Chapter 2
By the end of her second week in London, Jane began to accept that there would be no response to the note she sent to Miss Bingley announcing her residence in the capital.
As she refused to ascribe a nefarious reason for the lack of responses to any of her missives, Jane just accepted there had been nothing from Hurst House on Curzon Street; hence, being the polite woman she was, she had to make a call on them.
As she was a gentlewoman, they, who were born the daughters of a tradesman, should have called on Jane first. However, as she wanted to see Mr Bingley, she would ignore precedence and go see them.
Most afternoons Jane, with the governess and a nursemaid, would accompany her cousins, Lilly, Eddy, Peter, and May, twelve, ten, seven, and five, respectively, to the park to feed the few hardy ducks who had not yet moved on before the pond in the park froze over completely.
Thanks to the snow which had been falling for the last two days, there had been no outdoor activities.
Uncle Edward was at the office in his warehouse; Jane and Aunt Maddie were seated in the drawing room, working on some embroidery.
Having seen Jane’s sense of melancholy grow with each passing day that nothing arrived from Miss Bingley, Maddie was concerned for her niece.
On the one hand, she attempted to show the same serene mask she always did, but it could not be easy for Jane to reconcile her view of the world with the treatment she was receiving from Miss Bingley.
She always wanted to see the best in everyone.
“Janey dear, another week has passed,” Maddie pointed out gently. “Do you want to call at Hurst House, or would you prefer to drop the acquaintanceship?”
“If it does not conflict with something you need to do, may we call on Hurst House on Monday at eleven?” Jane requested. “I am sure we will discover that it has all been one big misunderstanding. It must be that my letters were somehow misdirected; mayhap I wrote the direction very ill.”
“I am available to join you then,” Maddie responded. She kept the scepticism she felt at Jane’s attempt to excuse the sisters’ callous treatment of her from her voice.
“As Lizzy wrote to me earlier this week, I am a letter in arrears to her. Will you please excuse me, Aunt Maddie, while I go reply to her?” Jane asked.
“Of course, you go and write to Lizzy. Send her our regards,” Maddie agreed.
After climbing the stairs to the first floor, Jane sat at the escritoire in her bedchamber. She took a sheet from the stack of paper, dipped her quill, shook it off, allowed any extraneous drops to drip onto the blotter, and then began to write to her sister and best friend in one.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Although she liked snow and the way it looked when the ground was blanketed with a fresh covering, making it look like someone had covered the earth with a crisp white sheet for as far as the eye could see, Elizabeth did not enjoy the fact that her morning constitutionals had been curtailed.
It was a Saturday, and at least the snow seemed to be coming to an end, but it was too cold, and there had been too much snow for her to walk out.
However, it must be that the post was still being delivered because Hill had handed her a letter from Jane, which the butler and her father’s valet in one person had said had just been delivered.
As keen as she was to read Jane’s words, Elizabeth was worried her sister was still sad. Jane had tried her best to make her letters appear like they always did, but Elizabeth could tell she was melancholy from the tone of the missives.
Like she had been when she had attempted to convince Papa to take an active role in superintending his two youngest daughters, Elizabeth had been disappointed when she had discussed her concerns over Jane with their sire.
He had dismissed her worries with some inane statement about how it was good for girls to be crossed in love from time to time.
That reply had convinced Elizabeth that she could not speak on this subject to either of her parents.
Mama would not listen to her. If she was not berating her about refusing Mr Collins, then Elizabeth was certain Mama would find a way to make it all about herself.
Rather than guess, Elizabeth knew she needed to read Jane’s letter.
Thanks to Mary reading Fordyce’s sermons, the music room was unoccupied, so Elizabeth proceeded to the silent room, which was very peaceful without Mary’s pedantic playing.
She sat on the settee facing the upright pianoforte and broke the seal.
20 January 1812
23 Gracechurch Street
London
Lizzy, my dearest sister,
I too miss you, Dearest. Before I forget, Aunt Maddie, Uncle Edward, and our cousins all send their warmest regards.
No, Lizzy, I have not heard from Miss Bingley yet, but I am sure there is a good explanation for the lack of communication. I know you disagree, but Caroline and Louisa were good friends to me while they were in Hertfordshire.
