Chapter 29 #2
‘Let me tell you a story. The other day at a function I met a lady in the retiring room, perhaps a year younger than myself, who seemed most uncomfortable in her surroundings.
Some probing disclosed that she was terrified of marriage, due to the circumstances of her older sister who turned but nineteen years of age earlier this year.
‘Apparently two years ago the sister met a very charming and personable young man who seemed quite taken with her.
For weeks he singled her out at every function.
Although he did not ask for an official courtship, he called on her almost daily and appeared most determined to not only win her good opinion, but also her hand in marriage.
After about six weeks, she could resist no longer and started to reciprocate his feelings.
‘The very next day after she confessed to a tendre, he did not call on her and two days later she saw him at another function, paying the same kind of attention which he had shown her to another young lady.
‘Mr Bingley, let me tell you what really happens to those young ladies when you move on.
You should know that if a young lady is in an official courtship, everyone knows that she will be properly chaperoned and nothing improper can happen.
It is also accepted that not all courtships lead to marriage.
But without the safety of an official courtship people speculate.
By your sudden loss of interest, you exposed them not only to society’s derision for disappointed hopes but also to speculation as to why you lost interest so suddenly.
People speculate about what is wrong with the young lady if even the son of a tradesman spurns her after weeks of ardent attention.
They wonder if perhaps you simply moved on after you had sampled everything she had to give.
Society is most unforgiving, even cruel to young women.
The slightest breath of scandal and she can say goodbye to any hopes of a good marriage.
At best, she can hope for any kind of marriage.
And her loss of reputation can affect her sisters as well.
‘That is exactly what happened to this young lady.
As she had no prospects of an honourable marriage to a pleasant man, her parents contracted a marriage with a much older man who was prepared to take her off their hands so that no shame would fall on her two younger sisters.
Since the young lady loved her sisters, she agreed to the match.
‘My new young friend, after not having seen her sister for over a year, had encountered her by accident a few months ago. She seemed to have aged decades rather than a year and she moved with great difficulty as she was covered in terrible bruises, some old, some new. She told her sister that her husband had only married her because she had no one to defend her.’ Mary went on to describe the details which the distraught young woman had confided in her about her sister’s condition, which explained her own terror of marriage.
Bingley looked sick when Mary stopped speaking. ‘That is horrible. Can no one stop that monster? Surely, he can be arrested for brutality.’
‘No, Mr Bingley. The law is on his side. His wife is his property, to do with as he pleases, as long as he does not kill her. Although in this case that point is moot, since a fortnight after that meeting, the older sister died in an accident.’
‘I do not understand, why are you telling me this story? I can do nothing to change the law.’
’We know that you cannot change the law, but as to the reason for the story… The young man who toyed with the young lady’s affection and then dropped her like a hot stone… That man was you...’
Bingley turned green and started to retch as Elizabeth took over and drove home the message. ‘If not for your thoughtlessness, this young woman might have had a chance at a good marriage. Instead…’
Elizabeth had to pause as Bingley rushed to a side table and grabbed an empty vase, which he used to capture the content of his stomach.
When his stomach was empty, a footman appeared to take the vase and hand him a glass of boiled water, which Bingley had to hold with both hands as they were shaking badly.
Once he had himself under control he turned back to his accusers with tears in his eyes as he collapsed into a chair. ‘I never meant for any lady to be hurt. I never imagined such a thing. I…’ Words failed him.
Elizabeth had become angry again at hearing Mary recount the story as she had been on first hearing it and was going to accuse Bingley of being responsible for the girl’s suffering.
But seeing that Bingley was honestly distraught cooled her ire at least a little and instead she sighed and merely said, ‘After Mary related the story to me, we found out that several other ladies had similar experiences with you. Fortunately, they did not end as badly as that, but it made me determined that you had to be stopped… you had to be made aware of the potential harm you were causing.’
She sighed again and fixed him with her gaze. ‘While you ruined those girls out of stupidity and a sense of entitlement, at least, you did not intentionally hurt them. You were merely the pebble which started this avalanche which buried them under the weight of an unfair society.’
‘I am devastated to learn that I caused such harm when I thought to be honourable,’ Bingley said quietly, unable to meet her eyes.
‘You put me in mind of something I read in a new translation of a book by Johann Rambach which was released earlier this year. The road to hell is paved with good resolutions,’ Mary offered. While she had broadened her interests, she still on occasions liked to read texts on theology.
Elizabeth gave her an appreciative smile before she continued, ‘Your saving grace is that you are not malicious like your sister. Although I wonder how much she contributed either to your loss of interest in various ladies who were not sufficiently eligible for her ambition or the loss of reputation the ladies suffered after you abandoned them.’
She paused, observing the shocked comprehension dawning on Bingley’s face.
‘After all, we have learnt that Miss Bingley has deliberately spread malicious gossip about her rivals for years. In recent weeks she tried to ruin Jane’s reputation by implying that she is the mistress of a rich man.
As it happens since it is known that the man is our uncle no one has believed her, but it could have been devastating not only for Jane but by association to the reputations of myself and our sisters. ’
At that comment, Bingley sat up straight. ‘No wonder you were all so cold with her last night. Was that the slander to which Lady Matlock referred?’
‘Indeed.’
Bingley closed his eyes as he shook his head. When he opened them again, he said, ‘You have my apologies. You were quite correct when you said that I should have curbed my sister’s behaviour. If you will excuse me, I shall see to it now… late though it is.’
As they said goodbye, Elizabeth had a final piece of advice, ‘When you grow up, you can still marry a pleasant woman and have a pleasant life. You have choices and rights under the law. You can still have a good life. Make the most of it.’
~T~