Epilogue Chapter 2 #2
Elizabeth took a bite of jam and bread, letting her mother's embittered words wash over her. There was nothing she could say that would soothe or be welcomed by her mother, who only wanted to vent at length about her grievances to anyone nearby. It was better for Elizabeth to let her attention wander, which was the only way she could weather such endless complaining. Her gaze drifted up the table, to each of her sisters in turn. Kitty’s eyes were red and puffy, and Lydia’s normal good cheer was considerably subdued as she spooned up white soup.
Mary habitually appeared solemn and even gloomy, but now an extra pall hung over her as well.
Jane looked pale, and stressed, and tired.
Elizabeth’s heart went out to all of them.
Their burden over these past several days had been great, and they had been unable to process their own grief as they dealt with their mother’s wailing, not to mention all the details associated with moving an entire household on short notice.
Now that the Darcys were here, she and Fitzwilliam could help ease some of that stress, allowing them time to deal with their own emotions over their father’s death.
She was tentatively optimistic that they would begin to recover quickly.
Mr. Bennet had not been an exceptionally affectionate parent, and his relationship with all of his daughters was hallmarked more by distance than by closeness.
But perhaps the loss was more about the end of hopes for improved relations with their father, now never to be realized.
Lydia, Elizabeth thought, would likely recover first; her natural exuberance, despite being somewhat tempered by time and age, would bolster her.
Mr. Bennet had made no secret of the fact that he had little use for his youngest child, thinking her no more than a silly widgeon, and Lydia herself was not much more than dutifully fond of the father who held her in such contempt.
Mary would soon enough have a husband and a household of her own to distract her from her grief.
Her wedding to the kindly Mr. Knowles would lift her spirits.
They had originally planned to wed in autumn, when his mourning for his mother came to an end, but it would have to be delayed again, at least until Mary entered half-mourning.
It had been a swift courtship, budding in the spring with the flowers and leaves of the season while Mary was visiting Pemberley.
Pious, solemn Mary had found in the Kympton rector someone who could appreciate her honed mind and her love of Forsythe’s Sermons.
At the end of her three month long visit at Pemberley, the couple had exchanged solemn promises before Mary returned to Longbourn, and even more letters than usual had traveled between Hertfordshire and Derbyshire in the months following.
Jane, of course, had her husband and her daughter to keep her occupied.
That left only Kitty, sweet sensitive Kitty, struggling with the loss of her father and her home.
She did not have Lydia’s ebullience to carry her through, or a tender lover to comfort her heart, as Mary did.
Elizabeth was determined that her younger sister would not suffer alone.
Kitty would come north to Pemberley. It would not be good for her to stay in Meryton, so close to Longbourn and unable to ever return to her childhood home, constantly reminded by well-meaning neighbors or unexpected memories of Mr. Bennet’s abrupt death.
For a few more weeks, however, there were affairs to be handled here before the party could depart for Pemberley. Handovers must be accomplished, and storms weathered by all of them.
“…simply cannot bear to think of Mr. Collins and his wife serving as master and mistress of Longbourn,” Mrs. Bennet wailed from Elizabeth’s left. She was already on her second glass of wine, and it seemed likely she would only grow more voluble and whiny as the evening continued.
Elizabeth turned toward her husband, who was seated next to Jane near the front of the table, and the pair exchanged affectionate smiles.
It would be best if Mrs. Bennet also moved to Pemberley, and it was a sign of Darcy’s great love for his wife that he would not hesitate at all in making that decision.
Moreover, Pemberley was very large, which was a great boon. They would be able to hide from Mrs. Bennet when necessary.
***
The Darcys’ Guest Bedchamber
Netherfield
Later
The door to the shared sitting room opened, and Elizabeth, already dressed in her nightgown and robe, looked up and smiled as her husband walked in, also wearing his night attire.
“Good evening, my love,” he murmured in his deep voice as he sat down next to her.
She leaned up against his warm bulk and sighed deeply, the stress of the day dissipating by the moment.
“How are the children?” he asked, and she said, “They are very happy. Nicholas is delighted to play with his cousin Arabella, and Susannah is content with her crib and her nursemaid.”
“And how are you feeling?” Darcy asked tenderly.
She swallowed hard and blew out a breath.
“I feel more shocked than grieved,” she confessed, “and rather ashamed of it.”
“Why ashamed?”
She shook her head. “For better or for worse, he was my father. We never really reconciled after I ran away from Longbourn, and I had hoped that we would make peace. Perhaps I should be feeling more sorry that it never happened.”
“If he had lived longer, do you think you would have reconciled?”
She wrinkled her nose and said, “No, I do not. He was always a stubborn man, and he grew more so with time.”
“Then it is right to mourn the father you wished for but never had, perhaps, but nothing more.”
She snuggled even closer to him, and her heavy eyelids closed.
“I have you,” she murmured. “That is enough.”
He kissed her gently on the head, and she drifted off to sleep.