Chapter 60 Among Family
The following day, Elizabeth and her two sisters set up a room at Netherfield as a clinic and inoculated Mr. Bingley and all the servants and tenants who wished to be inoculated. Caroline Bingley refused Elizabeth's service but accepted it from the housekeeper.
That afternoon, the Darcys traveled to Longbourn and made their first visit to Elizabeth's family.
Kitty and Georgiana immediately ran upstairs to the nursery to play with Mary's twins.
Mr. Bennet emerged from his study and joined his guests in the foyer. Elizabeth crossed directly to him.
"Papa, I have missed you."
She hugged him tightly before stepping back to study him.
"You look very well, sir. Have you lost weight? You look quite dapper."
He grinned at his daughter.
"I have lost weight, Lizzy, and for the best of reasons. I walk each day to keep up my strength for the sake of my grandsons. I hope to play an active role in their lives."
Mary kissed her father's cheek.
"Lizzy, Papa purchased a brand-new handcart, much like the one Rogers uses in the garden.
Mr. Hill lined it with canvas, and we placed pillows inside.
Papa took the boys out in it this morning, and they slept through the entire walk.
I accompanied them, and we were able to talk while the boys slept. "
Elizabeth raised her eyes to her father's and smiled. "Papa, you are a very good grandfather."
He grinned.
Mary turned to Mr. Darcy. "Sir, thank you for investing my late husband's savings. My father reviewed the latest quarterly report, and it shows that the account is growing. My little Edward will have a small fortune to give him a good start in life."
Mr. Darcy smiled at his sister-in-law.
"It is my pleasure, Mrs. Collins. Please feel free to come to me if you ever have need of anything relating to the investment or any other difficulty. The advantage of having three sisters is that you will have three brothers to lean upon throughout the years."
Elizabeth saw her sister's eyes fill with tears.
"Thank you, sir. I shall remember that."
Mrs. Bennet entered the room. "Lizzy, Mr. Darcy, welcome. Why are we all standing about? Come into the drawing room and have some tea. I had a letter from Jane. They will arrive tomorrow, and we shall hold the memorial on Friday for our dear departed family."
Mrs. Bennet's eyes clouded over.
As the others made their way into the drawing room, Elizabeth went to her mother and embraced her.
"Mamma, how do you go on?"
"It is very hard, Lizzy. When Lydia went away to school, I expected to see her at the end of the school year. Then she had that opportunity to travel to India with Mr. Adams, and his letter was filled with such interesting adventures that I could only be happy for them."
Mrs. Bennet's voice trembled.
"But now she is gone. My dear Lydia is gone forever, and we have not even her remains to bury."
She dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief.
"But your papa has seen to everything. He ordered a memorial stone, and it has been placed in the family plot beside Mr. Collins's. Dear man. He fathered two boys so that we need not lose Longbourn."
She paused and drew a breath.
"We have been blessed, Lizzy, and I know I should not grieve so over him or my sweet Lydia. She has gone to her reward."
Mrs. Bennet mopped her eyes once more. She reached for Elizabeth’s hand. "Come. Let us join the others, lest I appear uncivil."
Kitty and Georgiana had come downstairs, and the tea tray had been brought in. Mrs. Hill was serving the tea. Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth sat beside one another, still in conversation.
Elizabeth caught her father's eye. One eyebrow was raised. She smiled at him. Never before had she and her mother been in such charity with one another.
Times had certainly changed.
That afternoon, the Darcy party joined Mr. Bennet on a second walk with his grandsons, though Kitty pulled the cart while Georgiana walked beside it to ensure that neither infant came to any harm.
Mrs. Bennet remained behind to supervise the dinner preparations.
Mr. Bennet and Mr. Darcy walked ahead, discussing the latest developments in the war, while Mary walked with Elizabeth.
"Mary, you appear happier today than you have been all summer."
"Lizzy, you were right about Papa. We discussed everything, and I have come to understand that happiness in marriage is rare. I was fortunate to be often contented and sometimes even happy in my marriage. I need not feel guilty for wishing to be free of Mr. Collins."
She sighed.
"Papa says it is part of the human condition and that, if dissatisfaction did not exist, people would never strive to bring about change and improvement."
Mary glanced toward the cart carrying her sons.
"Now I plan to be grateful for every single day of freedom, for my lovely boys, and for my parents."
Elizabeth raised a brow.
"And Mamma? Will she not grate on your nerves every now and again?"
"No, Lizzy. Though I have spent only one night and this morning at Longbourn, I have already seen how deeply the loss of our sister has affected Mamma. She understands mortality now in a way she never did before. She treats Papa with such tact and kindness. I have yet to hear her complain or shriek as she once did. She, too, is grateful, but in her case, her gratitude is for those who remain in her life.”
Mary paused, then said, “She does not know how I truly felt about my husband. She sees only the goodness of a man who married one of his cousins. And she is not wrong, Lizzy. He could have married anyone. He was not required to marry a Bennet daughter. And he did father two beautiful boys."