Chapter 2
Bemused and a bit confused, Elizabeth made her way home. Though the air hadn’t cooled down one jot, she no longer cared. Besides, she needed to change out of her dirty gown.
By the time Elizabeth had changed and cleaned up, the sun had moved far enough west that the back parlor was in the shade. While that didn’t make it any breezier, it still cooled it down just enough to make it tolerable.
Elizabeth headed down to join her sisters, Jane and Mary, as well as her mother, all of whom were sitting in what was now the coolest room in the house.
“Lizzy, where have you been?” asked Mama.
“You’ve been gone for upwards of two hours.
If you keep dithering about like this, you will never finish that hair ribbon.
I had hoped it would be done in time for the Gouldings’ garden party tomorrow, but at the rate you are working it won’t be done until Christmas. ”
“I apologize, Mama,” said Elizabeth. “I was just trying to cool down a bit. It is such a hot day.”
“I suppose that is understandable,” said Mama. “The heat is entirely too much for this time of year. It feels like the middle of July instead of the middle of September. Oh, I will be so glad when the weather finally catches up to the season.”
“I am certain it shall cool off soon enough,” said Jane. “Autumn is just around the corner, after all.”
There was silence for a short time as the three sisters each focused on their work while their mother stared off into the distance, her embroidery completely forgotten in her lap.
Eventually, Mama started speaking again. She could never remain silent for long. “I do hope you girls are planning to look your best tomorrow night,” she said. “Have you decided what you will be wearing?”
“I will be wearing my pale pink gown,” said Jane. “With autumn coming on, I thought it might be the last chance to wear it this year. Pink just doesn’t seem as pretty when it is cold, don’t you think?”
“You may be correct,” said Elizabeth, “though it baffles me how the temperature outside could possibly affect how pretty one’s gown is.”
“I don’t suppose it does, really,” said Jane in her naturally mild tone. “I think it is more that the pale pink color reminds me of flowers and springtime. Seeing it in the winter simply makes me discontent, because it reminds me of warmer weather.”
“Well, it is so hot today, I almost feel as though I would welcome winter with open arms. A nice snowstorm would make everything better, would it not?” said Elizabeth.
“It is important to remember that there must be contrast and opposition in all things,” said Mary. “Without shadow, light would be meaningless. Without the winter, spring would also lose its purpose.”
Elizabeth could admit the truth of Mary’s words, but she could think of no response to such a statement. So, it had the effect of stifling further conversation.
After a few more minutes of silence, Mary stood up and said, “I think I will go practice piano.”
“There is no need for that,” said Mama. “You practiced plenty this morning. You would be much better off if you would sit down and work on your gown for tomorrow. It needs some trimming or adjusting to look better on you. Heavens above, I don’t know why none of your gowns ever seem to flatter you or why your hair is always so plain.
Honestly, it pains me to think that I could have given birth to such a plain girl when I was quite the beauty in my day.
Your father was so handsome as well. You, Mary, seem to defy all common sense. ”
Mary’s shoulders slumped under the weight of Mama’s diatribe. When Mama ceased speaking, Mary said, “If I cannot play, then I think I would be better off studying in my room.”
Without waiting for permission or agreement, Mary practically ran out of the parlor.
Elizabeth sighed. Mary had somehow developed a firm belief that she was far less pretty than her sisters, and she dressed to suit that belief. In other words, she wore the plainest gowns she could and the plainest hairstyles. She never wore any jewelry, and she never smiled.
Because of her plain way of dressing, Mama had taken to believing that Mary was the ugliest of her children, and for a woman whose very identity centered around her appearance this was an unforgivable sin.
The two of them had naturally grown apart ever since Mary had come out, although it had begun even before then.
Mama’s criticism reinforced Mary’s belief that she was plain, which caused her to dress ever more plainly.
Mary’s habit of doing so reinforced Mama’s belief in her lack of beauty, which led to ever increasing criticism.
At this point, Elizabeth was certain that Mary could never believe that she was just as pretty as her sisters, and the idea made her heart ache.
Mary was just as kind as Jane when she was allowed to express herself, but Mama’s constant criticisms and the teasing she received from Kitty and Lydia when she did try to speak had gradually closed her off to the world around her.
