Twelvetide Chaos Page 7

  “Fanny, start at the beginning.” He ordered, “Jane was not making much sense earlier when she came to see me.” Mrs Bennet knew that behind his sarcastic humour Mr Bennet was as worried about Jane as she was. He had always been a good father, though he often pretended to be the reverse. She did not always understand his humour, but she loved him for the care he took of her and their family. They had had their problems, and they had struggled to make a life together, but neither of them would consider being without the other. Mr Bennet moved over to the sofa where his wife was sitting and placed his arm around her as she launched into the sad tale of how selfish and unrecognisable their eldest daughter had become. When she had finished her sad tale, a silence hung in the study the likes of which had not been there for many a year.

  Eventually Mr Bennet broke the silence, “Do you think, Fanny, that it is we who have been at fault? We treated Jane and Lydia differently because of their struggles, and now they are the ones who are suffering.”

  “I do not know, Thomas. We have done our best, but honestly both girls have turned out so differently I cannot quite make out whether it is we who are at fault through our upbringing of our daughters, or whether it is simply that we missed that selfish streak in Jane and even indulged it to a degree. Whatever it is, we need to plan how to deal with this, and I do not think letting Jane go to London to set up her own establishment is the right thing to do.”

  “It sounds to me as if she’s been influenced by some rather disreputable people.” Mr Bennet mused, “yet I do not know quite what we can do. Her going to London right now is out of the question, for the estate funds won’t cover such a scheme. The cost of the weddings was very high and took most of what we had set aside.”

  “We need to try and reach our daughter somehow, not send her away. If we allow her to go at this time, I fear she will just get worse and worse.”

  “You are right, but at the same time she is, as she says, of age and therefore can decide her own way to go. We can but advise my dear. There is nothing more for it.”

  “I know, I just worry for her and all our girls.”

  “That is precisely why you make such a wonderful mother to our girls.” With that Mr Bennet kissed her and dismissed her from his study.

  Nine Ladies Dancing

  2nd January

  Elizabeth Darcy had arrived early with her other sisters Mary and Catherine. Excitement was bubbling throughout the whole house. Tonight, would be the last ball of the season and the last time that the girls would prepare for a ball in the same house, together. It would also be the first that the girls would appear in public as married women. Life for the Bennet household had changed, societal positioning had changed. New rivalries had come into play, while old childish squabbles were now things of the past.

  Elizabeth had chosen not to get ready with Jane today because she had seen the results of Jane’s decisions. It had almost been as if Darcy and Bingley had exchanged their personalities. Darcy had changed under Elizabeth’s gentle love. He was laughing and smiling, but Bingley had withdrawn from those around him. He no longer wished to go out dancing or to be around anyone. He had withdrawn into his pain and grief, and Elizabeth thought that he appeared to be slightly depressed. Elizabeth could understand it. After her wedding, she and Darcy had spent the last few nights listening to Bingley and encouraging him, and she had left Darcy at Netherfield trying to encourage Bingley to attend the ball tonight. It was doubtful in Elizabeth’s mind whether the poor man would attend, and she blamed her sister for the fact that he was in such a state. Elizabeth had chosen to get ready with her other two married sisters instead. When the girls had first arrived, Mrs Bennet joined them in Mary’s old room and the four married women had great fun discussing the girls plans for being mistresses of their own homes. They listened to many stories from their mother about her early years as mistress of Longbourn. Each girl had her own maid to do her hair and aid with their dresses now, but today they had chosen to help each other in the same way that they had done before their marriages.

  “Mama,” Elizabeth said as her mother was about to leave and get ready herself, “I am worried about Jane. The Jane I knew growing up would never have hurt someone as deeply as Jane hurt Mr Bingley.”

  “I am sorry, Lizzy, I do not believe that Jane is as good and loving as she had led us to believe. Maybe you can get through to her. For she is saying the strangest things.” Mrs Bennet hurried off before Elizabeth could ask her any more questions. She saw Elizabeth slip into Jane’s room. She did not however, go straight to her own rooms. Having spent a good deal of time with her married daughters and having fun reliving some of her worst failures when she first became mistress of Longbourn, Mrs Bennet slipped into her youngest daughters’ room. “Lydia, my dear, how are you?”

