Twelvetide Chaos Read online

  Once Elizabeth finished it was Jane who spoke up, “Lizzy, you have been here the whole time, you arrived shortly after we did and just went to sleep. You were dreaming.”

  Elizabeth smiled. Darcy reached into his breast pocket, there inside he felt the one thing that would prove their story - a miniature broom. He pulled it out, “Jane, if we were only sleeping why do I have this?”

  “I do not know, maybe this is an elaborate ruse to trick us all into thinking that you and my sister have something that the rest of us do not.”

  “Jane, you were not with us because you are no longer a bride. You chose not to marry.” Catherine spoke up.

  “How dare you?!” Jane screeched, sounding like her mother. “Rushworth helped me to see that Bingley and I were wrong for each other. Having realised that, how could I marry Bingley?”

  “You gave your word that you would marry him, you said you loved him. My friend was devastated by your decision.” Darcy bristled. He and Elizabeth had spent hours with Bingley when they had returned to Netherfield after the wedding breakfast. Bingley’s heartbreak had been so complete that had it not been for the time that Darcy had spent with Bingley that night rather than being alone with his wife, he feared what Bingley would have done.

  “Rather that he hurt now and move on than that I hurt him later on.” Jane laid her hand on Rushworth’s arm in a way that made the whole party uncomfortable. Rushworth moved away from Jane, but the damage was done.

  “Jane…” Elizabeth began, but she did not dare to voice the suspicion that was forming in everyone’s minds. It was no secret that Bingley as worth five thousand pounds a year, but Rushworth was worth twelve thousand pounds a year, something that he had kept secret since his divorce from Maria Bertram. Elizabeth was not sure of Jane’s motivations with her interest in Mr Rushworth. However, the one thing Elizabeth was sure of was that Jane had no love for the man. Elizabeth would rather talk to Mr Collins, than she would Mr Rushworth.

  “I wished” Rushworth began in his self-important manner, “only to prevent suffering.”

  Catherine spoke up. “Jane, I know you do not believe Lizzy’s story. It did happen. I was there, as was Edmund and a few other couples. Seven brides we are, and seven blessings were given.”

  “I don’t care, you are all making this up in order to make me feel bad for having decided not to marry Bingley.”

  “Jane,” the sadness in Elizabeth’s voice was unmissable, “your decision about Bingley was yours to make, it had no bearing on our tale, or on any decision that we make with our husbands.”

  “Lizzy, you know that is not true. You have always thought yourself to be superior to me, and now you think that you are proving yourself to be such having married Mr Darcy.” It was clear by Jane’s tone of voice that she thought it should have been her who married the wealthier gentleman. “Is not it true that you did not even like Mr Darcy at first? I’m sure you only married him for those beautiful woods that he has.” The group gasped. No one doubted the love that was between Lizzy and Darcy. “Why every man we’ve ever met has always preferred me to you, why should Darcy be any different? You know as well as I that it is looks that count, and in that I am certainly better than you are. I never understood why you always stayed close to me while we were out in society as you only helped make this clearer for everyone to see.” Tears brimmed in Elizabeth’s eyes, but she refused to answer Jane. Darcy held his wife close silently willing that Elizabeth would recognise that nothing Jane said was even remotely true.

  Lydia snorted. “If anyone should be jealous and upset, Jane, it is not you!”

  “You are relishing in your own pain and hurt, milking it to take away Mama’s attention” Jane said. The mood had soured. And the blessed couples who by now had all awoken fully were disgusted at Jane’s behaviour. Clearly the woman had only vanity and self interest in her heart. “Why Mama should know how you flung yourself in the way of every single officer, offering them whatever it was that they wanted.”

  Mrs Bennet stepped into the ensuing malaise “Jane, dear,” the sugary sweetness of the endearment showed that Mrs Bennet was not being genuine in what she was saying, “I am afraid that your ordeal is going to take some time to get over. As will my poor Lydia’s.” Bingley got up and without a word offered his hand to Lydia, who took it. They walked away from the group talking quietly to each other, while avoiding the looks of sympathy and pity that they received from those around them. Jane placed a placid smile of her face, and the conversation slowly dwindled. Elizabeth was left with a dissatisfied feeling that she could not shake that Jane had either deceived her, or that Jane had changed. Elizabeth was not sure which it was, or even if she cared to find out.

