by Lauren King
After listening patiently to Mr. Morgan, Elizabeth says, “Well, Mr. Morgan I hope you will not mind explaining this for the third time if my sister wants to hear it.” Even though Elizabeth understands what Mr. Morgan did, this is such an imprudent mistake for an experienced man of the world. In spite of this, how can she not believe him when it was truly a mistake on his part? A big mistake but he was not purposely deceptive.
“I assure you, I will explain it to Miss Bennet as many times as I need to in order for her to understand my intentions. I am very sorry for such a terrible error in judgement. I wish to court only Miss Bennet; I would have never done such a dishonorable thing as to court two young ladies at once and deceive them like that. Please, believe me; I am not a rake.” Morgan states openly and honestly.
“Well…let me go see if my sister is rested enough to come down, Mr. Morgan.” Elizabeth announces sympathetically.
“Thank you, Miss Elizabeth.” Morgan is grateful that Miss Elizabeth is understanding.
Elizabeth walks into Jane’s chambers when she is bid in. “Jane? How are you feeling?”
“I will be fine, Lizzy. Has Mr. Morgan left, yet?” Jane asks curiously.
“Jane dear, Mr. Morgan is still here, hoping to speak with you. Would you like to speak with him?” Elizabeth responds gently.
“Lizzy, I do not think there is much to talk about anymore, do you? Has he said something to you?” Jane asks inquisitively.
“Yes, he has explained the situation, Jane.” Elizabeth replies forthrightly.
“Do you believe him?” Jane is intrigued.
“I do, Jane, as does William. Mr. Morgan made a very foolish mistake of helping an old childhood friend. He was going to tell you about it after Mrs. Crawford’s situation got resolved. He is very sorry for his dreadful mistake in judgement.” Elizabeth discloses sympathetically.
“Mrs. Crawford is his old childhood friend?” Jane poses with astonishment.
“Yes. Do you want to hear him out?” Elizabeth knows that Jane is usually very forgiving and rather optimistic in all things, thus Mr. Morgan may get a chance to win Jane back. Elizabeth is hopeful that Jane will think about all of this carefully, and then things will resolve positively for them. She knows that Jane truly likes Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Morgan seems to adore Jane as well; consequently, this could be an easy issue to settle.
“I think I will talk to him another time, Lizzy. I mean…I am glad that she is an old childhood friend…but…I want him to think about all this and for him to be certain that he wants to be with me. Do you not think that is fair?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth replies simply.
“If I think about this meticulously, Mr. Morgan thought more about helping Mrs. Crawford than about our courtship or about what I would think seeing him like that. He did not even seek me out to explain to me after we saw him yesterday.”
“Jane, he came over to William’s yesterday to try to explain, and he was planning to call upon you today to explain. However, we saw him again before he could explain which made things worse in our eyes. To be fair, he did try to contact William yesterday.” Elizabeth tries to help the situation.
“If he truly wanted to explain all this and made sure that I did not think ill of him, then he would have made it his priority to seek me out earlier today. Yet, he did not; he went shopping with his old friend and her Mother.” Jane sighs heavily. “He must not have cared enough to explain to me. If he did not care to seek me out to explain until now, after he treated me like a mere acquaintance, then it is not urgent that he explains to me immediately. I am justified in thinking this, right, Lizzy?” Jane asks honestly.
“Well…yes…yes…you are correct in your logic. I agree with you that he should have tried to speak to you first thing this morning.” Elizabeth sighs. “If you do not want to talk to him today, then do not. Do what you feel is best for you, Jane. However, please, do not refuse to listen to him out of hand; even if you decide against him, you should at least here his explanation directly from him. I do not want to influence your thoughts or decisions because I know you are sensible and you will do the right thing. If you want to discuss this more, then I will always be here for you, alright?”
“Thank you, Lizzy. You know you are the best sister and a great person. I know you will always help me. Will you let Mr. Morgan know that I will not talk to him today? I do not know when I will talk to him. He has lost my trust – at least some of my trust.”
“Alright, you rest and I will tell him.” Elizabeth says sadly.