  “I miss Kitty, but I am fine.”

  Mrs Bennet laughed at her daughter’s response, Catherine had chosen to get ready with Elizabeth and Mary, not because a slight to Lydia, but simply because the concerns of married women were different to that of the unmarried. She and her sisters were talking about their husbands and their new lives. Catherine had not wished to hurt Lydia with her discussions. “Kitty did not wish to hurt you with her endless chatter about her new life. She was not trying to slight you.”

  “I know. I understand. It is not her fault that Mr Wickham turned out to be so unworthy. You know, I feel sorry for Mr Darcy’s sister. I know that she had a hand in this, but I cannot help thinking and feeling that she is too good for him.”

  “I know, but she had plenty of time to come forward and tell the world that she was married to Mr Wickham and that he could not marry you. She was as complicit in hurting you and her brother as Mr Wickham was.”

  “Why did I not see though, Mother?”

  “Love makes fools of us all, Lydia, and your character makes you very trusting of the world. There are those who can fool even the most distrustful of people, and I believe Mr Wickham to be one of them.”

  “But Mama, I usually see through such untrustworthy people, is it possible that my abilities are that untrustworthy?”

  “No, Lydia, you are just human. As humans, we make mistakes, therefore all you can do is learn from your mistake. Now, you are going to the ball tonight! We all are. It will do you good.”

  “Yes, Mama.” Mrs Bennet left Lydia’s room with a spring in her step. That Lydia was not unwilling to attend the ball was a good sign that though her daughter might not understand what happened, she would be alright and was already on the path to recovery.

  Mrs Bennet smiled as she sat down in front of her dressing table. Her bath would be ready in approximately twenty minutes, which left her time to relax while brushing her hair. That was her plan. However, the best plans always go awry, and Mrs Bennet’s were no exceptions to this rule. For she had barely been sitting there for two minutes and had not even finished taking out her hair pins when there was an imperious knock on the door.

  “Come in” she called. She was about to tell her daughter that she would rather be alone right now when instead of one of her daughters there stood Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the doorway. Mrs Bennet waved over to the spare chairs that were in the dressing room and bade the grand lady to be seated.

  Ever since her daughter’s secret wedding had been revealed, Lady Catherine had held a slightly defeated air about her and Mrs Bennet wished for nothing more than to be of service to her, but until now the woman had not asked for any aid from anyone. “Mrs Bennet” she began, “It has been many a year since I have had the privilege of attending a ball. The last one was at Pemberley nearly twenty-five years ago, before Anne was born.” The sadness in the other woman’s voice touched something deep inside Mrs Bennet. There was a loneliness that she had not expected to see.”

  “Lady Catherine, I do not know that I am to be of much aid. Our balls here are unfashionable and certainly nothing to the beauties of London or even Bath.”

  “I do not ask for aid; I have enough gowns that will
suffice. I worry about Anne. Her health was so indifferent for so many years. We could not leave Kent for her first ten years, as she was barely able to leave her room for most of that time, then when she could she was weak. Foolish woman that I was, I coddled her and kept her weak, for fear that if she were strong, she would choose a man who wanted nothing more than her fortune. I overruled Lewis’s objections that the girl must be toughened up, I did not think she had it in her to elope with our parson! Oh, I am such a foolish woman. The two of them have insisted that they will attend this ball tonight, and I worry that Anne will get sick from it. I made her weak and not strong. From the womb I failed her.” Tears slid down Lady Catherine’s face. As she confessed all that was in her heart. “I wanted Darcy to marry her, not from any excess love I had for my sister and her son, but rather from the fear that others would use Anne for their own ends. I spoke to my sister about this and we agreed that the two of them should marry, but Anne died before she could persuade her husband to agree to make the engagement official. Anne was never strong, and there have been many times that Darcy and his cousins have rushed down to Kent to sit with me while I worried about my daughter’s health as she looked like she would not get well. Yet, she always survived. Then after Lewis’ death, the boys had to make yearly trips down to keep an eye on the estate for me. It was a clause in the will so that the servants could not cheat us. I came to depend on those visits and hoped that Darcy was becoming enamoured of my Anne, but alas, I was mistaken and the two of them seem to have moved further apart. Now Rosings will be in the hands of a clown, and I will be moved to the dower house. I cannot bear it. I truly cannot”