  Eight Maids a Milking

  New Year’s Day

  Mrs Bennet woke in the early hours of the morning replaying the events of the last few days in her head. Where had it all gone wrong? Were their new family and friends as nice and honourable as they had seemed? It had been a long time since Mrs Bennet had taken a long walk like her daughter Elizabeth did. Yet this morning she could not lie in bed, but dressed quickly and quietly, and left the house just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Mrs Bennet’s worry over Jane was increasing. She had been surprised by the way that Mr Bingley seemed to find a kindred spirit in Lydia. However, that friendship Mrs Bennet would not discourage, it appeared to be beneficial to both parties. Jane, on the other hand, was a very prominent worry in Mrs Bennet’s mind. The girl seemed to be on a fast track to ruin, with Mrs Bennet unable to do anything to help her. It really was such a shame, as Jane had seemed to have so much potential. She was so beautiful and talented in her own special way.

  The milking shed was just up ahead. Normally Mrs Bennet would not pay any attention to that, as the milk maids would frequently join together. Their conversations were rarely wholesome. Something drew Mrs Bennet towards the shed this morning, maybe watching the maids would calm her already fraught nerves. She paused at the door that had been left ajar, watching as eight maids sat on their stools gently milking the cows. This milk would then be delivered to the whole village. It was amazing to Mrs Bennet that a few cows could supply the whole village with milk. The maids were chattering about inconsequential things, and Mrs Bennet found their endless chatter gently soothed away her own worries for the moment.

  It was a fleeting movement at the back of the shed that caught Mrs Bennet’s eye and broke the sleepy mood that she had been lulled into by watching the gentle routine of the maids. It was evident that this was no stranger to the maids as they never missed a beat in their milking. The shadow moved stealthily and slowly, until he reached the maid he was looking for. In the middle of her companions the maid tried to ignore the interloper. She shrugged off his advances, and Mrs Bennet realised that she had stayed too long. The sun was fully risen, and the day had long since begun. Light streamed through the windows, and the interloper’s face was exposed. Mrs Bennet was shocked, what could Wickham be doing in the Longbourn milking shed. He was overly familiar with the maids that milked the cows. How long had this going on? Mrs Bennet had little time to wonder about that as she needed to go back to the house and begin the day.

  Mrs Bennet arrived back at the kitchen door at the same time that Jane appeared in the doorway. It was obvious that she had been attempting to sneak out somewhere. “No, you do not go anywhere Jane Bennet.”

  Jane looked startled and upset. “Mother, I am of age. I can do what I like.”

  “I am still your mother and while you reside under your father’s roof, you will obey me. I want to talk with you, and I expect you to accompany me to my dressing room so that I can dress for the day.” Mrs Bennet ordered. She needed to know what it was that Jane had been thinking. Now she was determined to get to the bottom of her eldest daughters thinking.

  “Yes, Mother.” Jane followed her mother up the stairs.

  Mrs Bennet turned on her daughter as soon as the door to her dressing room closed. “Now, Jane, I
must know what you are doing, what have you been talking to Mr Rushworth about?”

  “Mother, we did not talk about very much. I was just listening to his sad tales from his marriage.” Jane looked down at her hands. Mrs Bennet recognised the signs, Jane was lying. She had not lied to her mother since she was a little girl covering up for her Elizabeth’s misadventures. What had she and this man done?

  “I will have the truth from you, Jane. It may be a long time, but I recognise the signs and know that you are lying to me.”

  “It is nothing really, Mother, and I am telling the truth. We did talk about his misfortunes. We talked about Bingley too.”

  “Has he made love to you?”

