Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four

T he physician arrived a few days later, suggesting a change in the herbal tea that Mrs. Bennet drank each day. A small amount of laudanum was added to a tonic for her to take each morning as well—not so much as to make her sleep, but enough to keep her docile and more biddable. He had not wanted to give her laudanum before now, but after the verbal attack on Mary and Mrs. Gardiner, he decided that it would be for the best.

When the Darcys arrived, their first visit to Longbourn occurred without issue. Though she had sworn to never return, Elizabeth was pleased to see how Longbourn had changed from what she remembered as a child and even from her brief visit a few years before. With a master and mistress who were diligent in their care of the estate, it was thriving, and the funds that Elizabeth had invested with Collins after he inherited had been used to add to the stables.

Upon their arrival at the house, they were greeted by the family as their carriage arrived in the drive. As soon as they disembarked, the master of the house strode to them with a smile, calling out “Mr. Darcy! Mrs. Darcy! What an honour it is to welcome you both to Longbourn. ”

“Indeed, Mr. Collins. The estate is thriving, and I commend you for the improvements you have made. Perhaps you and I can visit the stables later,” Darcy replied, greeting his host.

Jane smiled at her guests as well. “But first, you must come and take tea with us. I am looking forward to meeting my nephew and hearing first-hand about the events you have attended in town. We expect Mr. Linley on the morrow, and I am equally anticipating making his acquaintance. Please, come inside.”

A few minutes later, they were all settled in the drawing room. Jane moved to sit next to her sister Elizabeth and her husband. Speaking quietly, she offered an apology for her actions upon their long-ago first meeting. “Elizabeth, I know I have offered you both my apology and my reasoning behind my actions when we first met, but, Mr. Darcy, I have never had a chance to apologise to you. I was raised to think so highly of myself and of my appearance and to think poorly of others, particularly Elizabeth, and I was jealous that she was married when I was not.”

Elizabeth and Darcy exchanged a look that spoke volumes between them. “I forgave you long ago, Mrs. Collins. Elizabeth told me of your apology to her along with the explanation of what you were experiencing at the time. I think the incident is best forgotten at this point.”

With a grateful smile, Jane patted her sister’s hand, and the three joined the conversation about the wedding that would occur in just under a week. After tea, the gentlemen walked out of doors to visit the stables, successfully avoiding as much of the talk over dresses and wedding decorations as they could manage.

The rest of the week passed without incident. Mr. Linley arrived the following day as expected, accompanied by his family and several of his friends. Catherine and Georgiana arrived on that same day, accompanied by Colonel Fitzwilliam. Longbourn was full of visitors as they finished the preparations for the wedding, and the houses taken by the Darcys and Linleys were likewise full of their own guests .

On a bright Tuesday morning in May, Mary Bennet was joined in marriage to Thomas Linley. Her marriage was witnessed by both her aunts and uncles, three of her sisters, and many friends she had met over the last few years, including Mr. and Mrs. Winters and their daughter Amelia, who stood up with Mary. The rector, Mr. Allen, conducted the ceremony and felt nearly as proud as a father at seeing her make an excellent match. Yes, Mr. Linley was wealthy, but of far more importance, the man adored his new bride, a fact that was obvious in the way he could barely pull his eyes from his bride to repeat his vows and the slight shake in his voice as he spoke them.

Jane and Elizabeth sat next to each other, their husbands on their outsides, as they watched their younger sister marry. Each seemed to realise how different their lives were now and understood the influences that had both hurt them and helped them, as they cried happy tears upon seeing the ceremony conclude.

The wedding breakfast was equally pleasant for its invited guests. Many in the neighbourhood were pleased to see a third Bennet daughter marry so well, especially knowing what they did about the girls’ parents and their indifference over the years. They recognised the influence of others in their lives and were glad that most of the girls seemed to have overcome their upbringing.

The Gardiners departed for London soon after the wedding breakfast ended along with many of the Linley family and the friends of the groom who came for the wedding.

However, the Darcy family remained and were often found visiting Longbourn and some of their friends in the neighbourhood. Those connections were not as strong as they might have once been, but Elizabeth and Darcy made an effort to spend time with her aunt and uncle and the Lucases because of their kindness to them over the years.

After another sennight in the country, the Darcys elected to forgo the rest of the Season to return to Pemberley. Little William was over a year old now, and Elizabeth had recently begun to suspect she was once again with child, so her husband sought to remove her from the bad air of London as quickly as possible.

Though Elizabeth was not concerned about the air affecting her or her child, she always preferred the country to town, and they had been in London far too long for her liking.