  Mrs Bennet was aghast. This great woman sitting in her dressing room seemed so crushed by events. Had Longbourn not been entailed, Lady Catherine’s fate would have been her own. Mrs Bennet did not quite know what to say. In the end she knew that her answer was weak, but it was the best that she could think of, “We do our best to bring our children up. We do that which we think is right at the time. My eldest daughter always seemed to be very sweet and serene. None of us ever thought that she would hurt someone else, but these past few days she has seemed like a different woman to the one that I and my family knew. In the end, we just have to let them go and make their own choices and mistakes.”

  “What if Anne becomes sick and dies? He is the legal owner of Rosings, and he is a buffoon. I know that he is a parson, but he holds no loyalty to me nor my daughter. There is no settlement that I can make out, and Anne does not seem to have made any protection of me, her servants, or her property before entering this marriage. Unlike Georgiana, my Anne was of age so I cannot protest her marriage or get it dissolved. My approval or disapproval means nothing to her or in law. She could do what she pleased, and Rosings belonged to her. Oh, what shall I do? My pin money is not enough to live on comfortably and when the truth comes out, I shall be the laughingstock of the whole of London. My father was a wastrel, Mrs Bennet, and though he was an earl, our husbands always had the better fortune. My brother has rebuilt the family seat in reputation and in honour. If my father had lived but one more month our family would have been completely ruined.” Lady Catherine was rambling and lost in her own thoughts and recollections and Mrs Bennet deemed it best to sit and listen. Lady Catherine carried on for a while yet and seemed to require no response from the woman she had chosen to listen to her sad ramblings. She was still talking when Mrs Bennet’s bath was ready, so Mrs Bennet found herself listening to a sad tale of woe, while Lady Catherine seemed to be completely oblivious to whether anyone was there listening or not. Eventually she ran out of things to say and after a suitable few phrases of sympathy from Mrs Bennet, Lady Catherine left Mrs Bennet to prepare for the ball in peace. That is except for the very loud argument that was happening between Elizabeth and her sister Jane just a few doors away.

  By five o’clock that night the ladies were ready, and everyone began to congregate in the parlour. The ladies’ husbands had already arrived and now emerged from Mr Bennet’s study, eager to join the ladies. The look on the gentlemen’s faces made the women laugh. It was as if each and every one of them had not seen his beloved before and was falling in love with her then and there. For the ladies, it made all the extra effort they had made that day all the more worthwhile, and for the gentlemen it was clear that not one of them wanted to attend the ball where other men would be admiring their gorgeous wives. Not one of them could take his eyes off his wife. It was not missed on Mrs Bennet that her eldest watched her married sisters, not with love and joy for them, but with jealousy and if she was not mistaken, a little bit of anger. Jane had been the one who had decided to remain unmarried for the time being. It made no sense as to why Jane would be jealous of her sisters. That is until Mrs Bennet recollected that the income of Elizabeth and Mary’s husbands were far in excess of that of Mr Bingley. Loathe as she was to believe it, Mrs Bennet had to admit that the signs all pointed towards Jane being a fortune hunter of the worst kind. Despite her desire to marry her daughters well, and to the men that could provide well for them, Mrs Bennet had tried to instil in all her daughters that as long as the gentleman had enough to provide a stable home love and respect were the most important elements to a happy home. Where had she gone wrong with her eldest?

  Mrs Bennet was surprised when Mr Bingley stepped into the parlour in front of her husband. He paused upon seeing Jane in the parlour. An expression of love briefly flitted across his face, before being replaced by the pain of Jane’s betrayal. He said nothing to her and ignored her whispered greeting. Instead he made his way towards Lydia, who smiled shyly at him. Upon seeing this, Jane’s expression darkened, and her beauty seemed to be almost entirely eclipsed by the ugliness that was inside. Outwardly Jane still seemed to be very beautiful, but her expression now showed something unpleasant that Mrs Bennet had never seen before. It seemed strange but Elizabeth now seemed like the beauty of the family, as she sparkled in conversation. Mrs Bennet seemed to be seeing her family through new eyes.