  “No, Mother. He just wanted somebody to listen to him. We were all so caught up in the weddings that nobody was talking to him. I listened because he needed to talk. I never dreamed that he would show me how weak and insubstantial my feelings were for Mr Bingley. It is strange but already my feelings for Bingley are fading. I have not missed him at all” Jane smiled a strange twisted smile. “As I spoke to Mr Rushworth, I realised that Mr Bingley was kind and loving, but I could not give him what the same level of love. At first everything was good, but the longer things went on I felt less and less. I felt that I had to go through with it because I had promised to marry him. Yet I realised that if I went through with my marriage to Mr Bingley, I would be likely to bring a much worse disgrace to our family than I would if I did not marry Mr Bingley.”

  “Is that really that likely, Jane?”

  Jane flushed, “Mama, I have been attracted to other men since I promised to marry Mr Bingley. I do not think that I could be faithful to him.”

  “Jane, being faithful is a choice. One makes it every single day to stay faithful to the vows that you make. No matter how much you love your husband, there will always be others that will hold some attraction to you, we choose to sacrifice that attraction in order to remain faithful to the one that you make the vows to.” Mrs Bennet advised.

  “Mother, I am not made that way; I was not made to sacrifice that which I want.” Jane cried, “I am too selfish. You and Papa have indulged my every whim, so when I want something, I set out to get it.”

  Jane’s confession smote Mrs Bennet to the heart. She and Mr Bennet had indulged Jane to try and make up for her difficulties. Little did she know that by doing so she had created such a selfish person. Was it possible that she was responsible for the disappointment that Mr Bingley had suffered? After the picnic yesterday, Mrs Bennet had talked to Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley. The concern Mrs Bennet had felt on Tuesday when Jane had walked away from her own wedding, had only heightened when she chatted with Mr Bingley. Mrs Bennet became lost in her memories of the conversation as she remembered how the man admitted that he had not seen any sign of Jane’s waning interest. Jane had been clever in the way that she had hidden her feelings, either that or else everyone around her had seen just what they wanted to see rather than the truth. Either way Mr Bingley’s heartbreak sat squarely with Mrs Bennet and her husband. Why had she not seen how spoilt and selfish Jane had become? There was something in this that confused Mrs Bennet. It was as if Jane was under some kind of spell. This was not her dear sweet Jane; this was a stranger who only looked like Jane Bennet. This selfish wretch was a woman that Mrs Bennet did not recognise. The only thing she could do right now was stare at her ungrateful daughter. “Do you not care about the heartache you have inflicted on Mr Bingley?” She eventually asked Jane.

  Jane laughed. “Care about his heartbreak? Why should I? Why should I care about a man that I have given up, and who seems to be happy enough to spend time in my youngest sister’s company?”

  “Jane, you have hurt him very badly, I do not believe that this is the true you. I cannot.”

  “Believe it, Mother. I am being very true to who I am. You just all mistook my quiet serenity for selflessness. You all saw exactly what you wanted to see. You wanted the perfect daughter and I gave you that. However, with Lizzy, Mary and Kitty married you have three daughters who have the kind of matches you always sought for me.” Once more Jane smiled a twisted smile. “Now Mother, I am going to go and see Papa. I wish to set up my own establishment in London. I have already planned it out. I will see Aunt and Uncle Gardiner regularly and I will find some kind of employment.”

  “Employment? Have you lost your mind?! I will not allow you to do this. I cannot. Jane you know that there are few jobs that women of our position in society can take, and you do not have the qualifications to become a governess or companion. You are not thinking clearly!”