During the Darcys’ visit, Collins and Darcy discussed plans for transporting Mrs. Bennet to his estate near Ayr in Scotland. One thought had been to take Mrs. Bennet there by ship, but they were concerned about possible seasickness during the journey. It was decided that yet again, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips would provide escort for a Bennet who needed to be sent far away. The couple actually looked forward to the trip, for it gave them the opportunity to travel far beyond what they might have been able to do otherwise. Their journey was funded by a mutual effort between the Gardiners, Collinses, Darcys, and Linleys.

As a reward for agreeing to take on the task, the couple would travel there as quickly as they could manage in a large comfortable travelling coach owned by the Darcys, and then return much more slowly, allowing them to visit and tour wherever they wished. Phillips had a clerk who was nearly ready to take over for him, and so Phillips had little concern about leaving his law office in the clerk’s care for the month their journey would likely take.

They would also stop in Derbyshire on their return to visit with both of their nieces in the north, for Mary had opted to forgo a wedding trip in favour of returning to her new home where she would take her place as mistress.

Of the Bennet daughters, all but Lydia were content in their situations. Lydia was only allowed to write letters to Mrs. Gardiner. However, she could include notes for her sisters, and Mrs. Gardiner would forward them if they were deemed appropriate. Most were not, and while her sisters did occasionally write to her, they took care in their letters to say as little as possible about what was actually taking place in their lives to prevent Lydia from becoming even more jealous. News of Mary’s wedding was not well received, for Lydia still believed that she ought to marry before at least one of her sisters, and the letter she wrote to Mary following her wedding had gone straight into the fire upon Mrs. Gardiner receiving it.

In the years that followed, Lydia remained consumed by resentment and jealousy toward her sisters, convinced she deserved more than she had. Shortly after reaching her majority, she was moved from the school to her own establishment near Newcastle. Like her mother, she received a calming tea each morning but was also encouraged to take long walks with a footman and a maid. These walks exhausted her enough to make her more manageable in the afternoons, allowing her to sit quietly and sew while her companion read to her. Additional cups of tea in the afternoons and one with supper helped her fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

Catherine and Georgiana debuted together the spring after Georgiana turned eighteen. Though Catherine had reached a similar age the previous spring, she elected to wait to enter society until Georgiana could join her.

The two were widely regarded as excellent catches. All three of Catherine's brothers and her uncles had contributed to her dowry, which, while not as large as Georgiana's, was still respectable. Both girls were equally determined to marry for love and endured two full seasons before finally finding matches toward the end of their second.

Georgiana met and fell in love with a young viscount who had only recently gained the title. He had been the second son but inherited the title and estate upon his elder brother’s death in a duel a few months previously. Darcy was at first unconvinced about the wisdom of the match, but quickly came to realise the young man truly held his sister in affection and was of a very different sort than his elder brother who had been something of a rake.

Surprisingly, Catherine met and fell in love with a young rector she met in town. Arthur Sinclair, third son of an earl, had chosen to go into the church rather than the army. Though he had only recently taken orders, he was in London visiting his family just after Easter and had encountered Catherine in the park. Colonel Fitzwilliam was accompanying the young ladies, along with Georgiana’s suitor, allowing the young man to request an introduction to the rest of the party. He knew both gentlemen from Gentleman Jack’s as well as White’s and had attended Cambridge with the viscount.

Sinclair was intrigued by the lovely dark-haired lady in their party, and upon learning that she was not being courted by either of the gentlemen in the group, requested permission to call. When he heard that she was living at Darcy House, he nearly wavered, but visited anyway and soon found the lady agreeable to his attentions. In the weeks that followed, Sinclair travelled from his rectory in Northampton to London as often as he was able to visit the young lady. At the end of the season, he requested a courtship and permission to exchange letters with Catherine so they could continue to come to know each other.

Gardiner agreed to the request, and letters were sent included with the correspondence exchanged with Mr. Collins. Catherine had chosen to spend part of the summer at Longbourn to assist Jane after her second confinement. She planned to travel to Derbyshire later in the summer with the Gardiners for Georgiana’s wedding, making a stop in Northampton along the way.

During that visit, Sinclair asked for Catherine's hand in marriage, and was accepted, with the wedding to occur later that autumn. Like her sister Mary, Catherine opted to wed from Longbourn, despite that not truly having been her home for many years. However, she still wished to have the friends and family she had grown up with around her when she married .

In October of that year, the entire extended Bennet family—except for the matriarch and the youngest daughter—gathered at Longbourn to celebrate Catherine Bennet’s marriage. It was a pleasant occasion with more children present than at Mary’s wedding. The sisters were happy to be reunited although such gatherings became more challenging as their families grew. Mary and Elizabeth, now living near each other, were perhaps the closest, but all four Bennet sisters were far more at ease with one another than they had been on that fateful day when a summons to Longbourn had upended their lives and fates.