Prologue
“Oh, Sister! How did I get saddled with such an ungrateful child? When I think we could have been celebrating Lizzy’s engagement to Mr Collins and an end to all the anxiety from that wretched entailment, it near breaks my heart!
Instead I shall have to make way for that artful Charlotte Lucas—why even my Mary is not so plain as that old spinster!
And all because my most troublesome daughter had the temerity to reject a worthy suitor!
I shall never forgive her for this—never! ”
As her mother continued to wail and moan, Elizabeth Bennet sat by the front window in the parlour of her family home, clutching a steaming cup of tea as she sought solace in the peaceful calm of the wintery scene beyond the glass.
It was a slightly misty morning, and although the grounds were bare of life, beauty still existed in the gently rolling hills shrouded in wispy fog.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, this quiet tranquillity was once again disturbed by the litany of complaints flowing freely from the far corner of the room.
Her mother’s shrill monologue had been a near hourly occurrence at Longbourn since Elizabeth had dared to refuse the hand of her father’s obsequious and ridiculous heir, and a frustrated fatigue began to settle over her very bones.
Knowing her mother would not be finished for quite some time, especially with such an attentive and sympathetic audience as Aunt Philips, Elizabeth rose from her seat and proceeded to the one location her mother would not dare follow.
“You know, Lizzy, rather than an empty threat to disown you, your mother ought to have frightened you with the prospect of weathering her complaints should you refuse Mr Collins.”
As she shut the book-room door, Elizabeth eyed her father with a look that clearly betrayed her exasperation.
“I rather thought her complaints to be expected, Papa, though I must own I did underestimate their frequency. If I could laugh, I would, but I fear even my ability to appreciate the absurd has been sorely tested over the past few days.”
“Your mother certainly believes herself to be ill-used in this regard.”
“And you? Do you still support my refusal, or have Mama’s complaints changed your opinion on the matter?” Elizabeth asked with an amused smirk.
Her father replied with a rueful chuckle, “Of course not, my dear. I still maintain you have made a lucky escape. Even my delight in observing folly is used up within ten minutes of Mr Collins’s company.”
“Yes, I fear it does not speak well of dear Charlotte. She cannot be happy with such a match!”
“Come now, Lizzy, you must concede that Miss Lucas has always been a very practical sort of person. She is what…seven-and-twenty? It is not as though she is at liberty to turn away any suitors.”
Her hands on her hips, Elizabeth cried, “How many times must I hear the same argument! If marriage is simply a matter of passionless judgment, then the populace at large is destined for a great deal of misery.”
At her father’s stricken look, she felt a sudden wave of guilt.
“Pray forgive me, Papa, for you do not deserve my foul temper. I have always been able to dismiss Mama’s complaints before, but I confess I have reached my wit’s end!
And now with the weather so cold, I cannot even escape out of doors for very long! ”
“Who should bear your temper but me? We both know I should have stepped in before Mr Collins came to the point.”
“Papa?” Elizabeth wrestled with her momentary confusion, for it was not like her father to own his part in disregarding the foibles of his family.
“I believe your removal from Longbourn may finally allow your mother to conquer her disappointment.”
At Elizabeth’s continued puzzlement, her father held up a recently opened missive and explained.
“I wrote to your uncle Gardiner, requesting that he host you in London—just until their family journeys to Hertfordshire for Christmas. Perhaps a few weeks away will allow matters to settle. His reply arrived only this morning, declaring his and Madeline’s enthusiasm for the scheme. So, what do you say?”
Elizabeth felt a fleeting measure of hope at the prospect, but it was extinguished just as swiftly, for she had already resolved to request a different favour from her father.
“While you know I would be more than happy to accept the invitation, I was going to suggest that Jane go to town after Christmas. She feels the absence of Mr Bingley most keenly, and I had hoped if she went to London, they might be thrown together again. We cannot expect the Gardiners to host us both at this time, and I can endure Mama, really I can.”
“While I applaud your devotion to Jane, Lizzy dear, I must insist that you accept. You should not have to sacrifice your sanity for the sake of your sister,” her father replied, “and besides, I believe our family has had enough of fickle gentlemen for the present. If Mr Bingley truly wishes to see Jane, he may call, for he still holds the lease on Netherfield Park, does he not?”
“I suppose you are right,” Elizabeth conceded, mulling over the idea for a moment before acquiescing with a small chuckle, “Oh, very well—ship me off to London.”
Smiling at the acceptance of his plans, and with a decidedly mischievous twinkle in his eyes, her father joked, “You never know—you might even return home with a suitor and thus redeem yourself in the eyes of your mother.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Pray do not foster such ambitions, for I should hate to disappoint you as well. ’Tis a fool’s errand, I fear. But enough of my wallowing—very well, to London I shall go!”