She seldom spoke any more either at home or in company.
Elizabeth wished that there was some way to break the cycle, to somehow bring Mary out of the shell she had built around herself.
As she thought this, she suddenly realized that she had the power to make a single wish come true.
Without another thought, Elizabeth jumped up and headed for the door. If she was going to make a wish, she needed privacy.
“Oh, no, Miss Lizzy,” said Mama. “You have been gone long enough already. You will sit back down and keep us company. You need to finish that ribbon before tomorrow night.”
“I will only be gone a minute or two,” said Elizabeth. “I…I need to use the necessary.”
Mama sighed. “Oh, if you must. I certainly wouldn’t wish to keep you from that particular errand.”
“Thank you, Mama,” said Elizabeth.
Once she was in the hall, she headed for her bedroom, where she immediately closed and locked the door.
“Jeanie,” she called softly. “I have a wish.”
With the same little popping sound from before, Jeanie suddenly appeared floating in front of Elizabeth. “That was quick,” she said. “I do hope it isn’t a foolish one.”
“No,” said Elizabeth. “I am certain it is not. I wish that my sister, Mary, could see how pretty she truly is.”
Jeanie tilted her head to the side a bit as if she was thinking. “It’s a little vague and fraught with unpredictable consequences, but I think I can manage it in a way that doesn’t bring anyone to harm. We fairies get in trouble, you know, if we allow wishes to cause too many problems.”
The little fairy waved her hands and said, “It’s done.
Your final wish has been granted, and that fulfills our contract.
Just to let you know, that means that my lamp will disappear from its current location, since I will be moving on to the next person who needs my help.
Have a lovely life and do enjoy your wishes. ”
Before Elizabeth could even say, “Thank you,” Jeanie popped out of existence once again.
She wondered what kind of difference her wish would make to Mary. For a moment she was tempted to go talk to her sister, but she decided to simply wait and see. So, she headed back down to the parlor to join Jane and Mama once again.
~~~~~
Mary Bennet knew she was ugly. Some people used slightly nicer phrasing like “plain” or “less pretty,” but she knew what they meant.
She had known it since before her fourteenth birthday.
She was awkward and gangly. Her complexion was darker than her sisters’, and no matter what she tried she could never get it to glow the way Jane’s did.
She hadn’t felt comfortable with herself ever since she hit a growth spurt when she was thirteen which had added four inches to her height in a single year.
During that time, as she was increasingly awkward and clumsy, she had been the butt of many jokes and much teasing from the young men in the neighborhood.
She wasn’t around them very often, since she was not out, but John Lucas and Alan Goulding in particular were her worst tormentors. Since their mothers were good friends with her mother, they were at Longbourn often enough to find her and tease her at least once a week.
Fortunately, Alan turned nineteen and went off to London a month before Mary came out on her sixteenth birthday. John Lucas stayed behind, but without Alan to egg him on, he didn’t tease her nearly as much.
After Mary was allowed to circulate in society a bit more, her greatest tormentor became her mother. There were very few days that passed when Mama hadn’t made some sort of comment on Mary’s appearance.
Lately, Mama’s biggest complaint was that Mary’s appearance was dowdy and that her gowns were plain and fit poorly, but Mary absolutely refused to dress up the way her sisters did.
In her mind it would be like putting a gown and pearls on a pig.
Rather than making the pig pretty, it would just look ridiculous.
When Mary left the back parlor after listening to yet another diatribe on her poor appearance, she headed up to her room. She was safe there. No one was watching, and no one cared what she looked like when she was studying, not even herself.
She sat at her desk and pulled out her latest book of an improving nature. It wasn’t quite a religious work, but the advice and behaviors within it were based firmly in Christianity.
She opened it to where she had last stopped reading and attempted to resume her study, but somehow, she could not focus. Usually, this was not an issue she faced. She was always so eager to escape from the world around her that it was a simple matter to fall into the pages of a book. But not today.
After several minutes of trying and failing to focus, Mary got up from her desk and went over to her dressing table. Not really thinking about what she was doing, she sat down and stared at herself in the mirror.