“Lizzy, you should spend time with William. You do not have to come back up here with me. We’ll talk at dinner or tonight before bed time, alright?” Jane encourages. She knows how Elizabeth values her time with William.
“Alright, I will talk to you later, then. I will inform Mr. Morgan. I know he is going to be very worried by your refusal. I do understand your point, though; I just feel bad for him. Well…you rest and I will be downstairs with William if you need me.” Elizabeth says considerately as she leaves.
“Thank you, Lizzy; do not worry about me.” Jane replies warmheartedly.
Both men stand as Elizabeth enters the drawing room. Darcy goes to escort Elizabeth to the sofa. When she sits, both men also sit with anticipation, especially Morgan. Morgan’s feelings already plummeted when he saw Miss Elizabeth come back by herself. He is very worried at permanently losing Miss Bennet. He just needs to talk to her just once so he can explain himself and beg for her understanding of his ill-thinking and bad judgements. Damn it! Damn it!
Elizabeth smiles gently at William and then looks over at Mr. Morgan to say, “Mr. Morgan, my sister would like for me to relay to you that she will not be able to continue your call upon her today.”
“Miss Elizabeth, does Miss Bennet know how sorry I am for making such a foolish, ill-thinking mistake?” Morgan’s apprehension is fully displayed.
“Yes, I revealed to my sister of your regret at your bad judgement. Mr. Morgan, may I ask you a question?”
“Certainly, Miss Elizabeth; I will answer any of your questions.”
“I am curious as to why you did not seek out my sister first thing this morning to explain to her because I am certain that you knew the three of us saw how you acted with Jane during our encounter yesterday.” Elizabeth inquires frankly.
“Miss Elizabeth, I had already promised to take Mrs. Crawford and her Mother to the shops early this morning. I knew that I would see Darcy right after that, and then I was going to call upon Miss Bennet to explain everything. I truly was going to tell Miss Bennet everything today. I never had the intention of hiding anything. It was just all a very bad timing situation.”
“I see.” Elizabeth states simply. She just hopes that Jane believes him and will tolerate this mistake. Mr. Morgan’s actions do seem to point at his friends taking precedence over Jane. Or was it all merely bad coincidences and bad timing? Elizabeth breathes in deeply and looks at Mr. Morgan sympathetically. “Mr. Morgan my sister did not inform me when she will be ready to receive your next call, so I have no further information to present to you.”
“Thank you, Miss Elizabeth for listening to me and for relaying my plight to Miss Bennet. I just hope that she has not absolutely decided against me, yet and will allow me one visit to explain myself.” Morgan states openly and most sincerely; he does not mind that Miss Elizabeth and Darcy see his distress over his relationship with Miss Bennet.
Elizabeth smiles and then stands up to say politely, “You are welcome, Mr. Morgan. Good day to you, sir.”
Both Darcy and Morgan rise and then Morgan replies, “Good day to you, Miss Elizabeth.” Then Morgan bows before quitting the drawing room.
“Lizzy, I will walk Morgan out,” says Darcy.
“Thank you, William.” Elizabeth smiles warmly at her loving, handsome betrothed with whom she thanks God every day that she was blessed.
A few minutes later, Darcy comes back to sit next to Elizabeth. He holds and kisses her hands freely
. Afterwards, he caresses her cheeks affectionately before leaning in to kiss her cheeks. Once he releases her, they gaze at each other adoringly while holding each other’s hand dotingly.
“Darling, I will never prioritize you after my friends. You will, absolutely, always come before them. I am not talking about me being available to an ailing friend or something of that grave nature. I know you would completely understand under those dire circumstances; you are not an inconsiderate person. I think Mr. Morgan’s mistake was just….I think he should have told Jane immediately when he found out that he would be appearing in public with Mrs. Crawford to make another man jealous. To me, that is obvious. I do not know if I would be as straightforward in my thinking if you did what he did.” Elizabeth tells William most earnestly. “Did it not sound to you or seem to you that he did not consider Jane as priority, darling? Maybe he does not care for Jane as much as we thought.” Elizabeth asks quizzically, “Perhaps Mr. Morgan is like Mr. Bingley?”
