B00BKPAH8O EBOK

by Winslow, Shannon

  “Monsieur!” Mary cried in alarm at being thus attacked. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Oh, my darling, do you not know? Have you failed to perceive how much I admire and love you? You alone have captured both my heart and my soul, and I can hide my true feelings no longer. I am a lost man, Miss Bennet, unless you will save me. Will you not take pity on me now, I beg you, and agree to be my wife?”

  Mary was dumbstruck by so violent and unexpected a declaration. She could not utter a single syllable for fully half a minute, during which time her mind raced to assess this new information. Simultaneously, Monsieur Hubert’s lips rushed to further his suit.

  “We will be so happy, my dear Mary. I know it. We think alike, you and I. We speak the same language. Together we will make beautiful music and poetry – only music and poetry… and perhaps children who will inherit the best of these abilities.”

  “Wait, Monsieur,” interrupted Mary, regaining her power of speech. “You forget that I have made no answer, nor indeed can I at this minute. Your declaration has taken me completely by surprise.”

  “Mais, oui! The surprise, it is a welcome one, non?”

  Mary hesitated. “No, I mean yes. Certainly I am flattered, Monsieur, flattered and honoured. More than that I cannot say at present. It is an idea I never before considered.”

  “Ah, yes of course, my angel. Your modesty, it has naturally prevented such a happy possibility from entering your head. But now you must think of it. You must take all the time you need to decide. I trust that then you will come to the right conclusion. One can only see how content we shall be together. I am not a rich man, it is true, and yet I can give you a good home – in London, or Hertfordshire if you prefer – and the benefit of some of the best society available.

  “One thing more, my dearest Mary. I see that you value your independence, and I admire you for it. That need not change so much when we are married. You shall be free to manage the household as you see fit, to accompany me on my travels or to stay at home, just as you please. I think you will find that I make very few demands on you. Only say yes, and I am the happiest man that ever lived.”

  Mary could not help being moved. “You pay me a very high compliment indeed, Monsieur. I am overwhelmed by your generosity. Still, I must have time to carefully consider.”

  “But, of course. I am also a patient man. You will give me your answer when I return in January, yes?”

  “Yes, I will,” promised Mary.

  At this, he smiled the smile of a confident man and tenderly brushed his lips and moustache across the back of her hand. He bowed his way from the room and left the house. Then looking back and espying her at the window, he kissed his own hand to her as a parting salute before entering his carriage and driving away.

  It was impossible, of course, or so she thought at first. She did not love Monsieur Hubert – not in a romantic sort of way at least – and it was only out of delicacy of feeling that she had promised to think about his proposal at all.

  That he should love her was astonishing… and also highly gratifying, Mary had to admit. One could not help feeling much for such a man, the first (and apparently the only) who had ever conceived the notion of choosing her for a wife. What was it that he saw in her that all the others had missed? Had he been able to look past her plain exterior to an inner landscape that was pleasing to his esthetic eye? Was he truly able to prefer the qualities of the mind over the more base attractions of the physical form? That must be the case, Mary reasoned, which proved him a man superior to most… and perhaps the best man for her, in the end? What would life be like being married to a music master?

  “It is likely to be the best offer I ever receive,” she told Elizabeth the following day, when she decided to confide in her. “Very possibly my only offer. I am now eight-and-twenty, and I must be practical.”

  “Ask Charlotte about making the practical choice, if you must. See if she regrets compromising everything for the sake of a comfortable home. You must not ask me, Mary, not unless you wish to be talked out of it. You know my sentiments – that there is nothing more loathsome, more repugnant than the idea of marrying a man one does not love. Do anything rather than marry without affection!”

  “But I do have affection for Monsieur Hubert,” replied Mary, prompted to argue the other side of the case out of a sense of fairness. “Perhaps love would follow, as it often does, I believe.”

  “Will you stake your happiness, your entire future on it?”

