“The ways that matter most—” Jamie shook his head. “Margaret, what matters most is that I will always be a Rom—a gypsy’s son. And you will always be a gentleman’s daughter.”
“That does not matter to me.” I looked at Jamie steadily. “Does it matter to you? Are you afraid that your tribe would never forgive you for marrying a gadjo girl? Or do you feel that way yourself—do you despise me because my ancestors were not Romany?”
Jamie looked shocked again. “God, no! And as for my tribe, I have none—not really, not anymore. But you … you deserve a husband you can be proud of—someone who can stand beside you, in your world. Not one who is … one who will always stand somewhere halfway between your world and mine.” Jamie pushed his hair back from his brow with one hand and shook his head. “That sounds as though I feel trapped—or resent the choices that have led me here. I don’t. I am sorry to have lost my family—my brother. But I cannot regret leaving all those years ago—or where the years have led me.” He stopped. “I have not told you—Colonel Brandon has been in touch with some of his old army friends. They have made arrangements for me to purchase a commission—a captaincy—if I want it.”
“Oh.” I felt rather blank with surprise. Not that I was surprised by Colonel Brandon’s being grateful for the service Jamie had done. But an army commission was—in the eyes of the world, at least—a vast step upwards to one in Jamie’s position. A captaincy meant an income, and the title—if not exactly the pedigree—of a gentleman. “A captaincy—and are you going to accept? Is that what you wish? To rejoin the army as an officer?”
Jamie lifted one shoulder. “I need to find Sam, wherever he is gone. And Chalmers … I want to see him captured, if I can. I want to make sure that he can no longer spread his poisoned webs and cause the deaths of good men. Besides, there is a war coming, and soon. Men like Chalmers—they are chipping away at Britain’s defences. Hoping to leave a way open for Napoleon’s armies to invade. All of those are good arguments for remaining in uniform. I even believe them. But I confess that—”
Jamie stopped and let out a long breath, straightening his shoulders. “I confess that mostly, I was thinking of you. Thinking that there would be not such an immense gap between us if I were to pay you addresses as Captain Cooper. Except that I am not sure … not sure that it lessens the gap enough.”
He looked down at his ink-stained hands. “I was writing to you, actually, when you came. Or trying to. Writing letter after letter only to tear them up again.” He raised his gaze back to mine. “Because whether I call myself Captain Cooper or Corporal Cooper or Jamie Kalderash, who I am will never truly change. And for me to ask you to give up everything by marrying me—”
“I would not be giving up everything.” My heart had started to pound. “I would not be giving up anything—not anything that I value,” I said. “Purchase your commission if you wish—if it is truly what you want—and I will be happy for you.”
Happy for Jamie, and perhaps a little for my mother, as well. I could understand now what Marianne had meant when she said that our mother might not have as many objections to a match between Jamie and me as she might have had before. There was no question that a captaincy would make a difference in the place Jamie held in society. But for myself—
I took a step towards him—close enough that I might reach up and touch his cheek. “But I do not care about your name, your rank—none of that matters to me. You said before that who you were would not change, and that is true—and I am glad of it. More glad than I can say. Because who you are is what makes any difficulties that the world may push in our way of no consequence at all. At least to me.” I swallowed. “Do you not see? Who you are? That is what made me fall in love with you.”
Jamie looked down at me, his eyes very dark in his lean face—dark and wondering, as though he could not quite believe what he heard. Slowly, his hand came up, sliding down my hair to rest at the curve of my neck. “Margaret.” His chest was rising and falling rapidly. “You said before— You called me an honourable man. And I know that the honourable thing now would be to tell you to wait … to consider. Not to commit yourself to anything you might later come to regret. But I … I cannot seem to do it. Not when there is something I wish to say … something I wish to ask you so much I can scarcely breathe.”
“I suppose—” My own breath was unsteady. The warmth of Jamie’s touch was seeping into me, making the blood race in my veins. “I suppose that you should ask it, then.”
