To Be Quiet Together
Georgiana Darcy is reasonably sure that Catherine Bennet shares her distaste for marriage.
It would be easier to determine if they were not limited to communicating through letters…
Georgiana Darcy had been established in her own home in Lambton, along with her companion Mrs. Annesley, for a little over six months when she sat down to pen the most important letter she would ever write.
If, in later years, one of their innumerable nieces and nephews were to ask where it all began, Miss Darcy would admit that it all began with a letter.
There was nothing so unusual about that; letters between Lambton and Longbourn were very frequent things, enriching and exasperating those who carried the Royal Mail in equal measure.
Georgiana’s brother, still considerate and protective even though she was as independent as an unmarried woman ever managed to be, had his messenger stop by the cottage for letters if Mrs. Darcy was sending one to her family, but Miss Darcy and Miss Catherine Bennet corresponded far more frequently than Elizabeth and her parents.
My dear Georgiana, the letter in her hand read,
Longbourn is much as it ever was, though somewhat quieter, and it makes me miss you all the more.
Mama remains thrilled at the news of both Jane and Lizzy expecting their first children, though she was briefly sad at the news of Miss Felicity Elizabeth Bingley.
She says that at least Stonewall is not entailed, and Mr. Bingley is not the sort to reproach his wife for not giving him an heir immediately, and quickly reconciled herself to joy at her first grandchild.
Indeed, Mama may very well have hired a carriage herself if my eldest sisters had not promised to come south for Mary's wedding.
The first of the Banns will be read next Sunday, and for the following five weeks, so Lizzy may be churched before journeying to Hertfordshire.
Has she had the baby yet? Her letters are full of complaints about how difficult it is to move and how bored she is of her confinement.
Elizabeth was, indeed, much annoyed at not being able to indulge in her usual long rambles about the estate.
Or walk much at all, really.
Georgiana’s sister was not an especially tall woman, and her pregnancy had made her quite ungainly.
Georgiana suspected that at least part of her brother’s hovering was so that he could assist his wife in standing and taking some exercise, even if it was only a turn about the bedchamber, when she became too restless.
If all pregnancies were like this, Baby Darcy might have to resign themselves to being an only child.
Or at least a considerable age gap between siblings.
Mary is adjusting to being an Heiress - a number of young idiots hereabouts and from the Ministry have decided that until the banns are read, they have a chance of increasing their own station.
Three readings are the traditional number, but Matthew took offence to some comments made by Miss Bond, and requested the additional readings both to give our sisters time to travel, and so that anyone wishing to voice an objection has the opportunity to do so… and be thoroughly put in their place.
Lydia’s time away seems to have eroded her patience for condescending and foolish men, for she sent one of them home with a black eye when they equated height with age, and very publicly declared their admiration of ‘the incomparable Miss Mary Bennet’ to her.
Colonel Fitzwilliam congratulated Lydia on the force of her slap (it was no such thing, but young ladies are not supposed to know how to throw a punch) before hauling the young fool off for a less-public dressing down.
Lydia still will not say what passed between them on the journey home, but I believe that you are right and he is merely waiting until Lydia is of an appropriate age.
He does his duty to the local ladies whenever there is an assembly, but Lydia is the only lady he ever dances twice with.
Cousin Jasper could be very stubborn in his opinions.
He had seen too many ladies marry young, only to find themselves utterly unprepared to be an officer’s wife, or a wife to anyone at all.
He might have retired from active service now, settling down as a landed gentleman, but that didn’t make him any less head-over-heels for Lydia’s vivacity and courage.
On the whole, Georgiana agreed that it was wiser of him to wait until Lydia had been out a few years before offering for her, so that they could both be certain of what they wanted, but it didn’t make either of them any less obvious in their feelings.
Mama fretted about Lydia scaring off suitors that might be interested in one of us - she is not so changed as all that! - but Mr. Crawley pointed out that any man who would make such a fool of himself without ensuring that the lady was at least interested was no suitor worth having.
For my own part, I am still deciding how to tell Mama and Papa that I have no ambition to marry, here or in Derbyshire, nor in any country under the sun.
I know you will not judge me for it, my dearest friend, but it is still not an easy thing to admit.
With three sisters married or engaged, I can safely be a spinster, but that does not mean that there is no stigma attached to the state.
As a fourth son, Mr. Crawley seems to have been a bit of an afterthought in his own family, and is unsure of how to handle the surplus of parental attention he receives from Mama and Papa.
He has quite eclipsed Mr. Bingley as Mama's favourite son, and while Papa complains that our future brother has entirely too much of the energy of youth, he appreciates someone to debate agricultural practices with.
One supposes that a career of talking Generals and Lords into changing their plans to account for common sense has granted him a degree of persuasiveness.
Papa has even been seen regularly leaving his book room!
Ostensibly, Mr. Crawley was staying at Netherfield Park as Cousin Jasper’s guest (and book consultant; the library there really was in a dreadful state) until he married Mary, but he was to be found calling at Longbourn more than he was at Netherfield, between occasional trips to London when his experience as an Archivist and Scholar was required.
Mary, in her last letter, had decreed it quite sensible.
They were to marry in late winter, and planned on a mere two weeks in Bath for their wedding tour before returning to Longbourn for the spring planting.
Mr. Crawley was a fourth son, so his father had never taken the time to educate him on estate management as the Heir and Spare had been taught.
Educating himself before such things became his responsibility was only practical, and anything that encouraged Mr. Bennet to be more active on his estate could only be a blessing.
Have you read the latest novel from Mrs. Radcliffe yet? If you have, you must tell me immediately! Lydia has discovered a love of histories recently, and Maria has been banned from novels by Lady Lucas, so I am in dire need of someone to discuss it with! I do believe you will enjoy it; there is a most delicious twist to the narrative, though I shall not tell you what it is, for fear of spoiling your enjoyment.