Page 60 of What if Jane was married?

“What does Miss Bennet wish to do?”

“I do not know. The timing was terrible. I asked her to marry me, got consent that afternoon but then left for here the very next morning. We have had no time to talk about the matter.”

“Then say nothing while you are here. I may not marry myself, but I am aware that it is a matter of the highest importance to a young lady. Talk with her, then decide to deal with how to deal with mother.”

The three oldest Bennet sisters were sitting together in Jane’s parlour. It was one of the first days that she had felt up to leaving her bed. All three women had held her son and he was now in the capable hands of his nurse.

“Why Edward Augustus?”

“Well Edward is after our uncle. It is through him that Geoffrey and I met. And everyone names their son George, be it as a first name or one of the middle names. Augustus is another Hanoverian name so it displays loyalty just in a less common form.”

Elizabeth and Mary nodded in understanding. Jane motioned to the letter in Mary’s hand.

“How hysterical is our mother?”

“In some ways she is not, yet in others she is a candidate for Bedlam.”

“Can you give us some examples?”

“She is delighted that I am engaged to be married. Actually when I stop and think about it, that is all she is calm about. Even that fact she manages to tarnish by writing of her surprise that I had made a match.”

Both her sisters winced. Mrs. Bennet never missed an opportunity to be inadvertently cruel. Elizabeth had wondered whether it was inadvertent at all. It was so common as to seem calculated.

“But after that she is fit to be tied. Mostly over the logistics of the wedding. Randolph drove out to Longbourn and requested Papa’s consent and blessing. I think he was so surprised that he gave it without really understanding the implications of what he was saying. I also think he expected me to return to Longbourn and be married there. When I wrote to them that I was staying in London and marrying from Jane’s house then everything became even more shrill.”

Elizabeth and Jane looked at each other.

“Mary was never this calculating before. What do you have to say for yourself Lizzie?”

Her tone was arch but her smile was wide.

“Do not blame dear Lizzie. Escaping from Longbourn opened my eyes. When your brother in law introduced me to Randolph it was the happiest day of my life. He is perfect for me. Devout, serious about the church, yet not a bore. For the first time in my life I wanted to attract the attention of a man. And by some miracle I succeeded. The banns have been read twice and I am getting married in ten days. It is up to Mama and Papa to figure out where they are going to stay. It is not Elizabeth’s fault that they cannot stay with Uncle Edward. And there is not the space for them to stay here.”

“You do not wish to walk down the aisle on the arm of Papa?”

“If he is here then of course. But I am not going to organise everything for them so that he can turn up, be sardonic all day, and then disappear again. If he wants to walk me down the aisle then he needs to make the effort. If he does not make the effort then I know that Uncle Edward will be delighted. In fact, if Uncle Edward would not be offended, then I would ask Mr. Warburton since he introduced us.”

“What else was in the letter?”

“Complaints about all the work Mama had to do since there was no one to assist with the tenants. Mr. Collins, with absolutely no prompting from Catherine, wasted no time in writing to Papa reminding him of his responsibilities to the estate. I would have been busy every day for the rest of the year if I had returned to Longbourn.”

“What of Lydia?”

“What of her. She is not mentioned as helping, but I cannot know that for sure.”

As it turned out, no one was prepared to indulge the Bennets. They needed to deal with getting to London and finding somewhere to stay, matters that were within the abilities of most gentlemen. On her wedding day Mary Bennet was walked down the aisle by Michael Warburton, the bachelor older brother of Jane’s husband. Her uncle was not offended as he walked Elizabeth down the aisle 30 minutes later. It was not a double wedding, rather they were consecutive. And Thomas and Fanny Bennet only found out their second daughter was married when Jane wrote to them with the details.

Elizabeth heard about their reactions from Mrs. Bingley. Charlotte Lucas, as was, had blossomed with her marriage to Charles Bingley. They were both involved in the management of Netherfield Park. As a tenant Mr. Bingley could recoup most of his investment if the estate was well managed. In exceptional cases it was possible to make a small profit. The Bingleys were looking to recover as much of the lease payment as possible. But they would not be purchasing the estate, Charlotte quickly coming to realise that it was far too close to her mother. They did not know where they wished to reside but northern Hertfordshire was not on the search list. They both had a hankering for the West Country, close to Bristol, the second largest city in the Kingdom, yet with good fertile farmland. That was all yet to be decided.

‘Dearest Eliza,

Thank you again for the invite to your wedding. While it was surprising it was not as much of a shock upon later reflection. You are Mr. Darcy are well suited. At your request I said nothing about the wedding until one of your sisters wrote to your parents. I will confess to not hearing any sounds from Longbourn when the news was received, but I have been assured that Mrs. Bennet’s shriek was long and shrill. At the same time I do not know why. They did not make the effort to attend Mary’s wedding, and that shocked the neighbourhood, so why would they care about your own. I spent my teenage years having to listen to Mrs. Bennet talk about getting all her daughters well married. And within 13 months four of you have joined me as married women.

I also heard Lydia constantly state that she would be the first sister married, and yet it has come to pass that she is the last one living at home. Despite that, she is not assisting on the estate, she is much more interested in the officers of the Militia regiment stationed outside Meryton. I have even heard a rumour that she wishes to accompany the Colonel and his wife when the regiment moves to Brighton. You do not need me to tell you how terrible an idea that is.