  Fairly soon there was a low buzz of conversation as Mrs Bennet conversed with Lady Catherine and the Gardiners, and the young people spoke amongst themselves. It was a pleasure to see how well the next generation seemed to be getting along. Jane was a constant worry as she held herself slightly out of the group. Mrs Bennet was not sure if the conversation was moving too quickly for her as the conversation seemed to be moving between topics extremely fast as the more educated ones of the group discussed each topic and moved on, or if Jane was holding herself out of the group for another reason. Whatever it was, the once beautiful girl was looking less and less like the young girl that Mrs Bennet had raised. The group left the house and Mrs Bennet watched Jane’s expression sour as the married girls took their places in precedence as befitted their place in society, leaving Jane and Lydia to come up the rear as the only two unmarried girls of the group.

  The assembly rooms were already hot and noisy when the group entered. Mrs Bennet watched as her daughters and their husbands mingled with their friends and families. Darcy whispered something in the ear of Mrs Wickham, who scowled at her brother and flounced away as if she had been scolded. The young girl was almost too young to be out in society, let alone to have been married for a year. Yet there she was, a married woman, who did not know how to hold herself, let alone how to behave in society. It was shame, really, that she should stand out so. Assemblies were the one place that any level of society could mingle together. She and her husband should have been able to find their own level. Mrs Bennet noticed that none of the Darcy relations were aiding the couple to find a place in society, it was as if the pair had become pariahs within their societal group. This, Mrs Bennet supposed, was to be the punishment of the imprudent and vindictive couple. It was a fitting punishment for them in her opinion, although she would like to know exactly what other punishment had been meted out, for there was a sullenness in the air of the young woman that said that there was more to this punishment than was publicly visible. The yo
ung girl was obviously out of control.

  There was little out of the ordinary during the ball, and Mrs Bennet noticed that all of her daughters were partnered for every dance. What was curious to Mrs Bennet was that her married daughters did not seem to have had danced with their own husbands. She knew that the rules of society stated that a husband should only dance with his wife once during the evening as he had the chance to socialise with his wife in private, yet it was curious that none of the young ladies had yet danced with her husband. It was not until Mrs Bennet glanced at her own dance card that she realised why. The last dance of the evening was to be a waltz. Mrs Bennet cringed; this scandalous dance had come over from the continent only recently, and was not yet generally acceptable. It was usually only danced in the places like London or Bath, or at private balls held by the few of the gentry who had deemed it acceptable. This was going to be embarrassing. How could Meryton accept a waltz? Would anyone dance this scandalous dance? Did anyone in Meryton know how to dance it? Mrs Bennet shook away such ponderings. A sadness came over her as she realised that it had been many years since her dance card had been filled like her daughters now were. The gentlemen that she and her sisters had once danced the night away with had long since stopped dancing except for one or two odd dances, and now they were more content to sit and gossip together or to play cards and drink too much alcohol.

  The night was almost over, and Mrs Bennet felt fatigued from listening to the older women gossiping about the events of her family’s weddings four days ago. Four days, was that all it had been? It felt as if it had been a lifetime ago. The speculations were bad enough, but the blame and anger about Jane’s treatment of Bingley made Mrs Bennet wonder when it was that her family had become so disliked. Was it possible that they had always been disliked? Or were the people of Meryton just jealous and focusing that jealousy on Jane who was the one who had given them a reason to gossip about her family? Mrs Bennet did not know, but what she did know was that the other families that had come down for the weddings and were just as implicated with the events that had happened seemed to fade into insignificance. Mrs Bennet would have railed against such an injustice, except for one thing. It occurred to her that the reason for this could be that the other families were not known to the inhabitants of Meryton and the surrounding villages. The Bennets were not only known, but had been at Longbourn for many generations, so the gossip surrounding them would have more meaning than that surrounding the families who had married into the Bennet family. Such clarity on such things was not a usual or comfortable thing for Mrs Bennet, but tonight she was comfortable with such a realisation. For the night was passing away quietly and with little drama.