There were too many guests for them to fit into any one room of the house, so despite the snow on the ground, the doors in the dining parlour were thrown open and the guests spilled out over the lawns of Longbourn. There was an air of confusion amongst the guests. There were many who wished nothing more than to discuss the scandal of Jane’s abandonment of Bingley and Wickham’s perfidy. Yet they all wished also to celebrate the three weddings that had taken place.
The trouble began not long after the guests settled in. A smirking Wickham made his way into the gardens with Georgiana. Instantly Darcy’s face darkened. That man had been the bane of his existence. Mrs Bennet had only heard Mr Wickham’s sorry tale but after the events of the morning, she had begun to doubt the truthfulness of Wickham’s assertions. Before Wickham had reached a seat, Darcy had left his new wife’s side and crossed the garden to where Wickham stood smirking with Georgiana. “What is going on?” Darcy’s voice was cold and hard. The other guests at the wedding moved away from the two men and the woman who was at the heart of this trouble.
“I would have thought you would want to be celebrating with your wife, while I am just attending your wedding celebration with my wife.” Wickham did not have a chance to say anything else as Darcy’s fist once again connected with his stomach.
“How this situation has come about I am not sure, but I intend to find out.” Darcy growled, as he continued to punch Wickham. The fight was far from a fair one, as Wickham had been so caught by surprise that he had not time to react before the next blow arrived. “My sister is only sixteen!”
“We...” Wickham struggled to speak and found that he could not finish what he tried.
“...fell in love” Georgiana whispered, through her tears. “Please stop, Brother. I... I... will explain – everything”
“I am sorry Georgie, but this wastrel has brought shame and heartache to our family for the last time. I will not stand for anymore of his manipulations and disgraces. It has to stop, and it has to stop NOW!”
“Please stop.” Georgiana almost screamed.
“Why should he stop? That man is not loyal to you or to anyone but himself. Darcy is only giving him what he deserves.” Lydia spoke up. Georgiana made no reply, she turned her back on Lydia and began to walk away. Lydia followed her. “You do know that he does not love you, don’t you? How could he love you and have made love to me?”
Georgiana whirled around, “Made love to you? Why I knew every disgusting detail of his time with you. He told me everything - even the favours that you gave him. Oh, he most assuredly was not making love, you silly ignorant girl. He was toying with you, every sordid little moment of the time.”
As the girls’ intensified their fight, Darcy had stopped beating Wickham, and now looked at Georgiana and Lydia with a disgusted interest. He had never seen his sister in this light before, she had always seemed to be so innocent and shy. Had it all been an act? He was about to ask for Georgiana’s explanations when Georgiana lunged at Lydia slapping at her and pulling at her hair. “You would have stolen my husband if you could.”
“Pfft... You can keep your darling husband. I want a man that will be all mine, not one who will spread himself around, and bring home disease. If I had known what he was, I would never have touched him!” Lydia screeched. Wickham tried to rouse himself, but Darcy kept his boot on Wickham’s chest, there was no way at all that Darcy would allow him to get up just yet. Darcy wanted to see how this played out.
Mrs Bennet was becoming overwhelmed with the fights that were going on, and her natural hysterical nature was now beginning to exert itself, she moved back into the dining parlour intending to find some quiet solitude for a few minutes and to relax her nerves. On the veranda, she found a very unamused Mr Bennet watching another public disagreement.
“Fanny! How dare you disgrace the family like that this morning?” Sir Thomas Bertram growled. “You have distressed your Aunt Bertram such that she is prostrate on the couch in the parlour.”
“Then I must go to her immediately, sir.” Fanny tried to cross the room to the door, but Sir Thomas firmly held her in place on the dining room chair.
“You will stay where you are. Your sister Susan is looking after her right now. If she sees you her distress will be even greater.” Miss Fanny Price looked upset, but it was clear there was no way she was ever going to apologise. “You will not leave here until I have an explanation for your behaviour.”
Miss Price raised her chin higher, “Then, Sir, we will never leave this room, for I shall never explain. Ask Edmund if you must have an explanation. He knows what he did.”
“You have caused enough trouble for Edmund and Catherine. You will leave the two of them alone! I want the explanation from you, and you alone.” Miss Price blushed, and remained silent. “Fanny, this recalcitrance in you is not acceptable, and it leads me to only one course of action. You must marry, or permanently return to your parents’ home. I bore with your refusal to marry Henry Crawford whose subsequent behaviour bore out that you were right, but the next potential husband I find for you, you will marry or I will send you back to your parents.” Sir Thomas looked as if he would explode. However, just as he had almost mastered his rage Fanny stood up and half turned so that the wind caught her dress and showed the outline of her body. “I hope you are not going to blame either of my sons for that!”
“No sir, I...” Miss Price sat down. “It was while we were at Ramsgate, sir. I do not know why I passed out, but twice I did so. The deed was done during that time. I have no idea who it was or what happened. We had returned to Mansfield by the time as I realised fully what had taken place. By then whoever it was that did this was long gone, and I am left to pick up the pieces.”
