Chapter Fifty-Nine
When Mr. Bennet finished reading the letter, there was a stunned silence in the parlour. Mrs. Bennet spoke first. “Does this mean that we would never need to leave Longbourn?”
Mr. Bennet took off his glasses, smiled widely at her, and answered, “That is exactly what it means, Mrs. Bennet!”
Mrs. Bennet was too overcome to speak. She buried her head on Jane’s shoulder and wept quietly. Jane rubbed her mother’s back, and let her own quiet tears fall as well.
Sensible Mary said, “But first you must go to court to prove our claim.”
Mr. Darcy said, reassuringly, “Mr. Stanley will manage it; do not worry, Miss Mary.”
“Very well,” she said, but she still looked uncertain.
“It is a lot to take in, all at once,” Mr. Darcy said. “It can take some time to accustom oneself to a new view of the world.”
At this, Mrs. Bennet raised her head. “All these years I berated myself for not having birthed a son and losing the estate…”
“Hardly your fault, Mrs. Bennet,” her husband reassured her. “God directs these things, not us mere mortals.”
“Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos,” Mr. Darcy murmured.
Elizabeth nodded. “The threads are spun out, measured and cut.”
Mrs. Bennet shook her head, saying, “I know not what you two are on about, but – oh! This changes everything! My china, my furniture, my jewelry – mine, mine forever!”
“Quite right, Mrs. Bennet, quite right,” her husband said, looking at her in a way she had not seen for a very long time…fondly! He was looking at her fondly! Mrs. Bennet caught her breath.