Darcy cups Elizabeth’s left cheek and rubs his thumb over her lips tenderly while saying, “I can guarantee you, dearest, that I will never be that insensitive or that thoughtless towards you. Most definitely, I will never overlook you for the sake of my friends. Furthermore, I will not help any woman make another man jealous.” Darcy asserts adamantly and then kisses her lips warmly. “As for his consideration towards Jane, Morgan may have merely made an honest mistake in thinking that what he was doing for his friend was not an important issue; therefore, he did not think to immediately tell Jane about it. That part I understand; however, I do see Jane’s side. He should have made every effort, at least, to get to Jane this morning. He will need to be completely honest and accept his responsibility for what he did and for what he has caused to his courtship. It seems that he is more than willing to do that. He does not want to lose Jane; that is evident.” Darcy explains sensibly.
“I know you are not that type of a person.” Elizabeth affectionately caresses William’s cheek tenderly. “I am elated to hear you verbalize it, though; thank you, darling. I love you so very much.” Elizabeth leans in to kiss his cheek lovingly.
“As I love you.” Darcy replies with joy, and then he kisses her lips satisfyingly. With everything that has happened today, he has not kissed her yet.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22nd
For the last five days, Morgan has dropped off his card every day at the Gardiner residence to call upon Miss Bennet, but she has not been available to accept his visit until today. Morgan was planning to drop by every day until she agreed to speak with him; it did not matter how many days he had to stop by. He was not going to make the mistake of time and priorities again. Morgan had spoken again with Darcy two days ago, and Darcy had asked him about the seriousness of his courtship with Jane. Morgan openly told Darcy that he was very sincere about advancing further with Jane; he was determined to pursue her forgiveness. When Darcy mentioned about him appearing to give Mrs. Crawford priority over Miss Bennet, he recognized how that could have been perceived by Miss Bennet, and he was, again, sorry for it. It was never his intention; Mrs. Crawford is only an old friend.
“Miss Bennet, thank you for accepting my call today. I am very glad you took pity on me; I do not want to keep bothering you and your family, but I will not rest until you allow me to apologize and explain.” Morgan expresses penitently.
“I thought that we should get this over with. I should be fair and give you a chance to explain everything that you want to impart.” Jane states serenely.
“Miss Bennet, it is fair and reasonable for you to be upset with me. I fully deserve your ire and disappointment for my ill-thinking; however, I do not want you to think that I made those mistakes because I did not care for you. On the contrary, I care for you immensely. Please, do not say that you want to get this over with. I would like for our courtship to advance. I am very sorry for what I have caused and how it has affected us. I could not be sorrier for my ill-thinking and ill-judgement. I do hope that you will allow me to relay to you all that happened. I never had the intention of hiding anything from you. I am very sorry that I could not acknowledge you the first time we all saw each other in Hyde Park when that other couple was also present. I was doing an old friend a favor; Mrs. Crawford is only an old childhood friend. Will you allow me to explain everything now, Miss Bennet?” Morgan requests with hope.
“Yes, you may explain.” Jane replies composedly. She truly wants to get all of this over with, one way or another. She wants to give him a fair chance to explain his actions, especially when he seems really penitent about his mistake.
Morgan explains every detail of what happened and the circumstances. He answers all of her questions and concerns. He does not care if he has to relay the personal side of Mrs. Crawford’s personal information; he explained everything to Miss Bennet. He volunteers to bring Mrs. Crawford for a meeting with Jane so that Mrs. Crawford could verify his claims if Miss Bennet is agreeable to it. Miss Bennet seems satisfied with his answers, and he is extremely glad because it would be such an injustice if they discontinued their courtship over this. He knows that it looked like he was interested in another lady, but he most definitely is not and was not. In the end, he apologizes again and says that he hopes Miss Bennet will not choose to discontinue their courtship over this.
