Chapter 48 The Vigil
Mr. Jones arrived at Longbourn less than half an hour after he was summoned.
Mrs. Bennet had not moved.
He examined her while Mr. Bennet and her daughters waited downstairs. Mrs. Phillips remained in the bedchamber and sat holding her sister's hand while he worked.
At last, he came into the drawing room, and Mr. Bennet rose to meet him.
“I believe your wife has suffered an apoplexy. I am sorry, Bennet. It is a very grave attack.”
Jane reached for Elizabeth's hand as her father asked, “Then she will not recover?”
“I cannot say for certain. She may regain consciousness, but you must prepare yourself for the possibility that she will not. I shall do what I can for her, but in cases such as this, the outlook is grim.”
Elizabeth went upstairs with Jane, and they sat beside Aunt Phillips.
A sound from the doorway made them look around.
Lydia stood there with John behind her, barefoot, her hair loose, over her nightdress.
“Please, Lizzy, may I sit with Mamma?”
“You may, but you must be very quiet.”
Lydia went to the bed and lowered herself into the chair beside her aunt.
“Mamma, it is me. I am here.”
Mrs. Bennet did not respond.
Lydia laid her cheek against her mother's hand. “Please, Mamma, wake up. I promise, I will be good.”
Lydia bent over her mother's hand and wept.
Elizabeth left her with Mrs. Phillips and found her father alone in his study, staring into the fire.
“Lydia is with Mamma. I thought it cruel to keep her away.”
“Of course, Lizzy. Whatever punishment Lydia deserves, she should not be denied her mother now.”
Through the long hours that followed, Mrs. Bennet was never left alone. One of her daughters remained at her bedside at all times.
The following two days brought no improvement.
Mr. Jones came each morning and evening. Though their mother breathed, she was unable to swallow water, and she did not move.
By the third morning, a bluish cast had settled over Mrs. Bennet’s skin.
Mr. Jones remained with her for nearly an hour before asking to speak privately with Mr. Bennet. When Mr. Jones left, Mr. Bennet came upstairs and told his daughters they should say farewell to their mother.
Toward evening, Mrs. Bennet’s breathing changed, and Elizabeth summoned her father. The intervals between each breath grew longer. When Mr. Jones arrived, he told them what they already knew. Her end was very near.
Mr. Gardiner had arrived directly from Kent, and Mr. Phillips stood behind his wife as she bent over her sister’s hand, weeping.
Mrs. Bennet drew another shallow breath.
Then another.
And then no more.
For several moments, no one moved.
Lydia stared at her mother. “Why has Mamma stopped breathing?”
Elizabeth went to her, but Lydia pulled away and shook her mother’s hand. “Mamma, wake up. Please wake up.”
Mrs. Phillips caught Lydia and drew her against her. “Your mamma is gone, child. Leave her be.”
Elizabeth went to her father, and he drew her close.
She stood dry-eyed within his embrace, looking down at her mother. It seemed as if it was beginning again. But Papa was alive and holding her, and all four of her sisters were grieving around her.
Whatever had brought Elizabeth back to this moment in time had not restored the life she remembered. The past was not simply repeating itself.
* * *
Mrs. Bennet lay in her coffin wearing the gown Jane had chosen and the lace cap Kitty had brought down.
Mrs. Phillips touched her sister's cheek before stepping aside so the daughters could approach.
The sisters gathered around the coffin, but Lydia remained near the door.
Lydia touched her mother’s hand. “She does not look like Mamma.”
“No, my darling. Not quite, but come and see her,” Mrs. Phillips said.
The first callers came late that afternoon to pay their respects and offer condolences. By the following morning, black fabric had arrived from Meryton.
The sisters were measured for mourning gowns, and Mrs. Phillips directed the dressmaker with something of her old authority. Edward Gardiner left for London to collect his family.
Elizabeth helped her father make the arrangements for the funeral. When she saw tears on his face, she reached across the desk and took his hand.
They remained together in silence.
* * *
The following morning, the women went outside and waited near the front steps of Longbourn.
A short while later, Mr. Bennet stepped out of the house with Edward and Mr. Phillips.
Then the front doors opened, and the coffin was carried down the steps.
Elizabeth watched as they placed it inside the hearse. It seemed impossible that only a few days earlier her mother had been alive and quarreling with Lydia.
Mr. Bennet took his place behind the hearse with Edward and Mr. Phillips. Several gentlemen of the neighborhood joined them.
The horses began to move.
Elizabeth stood with her sisters and watched as their mother left Longbourn for the last time.