Chapter 25 #2
Then, becoming serious once more, she continued, “It will be very difficult for me to leave you here, my dear daughter, especially knowing how my brother has treated all of us.
I shall miss seeing you every day. Yet I believe your plan is the wisest one.
Thomas has always believed himself cleverer than everyone else.
He will undoubtedly think he has succeeded once again.
Besides, Jane's wedding is only days away. We must avoid any scandal. She does not deserve to have the happiest day of her life overshadowed by our troubles.”
Marcus had risen from the bed and was pacing restlessly across the room. Deep down, he knew that both his wife and his daughter were right. Even so, the thought of being separated from Elizabeth again, if only for a few weeks, broke his heart.
“You cannot imagine how difficult this is for me, my dear daughter,” he said at last. “But I suppose I must trust you.”
“I shall ask Mr and Mrs Taylor to remain at Netherfield,” Eleanor said. “They will be in daily contact with you and will help you in any way they can. I would also like you to promise to write to us every day. We can send our letters through Mrs Taylor, and Thomas need never suspect a thing.”
“My dear daughter,” Marcus said, taking Elizabeth's hands in his, “never doubt that, if you should need me, I shall be at your side in an instant to defend and protect you.”
“Thank you, my dear Father.”
“Mother, I think I should go now,” Elizabeth said softly as she took Eleanor's hand. “But you must promise me that you will remain in bed today.”
“My dear girl, I am much better already,” Eleanor replied with a faint smile.
“You still have a slight fever,” Elizabeth said gently. “Please rest one more day. I shall feel much easier knowing that you are taking care of yourself.”
Eleanor smiled affectionately.
“Very well, my dear daughter. I promise I shall stay in bed.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Elizabeth bent down, kissed her mother's forehead tenderly, and embraced her before taking her leave.
Although Elizabeth insisted that she could walk back to Longbourn alone, Marcus would not hear of it and accompanied her on foot. They deliberately avoided taking a carriage, lest they attract Mr Bennet's attention.
Before reaching the house, father and daughter stopped to say their farewells.
“I shall be waiting for you here tomorrow so that we may walk to Netherfield together,” Marcus said softly.
“And before you go, I want you to know one thing. From the very moment I learned that I was to become a father, I loved you with all my heart. Until only a short time ago, I believed I would meet you only in Heaven. Yet God, in His graciousness, has granted me the blessing of knowing you in this life. So promise me, my dear girl, that you will take great care of yourself.”
Elizabeth threw her arms around him once more, unable to answer for the tears that filled her eyes. She could not help but feel deeply moved. Her father was so affectionate, so utterly unlike Mr Bennet, who had never openly expressed his feelings.
“I shall see you tomorrow, dear Father.”
“I shall be waiting for you here, my dear daughter.”
She kissed Marcus gently on the cheek, and he drew her into one last embrace.
Marcus remained hidden behind a tree until he saw Elizabeth safely enter the house. Only then did he make his way back to his wife, his heart still full of concern, yet happier than it had been in many years.
◆◆◆
As soon as Eleanor felt strong enough, she went to Longbourn to speak with her brother.
Mr and Mrs Hill welcomed her warmly. They were delighted to see her looking so well and happier than they had seen her in many years. They also congratulated her on her recent marriage. Knowing the whole of her story, they had always been firmly on her side.
“Mr Bennet instructed me that, should you call, I was to show you directly to his study, my dear Miss Ella,” said Mr Hill.
“Thank you, Hill. Then let us not keep my brother waiting any longer,” Eleanor replied with a warm smile.
Eleanor took a deep breath, opened the study door, and walked in with quiet determination.
“Thomas, I accept all your conditions. I promise to respect Elizabeth's decision to remain at Longbourn. All I ask is that you allow me to keep in contact with her. And please, once and for all, tell everyone that I am your sister, not your cousin. In three days, Jane is to be married, and we must appear to be a united family.”
Mr Bennet knew that his sister would never jeopardise Elizabeth's future, and he was satisfied that his plan had succeeded.
“And what about your husband? Men like him, with important families, titles, and honours, always believe they can do as they please. I do not want him threatening me again or behaving as though Lizzy were his daughter. He abandoned you both all those years ago. It is rather late for him to arrive now and play the devoted father.”