  “No, Mother, I am thinking clearer than I have ever thought before.” With that Jane flounced out of her mother’s dressing room, leaving a very confused Mrs Bennet in her wake. What had gotten into her daughter? Mrs Bennet sat staring out of her dressing room window for a full ten minutes after her daughter walked out of her rooms. Jane had delivered something that was beyond anything that Mrs Bennet could have imagined. Yes, she was a nervous woman, but that was only because she worried too much about other people. She had sacrificed her own happiness time and again for her daughters, overindulging both Jane and Lydia. Now when all five of her daughters should have been married and Mrs Bennet should be left alone with just her husband, she was faced with a new problem. She now had to support one daughter with a broken heart and another who had become a stranger to her. Mrs Bennet wondered if Elizabeth had seen any sign of the woman that sat in Mrs Bennet’s dressing room this morning. She wished to know what Elizabeth knew, but there was no way that Mrs Bennet would disturb her newly married daughters today. They deserved their privacy. Elizabeth had done well yesterday, but this was a time for the newlyweds to find their way together in their new status and relationships as married couples. Eventually, Mrs Bennet stirred herself and having changed her clothes, went downstairs to meet with Hill and to catch up on her day. Without three of her girls, the house was very quiet, and everything seemed to be strange. She was struggling to settle into a new routine but having her guests in the house made a new routine difficult to establish. It would be once the guests left that Mrs Bennet would truly have to face the loss of three of her daughters.

  Breakfast was a sullen affair. Their guests had excused themselves to visit Stevenage for the day, which left Mrs Bennet with only her husband and daughters at the table. She had yet to speak with her husband and find out whether Jane had spoken to him yet. However, by Jane’s behaviour Mrs Bennet guessed that her father and not given the answer that she desired. After the conference in her dressing room, Mrs Bennet was in no mood for allowing Jane to have her own way any further, yet she knew that she would eventually give in and give Jane whatever it was that she desired.

  It was Lydia who broke the silence. “Mama, I am sorry for everything. I did not know that Mr Wickham was married.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, Lydia. The man was a believable trickster.” Mrs Bennet said. There was an undignified snort from Jane. “Do you have anything to say, Jane?”

  “Only that the man in question was not as discrete as you seem to think. It was clear that he was not what he was pretending to be.”

  “And you never thought to mention it? Why?” Lydia asked.

  Jane shrugged, “Why should I? You would not have listened if I had. You were in love and Mr Darcy was the villain. You did not stop to think that there were two sides to every tale. Darcy did not know that Wickham was married to his sister, but he did try to warn you that Wickham was no good.”

  “Is that true, Jane? Did Mr Darcy try to warn Lydia?” Mrs Bennet asked.

  “He did. ‘Miss ‘I am in love’, would not listen to him though.”

  “I am not the one who walked out of my own wedding. I did not cause someone else to feel this kind of devastating pain. I was true to him, even if he was not true to me.” Lydia burst out as the tears began to stream down her face once more.

  “True, but I do not think it is in my nature to be true to one man” Ja
ne answered.

  “JANE BENNET! That kind of talk is disgusting.” Mrs Bennet was horrified.

  “What it is, is true, Mother. Mr Rushworth is not the only man that I have had pleasure in his company since I agreed to marry Mr Bingley. I like male companionship too much to stay true to just one man.”

  A horrible suspicion began to creep into Mrs Bennet’s mind. She hoped that she was wrong about her eldest daughter. “Jane, have you given your virtue away?”

  “That is my cue to leave” Mr Bennet said escaping the breakfast parlour quickly. “Mrs Bennet, you will deal with this and we shall discuss the repercussions later on.”

  Jane tossed her head defiantly “What if I have, Mother? I do not see that it matters much”

  “Does not matter much? What are you saying?”

  “I am saying, Mother, that times are changing and that nobody values purity anymore. Everyone is doing it.” Jane said quietly.

  “I beg your pardon?” the disbelief in Mrs Bennet’s voice was only matched by that of Lydia.

  “You are wrong, Jane! Not everyone is, it is true that some are, but not as many as you think.” Lydia answered.

  Lydia’s comment had sown a seed of doubt about Mrs Wickham’s assertions. “Jane Bennet, you will answer the question, have you given up your virtue?”

  “Mother, I do not wish to discuss it.”

  “Then I have to conclude that you have.” Mrs Bennet said with disappointment.

  “I told you, Mother, that I am selfish and that I will not deny myself what I want.” Mrs Bennet sighed and turned away from her daughter who had become so obstinate and had lost her morality.

  Breakfast was finished in silence and afterwards Mrs Bennet hurried out to her husband’s study, entering quickly at his call. “Oh, Mr Bennet!”