Jamie seemed to brace himself—and then he took both of my hands in his. “Margaret Mary Dashwood, will you be my wife?”
I suppose there is really no need to write my answer here, but for the sake of completeness, I will set it down:
Yes!
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Family Trees
There are three families involved in Margaret Dashwood’s Diary:
-Dashwood
-Ferrars
-Brandon / Willoughby / Williams
-Middleton / Jennings / Palmer
Please note that in some cases, Jane Austen did not specify characters’ first names. Uncanonical first names (e.g. Colonel [Christopher] Brandon) and invented characters are shown in square brackets, and characters who were deceased at the start of the story are shown in parentheses. A comprehensive genealogical summary of the original Sense and Sensibility characters is available at pemberley.com.
Dashwood
(Henry Dashwood)
m. (first wife)
+-John Dashwood
| m. Fanny Ferrars
| +-Harry
m. Mrs. Dashwood
+-Elinor
| m. Edward Ferrars
+-Marianne
| m. Col. [Christopher]
| Brandon
+-Margaret
Ferrars
Mrs. Ferrars
+-Edward Ferrars
| m. Elinor Dashwood
+-Robert Ferrars
| m. Lucy Steele
+-Fanny
m. John Dashwood
+-Harry
Brandon / Willoughby / Williams
(Old Mr. Brandon)
+-(brother of Col. B.)
| m. (Eliza)
| sed. unknown (*)
| +-Eliza Williams
| sed. John
| | Willoughby
| | m. Sophia
| | Grey
| +-[Joanna]
+-Col. [Christopher]
| Brandon
| m. Marianne Dashwood
+-sister of Col. B.
* Col. Brandon’s unnamed older brother was married to Eliza (surname probably Williams), who was seduced by an unknown man and had an illegitimate daughter also named Eliza Williams. The second Eliza Williams was a ward of Colonel Brandon and was seduced by John Willoughby.
Middleton / Jennings / Palmer
Mrs. Jennings
+-Charlotte
| m. Thomas Palmer
| +-[William]
+-Mary, Lady Middleton
m. Sir John Middleton
+-childr
en
Credits
The cover design incorporates “Miranda” by Sir Frank Dicksee (1878) and “Mares and Foals in a River Landscape” by George Stubbs (c.1763-8). The decorative typeface is Exmouth from PrimaFont Software, and the handwriting in the background comes from a letter written by Jane Austen.
AnnaElliottBooks.com
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Book Description
Foreword
-Jane Austen’s Dashwood sisters vs. movie characters
-Col. Brandon’s name
-Choice of language
-The term ‘Gypsy’
-Family tree note
Margaret Dashwood’s Diary
Sunday 30 May 1802
Monday 31 May 1802
Tuesday 1 June 1802
Wednesday 2 June 1802
Thursday 3 June 1802
Friday 4 June 1802
Saturday 5 June 1802
Sunday 6 June 1802
Monday 7 June 1802
Tuesday 8 June 1802
Wednesday 9 June 1802
Thursday 10 June 1802
Friday 11 June 1802
Saturday 12 June 1802
Sunday 13 June 1802
Monday 14 June 1802
Thursday 17 June 1802
Friday 18 June 1802
Saturday 19 June 1802
Tuesday 22 June 1802
Wednesday 23 June 1802
Thursday 24 June 1802
Friday 25 June 1802
Saturday 26 June 1802
Sunday 27 June 1802
Monday 28 June 1802
Tuesday 29 June 1802
Friday 2 July 1802
Saturday 3 July 1802
Monday 5 July 1802
Tuesday 6 July 1802
Dear Reader—
Family Trees
-Dashwood
-Ferrars
-Brandon / Willoughby/ Williams
-Middleton / Jennings / Palmer
Credits
AnnaElliottBooks.com
Margaret Dashwood's Diary Page 26