  “I only said I would consider his offer, and that is what I am doing – considering all the possibilities. You can trust me to behave rationally, Lizzy. Have I not always done so?”

  “Be that as it may, Mary, your rational mind might not be your best counselor this time, for who can by power of reason alone account for the ways of love?”

  43

  Christmas Guests

  The entire company from the south arrived at once, the Gardiners having traveled first from London to Longbourn, and then from there on to Derbyshire in tandem with the Bennets’ carriage containing Mrs. Bennet, Kitty, and Mr. Tristan Collins. Hearing the commotion, Mary prepared herself and then came downstairs to face them.

  The four Gardiner children, now more than half grown, issued through the door first, followed by their parents. All these were warmly received by Elizabeth. “Mr. Darcy has ridden off on an errand of business,” she was saying as Mary arrived on the scene. “But he will be delighted to welcome you when he very shortly returns. And here is Mary.”

  Mary was soon swallowed up by the little band of travelers and their cheerful greetings. When she emerged again, the others had come in as well.

  “So, there you are, Mary,” said Mrs. Bennet. “I had begun to despair of ever seeing you again. You seem well enough, though, for all your dramatics and ill-judged exploits. We have carried your trunk with us from Longbourn too, just as you asked, though I could little understand your need of such trifles as it contains when you have your sister’s hospitality and this entire estate at your disposal. I daresay the library here has a copy of every book ever printed, and yet you could not be content without having your own poor volumes returned to you.”

  “Thank you, Mama. I am pleased to see you as well.”

  Mary then turned to where Kitty and Mr. Tristan waited to greet her. There was a moment of awkwardness, each of the three acutely conscious of events – though now nearly four months past – that had played out between them at their last meeting. Perceiving that the other two waited to be guided by her actions, Mary broke the tension by embracing her sister and then offering her hand and a tepid smile to Tristan. “I am happy you have come,” said she. “I am glad to see you again… both of you.” And, much to her own surprise, she found that it was very nearly true.

  “I am delighted to see you looking so well,” said Tristan.

  “Oh, Mary, you cannot imagine how worried I have been for you,” said Kitty, sinking her voice and glancing about. “Going away so very abruptly as you did, and so soon after… Well, I hoped we… that is to say, I hoped the shock Tristan and I gave you is not to blame.”

  “You may put that ridiculous idea out of your mind at once, Kitty. It was simply time for a change, as I explained in my letter. I am needed here at Pemberley now.”

  “So I must have told your sister a dozen times,” said Tristan. “‘Mary has a life of her own and knows how to go about it,’ said I. ‘She is not so much at a loss for direction as to be ruled by our paltry little affairs.’ And if I might add, Miss Mary, your nephews are fortunate indeed to have such a kind and capable aunt come to look out for their education.”

  Mary acknowledged the handsome compliment with a slight inclination of her head. Tristan then moved off to greet his hostess whilst Mary continued with a private word for Kitty. “You do not go to London this winter as you had proposed?” she asked.

  Kitty shook her head. “We had expected to stay with my aunt and uncle, if you recall, which became
impossible once we discovered they intended to come here for Christmas. But then we thought that three weeks in Derbyshire would do as well for us as three weeks in London. We could have returned to Hertfordshire married and hopefully no one the wiser. That was the plan. The year of mourning for Papa is nearly gone, you know.”

  “Yes, impossible as it is to believe.”

  “It would seem but a month or two, except for all that has happened. I am sure a year ago I never had any idea of being married by now to my cousin, whom I had not once set eyes on before! How strangely these things do turn out! And another thing you should know, Mary… ”

  Mr. Darcy came in just then, accompanied by his dogs, and a clamor of human and canine voices erupted, putting a swift end to the whispered tête-à-tête between the two sisters.