"He only left us because of the lies told by you, and because you confiscated, you stole, letters from both of us! Really, Thomas, it is absurd that you are trying to blame the general for decisions he made based on deceptions that you created for your own selfish ends! You are entirely ignoring your own responsibility in the matter. Yes, we were impulsive. We made a common youthful mistake. But, he would have married me and made an honest woman of me if not for your selfish and hurtful interference!”
"Unlike you, Thomas, we never intended to hurt anyone. You, Thomas, were only too willing to hurt your own sister and your sister's child, on purpose. So, if you must judge anyone, judge yourself," she scolded with as much venom as her voice could muster.
Eleanor sighed. She had learned long ago in her business dealings that one could not reason with a truly selfish person since reason requires them to consider something other than their own self-interest.
“Do not concern yourself. Marcus will do as I ask,” Eleanor replied coolly.
She found it deeply ironic to hear her brother speak of Marcus as though he were an irresponsible child, considering Thomas's own conduct throughout his life.
“Very well,” said Thomas. “I shall not prevent you from seeing Lizzy. We shall play the happy family if that is what you want. But Elizabeth will remain with her father at Longbourn. She may visit London once a year and spend a fortnight with you and your hero,” Mr Bennet said sarcastically.
Thomas Bennet hated Marcus because he embodied everything he himself could never be—including being the true father of the only Bennet daughter he considered worth anything.
“There is one more thing,” Eleanor said. “I should like Kitty to continue living with me. She and Mary have grown enormously over these past few months, and we can offer them opportunities in London that they could never have here.”
“I have no objection. They may live with you forever if you wish. I shall save a small fortune in expenditures for dresses, fashionable lace, and books without those two particular daughters imploring me, through their mother, for favours. Can I offer you Lydia too? She is the worst of the lot."
Eleanor sighed at her brother’s flippancy towards his own daughters.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, that is all,” replied Eleanor.
“Then you may go. I should like to return to the book Mr Andrews lent me.”
Eleanor could not help feeling sorry for her brother whose only skill, it seemed, was knowing how to manipulate others. She left without saying another word. She knew Marcus was waiting for her, and if she delayed much longer, he would become anxious with worry.
In the days that followed, Elizabeth continued to rise early each morning to attend to the estate business.
Afterwards, she spent the rest of the day at Netherfield under the pretext of helping Jane with the wedding preparations.
The wedding breakfast was to be held there, and there was still a great deal to be done.
Mary and Kitty were delighted to learn that they would continue living with the Sinclairs indefinitely. Both sisters had realised that something unusual was taking place between the Sinclairs and Elizabeth, but neither wished to be indiscreet.
Mary, however, believed she had guessed the truth.
Even Jane, despite having a thousand concerns occupying her mind, could not help noticing the way the general looked at Elizabeth and the manner in which he treated her.
He fussed over her as though she were still a little girl in need of constant care, while Elizabeth laughed and teased him for being so wonderfully overprotective.
◆◆◆
Two days before the wedding, Mrs Bennet arranged a family dinner at Longbourn. The Sinclairs attended solely out of consideration for Jane and Matthew. Marcus found it extremely difficult to sit across the table from Thomas Bennet and pretend that nothing had passed between them.
Matthew and his father, however, felt perfectly at ease at Longbourn.
James Andrews and Jane managed to calm Mrs Bennet whenever she became overexcited, encouraging her to behave with rather more dignity than usual.
Eleanor, meanwhile, had grown much closer to her sister-in-law.
Marcus and Eleanor knew everything Mrs Bennet had done for Elizabeth over the years, and they both felt deeply indebted to her.
They treated her with genuine kindness and respect, and Mrs Bennet was secretly delighted that a decorated general and the son of an earl should value her opinions.
Eleanor had also spoken with Fanny about her intention to continue helping Mary and Kitty and had thanked her sincerely for allowing the girls to remain in London.
Mrs Bennet knew that Marcus and Eleanor had discovered the truth about Elizabeth, though she had no idea what they intended to do.
At present, she had little room in her mind for anything except Jane's wedding.