“You believe that if it makes you happy,” Elizabeth scoffed aloud.
“No friend would write the lie-filled letter that dear Miss Caro sent you.” With what Mr Wickham told her about both Darcys, Elizabeth was certain that with the pride they both had that neither of them would agree to have the son of a tradesman as a husband or brother-in-law.
“Poor Janey, she will not see what is before her.” Elizabeth returned to the missive after speaking aloud.
Aunt Maddie will accompany me to call at Hurst House on Monday morning, and I am sure as soon as I see my friends any misunderstandings will be cleared up.
I have been thinking about what Caroline wrote in the letter about Miss Darcy. The more I do, the more I become convinced that although Caroline believed what she wrote, she did not understand her brother’s intentions towards me.
No gentleman who did not have honourable intentions would dance the 3 significant sets at a ball or be as publicly attentive to a lady as Mr Bingley was to me.
That Mr Bingley is a good, upstanding man is something I am certain of.
I cannot believe he could be so easily swayed from his purpose by others, as you claim he must have been.
Yes, you have pointed out the behaviour of our family at the ball, but was it really so very bad? And even so, would not a gentleman in love overlook such things?
I am confident that when Mr Bingley and I are able to speak when we meet on Monday, all will proceed as it should.
Has it been snowing in Hertfordshire like it has here? Unlike at Longbourn, when the snow looks nice and pristine across the park and fields, thanks to the carts, horses, and carriages in London, it does not take long before the snow becomes dirty.
Our cousins are missing their forays to the park, so they can feed the few remaining ducks.
I have not had the heart to tell them that I believe that the snow has chased the last few ducks away because the pond is now fully frozen over.
At least the snow in the park will be more like we are used to at Longbourn.
If there is still snow on the ground when we return to the park, I will suggest the cousins make a snowman to distract them from the fact that there will be no ducks to feed.
As a treat, our aunt and uncle have said they will take me and the cousins to Hyde Park one day next week. They told us that there are large bodies of water there that do not freeze over, so there will be some waterfowl present.
You only have a little more than a month before you go and visit Charlotte.
I am sure that you will enjoy Kent in the spring, and you will find places to walk and explore.
Did not Cousin Collins say that Rosings Park is a large estate which borders his parsonage?
If so, you will not have a shortage of paths to ramble over.
Your letters always cheer me up, Lizzy. Until the next one, I send you all of my sisterly love,
Jane
‘Janey, as much as I think you do not have the right of it, this is one time, for you, my dearest sister, that my prayer is that I am wrong about what you will experience when you go see the supercilious sisters. I know you do not want to see the evil in the world, but I fear you will be hurt,’ Elizabeth told herself silently.
She folded her letter and secreted it in her pocket until she would be able to place it in the box which held all of her letters. It was in the bottom of her closet.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As the Gardiner carriage travelled towards Hurst House on Curzon Street, Jane was a ball of nerves as the anticipation of the upcoming meeting with her friends grew.
“It is a fashionable neighbourhood,” Jane observed as the coachman guided the equipage onto Curzon Street.
“Not nearly as much as Mayfair, or the other areas where members of the Ton live,” Maddie responded.
She knew from what Jane had told her that the sisters had intimated that they belonged to the Ton, something Maddie knew was not true.
Given the way Jane saw things, Maddie had not pointed that out to her niece.
As the conveyance was slowing, Jane did not hear what Aunt Maddie had said, as all she was thinking about was the pleasure of seeing her friends, and of course, Mr Bingley, again.
When they stopped before a townhouse which looked as nondescript as those neighbouring it, a footman in livery placed the step and opened the door.
The house, like most close to it, was faced with beige bricks.
It was three storeys in height and not very large, just like Maddie expected to find in this part of London.
The truth was that the Hursts’ house looked smaller than hers and Edward’s house in Gracechurch Street.
When they were ready, Maddie led Jane up the four stone steps to the front door, where she lifted the knocker and allowed it to fall.
The butler opened the door. “Mrs Gardiner and Miss Bennet to see the ladies of the house,” Maddie stated.