  There it was again. Mary felt the now-familiar lurch of her heart at her brother-in-law’s sudden appearing. In her mind’s eye, it was Mr. Farnsworth who strode into the hall. For that moment, it was Mr. Farnsworth who stopped less than three feet from her, and Mr. Farnsworth who effortlessly took command of the room.

  “Excellent!” Darcy declared above the din. “I am gratified to see you have all arrived safely, and sorry I was not here to receive you properly.” Turning to Mr. Gardiner and shaking his hand, he continued, “You must have made good time, sir. We did not look for you until at least two hours hence. Mr. Collins, very good to have you with us again.” And in like manner he greeted them all – with a bow, a firm shake of the hand, a confident word, a gesture of regard.

  However Mary might try to put Netherfield’s master out of her mind, it was useless with this powerful reminder ever before her in the form of Mr. Darcy.

  ~~*~~

  Mr. Tristan’s presence Mary soon learnt to endure with tolerable equanimity. Although he and Kitty still concealed their real situation, they now made very little secret of their mutual regard. No one with eyes and an ounce of sense could doubt their strong attachment, certainly no one at Pemberley that Christmas, for they were rarely out of each other’s company when they could be in it. And if an excuse existed for them to get off by themselves to the garden or library, they were sure to find it. None of this was lost on the others, as their significant looks and knowing comments clearly attested.

  Mrs. Gardiner, one morning in the drawing room, nodded toward the couple talking close together by the fire. “What do you think of it?” she asked of Mary and Elizabeth with a conspiratorial smile. “A most suitable connection everybody must consider it – but I think it might be a very happy one as well. One can only sympathize that they are kept waiting. Better that they should be allowed to marry at once.”

  Mary smiled pleasantly and said nothing.

  Elizabeth was more forthcoming, agreeing with her aunt in all respects and prophesying that it would not be long before they heard something definite from the young lovers.

  Not surprisingly, Mrs. Bennet was the most vocal on this topic, wasting no opportunity to expound on her felicity, and on her satisfaction at foreseeing the match, to anybody who would listen. Cornering Mary on one occasion, she began anew. “You see how it is with your sister and Mr. Tristan. It is exactly as I planned it all those months ago. Oh, I am so happy! Kitty will be mistress of Longbourn, and there shall be no occasion for me moving out. Of course, I would not wish to be in their way once they are married. All newlyweds need a bit of privacy. I might stay a month at Heatheridge with your sister Jane, or perhaps I will have a holiday at Brighton and go sea-bathing. Have you never heard me say before that a little sea-bathing would set me up forever?”

  “Yes, Mama, and I recall the circumstances all too well,” Mary said gravely.

  “You make allusions to Lydia’s trip to Brighton, I suppose, which never did her any harm in the end. Or the rest of us either, for that matter. Elizabeth and Jane married exceedingly well despite all that, and now Kitty is on the brink of an excellent match as well. When news of her engagement becomes known in Meryton, it may have a very telling effect, for people do say that the expectation of one wedding is enough to bring on another. Perhaps Mr. Farnsworth’s plans will move forward again, now his son is on the mend. It was entirely fitting that he should have set aside thoughts of matrimony whilst the boy lay at death’s door, but there can be no occasion for postponing any longer.”

  Feigning nonchalance, Mary asked, “So, is it quite a settled thing that he is to marry again?”

  “Oh, yes, my dear. I am surprised you are not better informed. One hears of it everywhere these days. He is engaged to a Miss Haystack, or Harcourt, or some such name.”

  “Could it be Hawkins, Miss June Hawkins?”

  “Very likely so. I do not recall exactly, but it is said she is young and beautiful, and of course rich – the daughter of a friend of his. It was all settled between them months ago. The only wonder was, what they could be waiting for, till the business with the boy happened; then indeed it was clear enough that they must wait till he was sufficiently recovered. And so he is now.”

  “Have you ever spoken to Mr. Farnsworth yourself, Mama, on this or any other topic, since I came away? Or have you had any kind of correspondence from him?”