“Where were my sons at this time? You were supposed to be with them. Maria was kept home.” Sir Thomas was visibly upset.
“They were courting the Miss Bennets. It was not their fault, aside from when we went to our lodgings at night, we were all one big group as we arranged everything together and generally all socialised in the same group. That was why I was not aware that anything untoward had happened until we returned home. I had passed out with members of our group around me, and when I came around, they were all still nearby.” Miss Price answered.
“Who do you think is most likely to be responsible?”
“I do not know; our group of friends was so large while at Ramsgate it could have been any of the gentlemen.”
“Some of those gentlemen are very honourable men, who have unstained reputations. That kind of accusation will only lead to the completion of your ruin. You will never be able to come back from such an accusation.”
“I know, sir.”
“This discussion is not over, but for now, Fanny, go and enjoy the celebrations. Stay away from your both of your aunts, and stay away from Edmund.” Miss Price hurried from the dining room, almost knocking over Mrs Bennet in her hurry. Mrs Bennet leaned heavily on her husband’s arm. What should have been a wonderful celebration had turned into a disaster.
“I feel weak” Mrs Bennet whispered. Before Mr Bennet could guide his wife to her private rooms, the final shock arrived in the form of the kitchen maid coming to quietly explain that the three cooks amoung themselves had somehow managed to ruin the food. It was uneatable. Salt had been swapped with sugar, and food had been left on the range for too long resulting in burnt and wasted food. Mrs Bennet looked about and noticed that no one had been eating anything from her wonderfully planned wedding breakfast. Several of her guests seemed to have drunk too much wine and other alcohol while waiting for the food that would never arrive. To make matters worse, there was a loud crack of thunder and the very skies seemed to open. This only made Mrs Bennet feel that this day had been cursed.
It was at that point that Mrs Bennet’s hysterics broke out, while her guest scattered in every direction seeking what shelter could be found in the house and gardens The scandal, the shock, the turmoil and the humiliation was too much for the matriarch
.
Chapter 6 – 30th December 1812
Six Geese A Laying
“Come now Mrs Bennet, everything will be well,” Mrs Goulding reassured her friend. “There was no real harm done yesterday.”
“HOW CAN IT BE?” MRS Bennet wailed. “My eldest daughter had her chance to find a husband and walked away from it. Lizzy is married so she cannot help Jane now.”
“Lizzy has always been good to Jane, but you have worried yourself over Jane too much, she has always been the epitome of good. Nobody could have a sweeter temperament than your Jane.”
“That is as it may be but Jane will never be able to be like you and me. Then there’s Lydia. She is in an even more precarious position. Everyone knows what happened with Mr Wickham.” Mrs Bennet worried. “They will have only fifty pounds a year to live on if they never find another suitor, and that is not enough to even pay rent on a small cottage. Look at Jane over there, she is hanging on every word that man says.” Jane Bennet was in the corner of the morning room talking sedately to Mr Rushworth, an acquaintance that had made Mrs Bennet rather uneasy.
“Jane is a sensible girl.” Mrs Long said. “She knows how to look after herself.”
“No, that is where you are wrong. Jane is sensible, but she believes the best about people and therefore it is easy to take advantage of her.” Mrs Bennet moved across the room. She wanted to know what Rushworth and Jane were talking about. However, once Mrs Bennet got close, they stopped talking. It was this behaviour that aroused Mrs Bennet’s suspicions even higher. It appeared to Mrs Bennet that both her eldest and her youngest daughters were in a lot of trouble. Mr Bingley had been very kind to Lydia yesterday, but he had not come near the house today. That Mrs Bennet could understand. The way that Jane had treated him, it was clear that he had been crushed by her behaviour. Mrs Bennet joined her friends at the other end of the room, “Poor Lydia held a brave face all day yesterday, but she cried all night last night. She said she could not face anyone today, so I allowed her to stay in her room. I do not understand Jane’s behaviour though. How could she walk away from Mr Bingley like that? But if Miss Darcy’s insinuations are correct then Lydia is completely ruined.”
“Worry not, we all saw how maliciously she was treated. Why anyone would conspire against your family I do not know. All your family has ever done was be good and kind and gentle.” Lady Lucas said.
“It was not against your family, but against mine,” Lady Catherine said. “Mr Wickham has been a thorn in our sides ever since he was a child. My brother-in-law was blind when it came to that child. The one thing that Mr Wickham has wanted since he was a child was Pemberley. Mr Wickham’s plan was to inflict as much hurt against my sister’s son as possible.”
“But why use my daughter Lydia so?” Mrs Bennet wailed.
“Darcy’s biggest strength and his biggest weakness is his love for his family. By being secretly married to Georgiana and making love to Lydia, Wickham has struck a double blow to Darcy. He has not ruined Darcy, but he has hurt him,” Lady Catherine explained. “The fact is that Darcy will weather this storm and it would not hurt him socially, but Georgiana is lost to us all. She has married the son of the steward in questionable circumstances. It matters not if we challenge the marriage as having taken place without her guardians’ consent or not. Georgiana has lost her place in our society and lost her reputation.”
