It is through your generosity that I still cling to my childhood dreams.”
“Our generosity?”
“My place here at Gracechurch Street with you all. If I was stuck at Longbourn, especially now as the only unmarried daughter, and subject to Mrs. Bennet’s strictures on a daily basis? I would be married next week to the first man that would take me.”
They both laughed but deep down they also knew that Elizabeth was not lying.
“I promise to continue to make an effort, but I also do not know that it will be successful. I am 22 years of age now, and in society terms I am already on the shelf. No one has ever touched my heart. I have seen many handsome men but we both know that it is the man within that is most important.”