After much careful consideration, Jane feels that Mr. Morgan’s explanations and apologies are genuine. She really likes Mr. Morgan and would also like to advance beyond their courtship. She just wants to be able to trust him completely again. He has proclaimed that he never intended to keep any of this from her….she will take his word for it. She will trust him again because he sounds and looks sincere in wanting to progress with their courtship. He has devotedly dropped by to call on her five days in a row to get a chance to apologize. Thus she will accept his apologies and move on from this awful experience which she hopes to never encounter again.
“Mr. Morgan, please, excuse my forthrightness, but are you certain that you do not have any other feelings for Mrs. Crawford?” Jane asks frankly and openly. She would never have been this forward with her suitor, but she agrees with Elizabeth when she said that it serves nobody any good if they are not straightforward with those they care for or love. Misunderstandings are too common.
“Your frankness is what I wish for, Miss Bennet. And yes, I am absolutely certain I do not have any other feelings for Mrs. Crawford. I see her only as an old friend; that is all she has been to me. I would never court two ladies at one time like that. Please, accept my sincerest apologies.” Morgan appeals.
Jane breathes in deeply and then releases her breath calmly before saying, “I will accept your apologies, Mr. Morgan. However, at any time, if you feel we are not the right fit for each other, you need not delay your sentiments. I will understand, and there will not be a fuss made over it. I would rather know sooner than later.” Jane looks seriously at Mr. Morgan; she feels Elizabeth’s sentiment applies to her also.
“Thank you, Miss Bennet. I am very happy that you will forgive my mistake. I will endeavor to keep you abreast of my sentiments.” Morgan responds honestly and with gladness.
They slowly ease back into talking about all that has occurred the last two weeks in their lives. Jane tells Mr. Morgan that Lydia has married Sergeant Denny; obviously, she spares the details of the money that her Father had to pay in order to force Sergeant Denny into the marriage. She does not bring up the fact that they did not stay for the actual wedding.
Morgan asks, “Miss Bennet, I would like to invite you, Miss Elizabeth, Darcy, and the Gardiners to a dinner party that my parents are giving next Wednesday. My parents will leave for their estate in a couple of weeks; therefore, I would like to introduce you to them. I have told them about our courtship; hence, obviously, they would like to meet you.”
“Oh…I would like to meet them too, Mr. Morgan; thank you. Will it be a large dinner party, sir?” Jane slowly gets back to her usual self; it will take a little while for them to resume what the
y had, but they will get there if they want.
“I think I heard my Mother say it will be about forty people, including your family. I have the invitation here.” Morgan hands Miss Bennet an invitation, and she takes it happily.
“Thank you. I will give this to my Aunt later. Would you like some tea or coffee, Mr. Morgan?” Jane asks politely; she tries to capture her easiness with Mr. Morgan again. She was truly hurt by his actions, but she will try not to dwell over it; she trusts that Mr. Morgan will not do anything like this to her again. She is very glad that they are back together because just contemplating not being around Mr. Morgan anymore depresses her. She knows that depression would have set in after the anger and disappointment dissipated. She is pleased that was not the result.
“Next Wednesday is the 28th, Mr. Morgan?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I almost forgot; my family is coming to town early to attend Elizabeth’s wedding. They will arrive that afternoon.” Jane informs Mr. Morgan.
“Well then your parents are invited too. I will let my Mother know to include two more places.”
“Mr. Morgan, will that not look very…will not people talk about you inviting my family to your parents’ home? We are not…we are only courting, yet my parents and my Uncle and Aunt will meet your parents. Will that not signify something very serious, sir? I do not expect that you have to invite my parents and my Uncle and Aunt at this point. I do not want to put you in a bind, sir.” Jane speaks honestly.
“What do you mean, Miss Bennet? I am very serious about our courtship; are you not?” Morgan inquires earnestly.
“I am, Mr. Morgan, but I am trying to make things less complicated for you.” Jane states sincerely. She does not want him to make this decision to compensate for the mistake that he made. “Mr. Morgan, are you having your parents invite us because…you feel like you have to prove something to me or you feel you have to recompense for your mistake?” Jane is direct; she does not want any misunderstanding between them now that they have just begun again.