“All this fuss over what is already done.” Lady Bertram said in her quiet way. “There is a bigger problem we have with Fanny. I really depend on her, but after...” Lady Bertram loved Fanny Price and still found it difficult to understand her niece’s behaviour the previous day.
“Lady Bertram” Lady Catherine said in her imperious way. “Your niece was clearly influenced by my own. Which leads back to nobody but that awful Mr Wickham. They both need to have a firm hand, the difference between our nieces is that yours has hope for redemption, but mine never will.”
“I do not know why Fanny would do such things. We have given her a good home ever since she was ten years old and my sister had too many children to provide for. My husband and I provided the best education for her and my children. Yet, now all of them have stepped off the path that we taught them. I really do not know what I shall do without Fanny Price.” Lady Bertram moaned, Susan Price went to the side and made up a calming tonic for her aunt. It was a closely held secret that in time of extreme upset Lady Bertram would use a tonic of port wine with the smallest amount of opium added to it.
Mrs Bennet called once more for her smelling salts. Her hysterics were getting out of control, secretly Susan wished she could give the same tonic to Mrs Bennet. The potential ruin for Jane and Lydia, Miss Price and Georgiana Wickham was too much for her. Mrs Bennet’s caring heart was overwhelmed and her mind overburdened with the way that those girls' minds had been twisted and tortured. Mrs Bennet had been worried over her girls for the last twenty-two years. Her worries over Longbourn’s entailment and Jane and Lydia being so easily manipulated, meant that Mrs Bennet frequently had visions of poor outcomes for her daughters, both waking and sleeping. Now the events of the previous day were weighing heavily on her soul, almost taunting her with evidence her visions were correct. The chattering of her friends and family was making her worries even worse. Jane was not behaving like herself. What was it that man was saying to her that was making her behave so unlike herself? There was something about the two of them that looked oddly like falling in love, while at the same time it looked like an odd friendship. There would be nothing for it, Mrs Bennet would have to go across and make the acquaintance of the strange young man, that she so far had been unable to take any time to give notice. It would give her a break from the gossiping women at the other end of the room that had not cease to talk about the problems arising from the previous day’s events.
Jane looked up as her mother approached. This was the second time her mother had approached her side of the morning room. “Mama, is there anything wrong?”
“No, nothing wrong, Jane. I just wished to have a chat with you and Mr Rushworth.” The narrowing of Jane’s eyes told Mrs Bennet everything. Jane resented her mother’s interference in her conversation with this young man. Given the young man’s history Mrs Bennet did not expect that she would have any pleasure at all in this conversation, after all he was not known for his eloquence nor for his wit. Mrs Bennet had only heard him talking of his misfortune with his first wife in the odd few conversations she had overheard. However, this unfortunate young man was to surprise her. She turned to him now, “Mr Rushworth, I apologise that I have not been able talk much with you before now.”
“No need to apologise, Madam” the pompous young man answered before she could finish her speech. “Your eldest daughter has made me feel quite at home.” Mrs Bennet cringed. What was he going to come out with next? “You need have no fear of me, Madam. I am quite content. I have been telling your daughter of the little play that we were to put on at Mansfield Park, I would have given her one of my two and forty speeches, but alas I cannot seem to recall any of them now.”
It could not be could it? Mrs Bennet put on her best fake smile, “Pray Mr Rushworth, what was the name of the play? Perhaps we have a copy here in our library.” It was not the play itself that interested Mrs Bennet, but the man and she would find out more before assuming on the idea forming in her mind.
“Why it was...” Rushworth screwed up his face in the same way that Lydia did when she could not remember something that she knew she should. Mrs Bennet’s interests rose further, but she left the young man to think. She watched Jane who patiently sat next to this young man with an interest equally as keen as her mother’s. “Why I am not sure that I can recall what play it was, after all. I know I did not imagine the play.”
“It was Lover’s Vows” came the quiet, but contemptuous voice from the corner of the room. Miss Fanny Price was now speaking up. “The play itself is not suitable for anything but the lowest of theatres. Yet my cousins deemed it to be a pla
y that they wanted to perform in front of strangers, no less.”
“Hush, Fanny!” came the quiet but assured voice of Lady Bertram.
“Lover’s Vows” Mrs Bennet said quietly and then sent Jane to see if her father had a copy. Had she known the content of that play beforehand, Mrs Bennet would have been much affronted that it should have even been mentioned in her morning room. It took Jane a few minutes to before she returned to the morning room with the book in hand. Her determination to prove her suspicions meant that she was not quite prepared for the vileness that was put forward from the play. She randomly flipped open the play and showed it to Mr Rushworth, who took it from her and in a halting voice began to read the part of count Cassel.
“‘Not in a grave, serious, reflecting man such as you, I grant. But in a gay, lively, inconsiderate, flimsy, frivolous coxcomb, such as myself, it is excusable: for me to keep my word to a woman, would be deceit: 'tis not expected of me.’” Rushworth read. “Oh, but this is but the last of my speeches, let me read some of my earlier ones.”
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