  “Heavens, no! Why should Mr. Farnsworth want to write to me, pray? And he almost never leaves the house anymore, I am told, not since his son fell ill. Although I daresay that cannot last; he is sure to take an interest in the outside world again soon. He had better, for his new wife will not take kindly to being shut up in that big house. A bride must have her due, you know – parties and visits and all manner of merrymaking. Do you think I shall be invited to the wedding? I will be quite cut up if I am not. It is sure to be a grand affair, and I would not miss it for the world. I always say, there is nothing I like so much as a high tone wedding.”

  Mary told herself that her mother’s information might proceed from nothing more than the false witness of idle gossip. However, with no better authority available, there seemed little reason for skepticism, little justification for supposing the prevailing public theory incorrect in this case. After all, she had seen the evidence with her own eyes before she had come away and arrived at the same conclusion.

  Mary brightened when she considered that Mrs. Brand must surely know the truth, and in her letters she had made no mention of any such extraordinary announcement in the offing. But then that good lady had only contracted for reporting one kind of news. She could have no reason to suppose that a development on the romantic front would be of more than passing interest to Mary.

  In fact, it was of very keen interest to her indeed. Whilst everybody at Pemberley seemed consumed with Kitty and Tristan’s developing situation, Mary’s own thoughts dwelt more and more on the distressing possibility of a different alliance afar off in Hertfordshire.

  44

  Announcement

  The holiday itself began with a trip to Kympton for church. Later, back at Pemberley, much was made of the Christmas dinner and of the children’s enjoyment – all twelve Bingley, Darcy, and Gardiner offspring – and of the special little treats and traditions established within the family to commemorate the occasion. Mary was called upon to render the day all the more festive by employing her musical abilities, playing a number of yuletide hymns and popular tunes on the piano-forte.

  That evening, after the children were all tucked quietly into their beds and the adults were assembled in one of the drawing rooms, Mr. Tristan Collins cleared his throat noisily as he rose to his feet, capturing the attention of the rest, as he no doubt intended. Other conversations fell away, and everybody turned towards him with heightened expectations.

  “Excuse me for interrupting,” said Tristan. “I have something important I must say to all of you, and now seems as good a time as any.” He looked at Kitty and received an encouraging nod.

  “Go ahead, Mr. Collins,” said Elizabeth with a hint of merriment in her eye. “We are an eager audience.”

  For a moment, Tristan bowed his head in thought before proc
eeding with deliberation. “First, I must thank you all for welcoming me so graciously. I do not mind telling you now that I came to Longbourn with a measure of trepidation, uncertain of what kind of reception awaited me. After all, there was the longstanding disagreement between the two branches of our family to consider, as well as the more unforgivable business of the entail. You might have rightfully resented my intrusion into your lives, and especially into your home. Instead, I was shown kindness and affability at every turn. I was made to feel one of the family from the very moment of my first arriving,” he declared with a smile at Mary, “and all the more so since.”

  Here again he rested his affectionate gaze on his secret wife. “I am certain, moreover, that none of you will be surprised to learn that I have developed feelings of a very tender nature for one member of the Bennet family in particular, one who fortunately returns my regard. Now, with you all assembled here, and with the year of mourning for her late, honored father having nearly passed, Kitty and I had wished to take this opportunity to announce our engagement.”

  A gratifying chorus of congratulations poured forth as each one of the company hurried to register his or her approbation, beginning with the eager but barely intelligible expostulations of Mrs. Bennet. She squealed exactly like a schoolgirl and clapped her hands together before exclaiming, “Oh, I am so very, very happy! But then I always knew how it would be!”

  “This is excellent news indeed!” said Mr. Gardiner at the same time.

  “Congratulations, my good fellow,” said Mr. Bingley next, shaking Tristan’s hand. “You could not have made a better choice.”

  “I am so very pleased for you, dear Kitty,” added Jane, “for both of you.”