Chapter 95
The satisfaction of the Gardiners, when informed of Mary and Tom’s good news, hardly requires description.
That the two people, other than their children, whom they loved best in the world had decided to unite themselves with each other was as pleasing to them as can be imagined.
The wedding was to take place as soon as it could be arranged, no-one seeing any reason for delay.
The happy couple were to be married from Gracechurch Street, although both Lizzy and Jane offered to make their houses available, declaring either would be delighted to take charge of the arrangements.
Mary was touched by their generosity, and knew their good wishes were very sincerely meant; but she was pleased when Mr. Hayward admitted his desire was for a London ceremony.
She had spent enough of her life in her sisters’ shadow; and as a new chapter opened for her, she had no wish to begin it once again as their pale satellite, made invisible by the brightness of their dazzle.
This time she would be the star, with all eyes for once on her.
A further advantage of a city wedding was the improbability of Mrs. Bennet’s being disposed to attend it.
And indeed, as was expected, she wrote to Mary explaining that the state of her nerves would not permit her to make the journey.
But there was in her letter a genuine sense of satisfaction.
Against all expectations, she had achieved her life’s ambition—she had lived to see every Bennet sister married, even the daughter who she was certain would never find a husband, especially after the unfortunate business of the spectacles.
She did not display much interest in the gentleman himself once she was informed of his circumstances.
The mere fact of the marriage was enough to gratify her and bring forth what limited congratulations it lay within her power to give.
It was not much of a blessing, but Mary was content to regard it as such.
Two further letters arrived from Hertfordshire.
One was from Charlotte, expressing her good wishes with a warmth more polite than heartfelt.
Her two boys were well, the new baby bouncing and healthy.
The house looked even neater and smarter than when Mary was there and the rose arbour flourished mightily.
Mr. Collins begged to be remembered to her.
She concluded with an invitation to visit them at Longbourn, which both she and Mary knew would never be taken up.
The second note gave Mary far more pleasure, because she knew the joy it expressed could not have been more sincerely felt.
Mrs. Hill wrote that she had always known Mary would one day find the happiness she deserved—had she not often told her so?
—and she could not be more delighted than to learn she had been right.
She begged a slice of their wedding cake as a marriage favour, which Mary would not have denied her for the world.
Even Mr. Ryder was generous enough to send a short but cheerful note, the briskness of which he excused by reason of its having been written in extreme haste.
He was about to leave for Italy, a trip they both knew he had long meditated, and which, due to the recent improvement in his circumstances, he now felt confident enough to undertake.
He did not mention a companion; but it was soon after generally known that he had been joined on his travels by Caroline Bingley; and that the two of them were now established in a villa overlooking the sea outside Genoa, living as man and wife.
There was no agreement as to whether they had actually undergone the rites that entitled them to be so described.
Tom was sceptical, but Mary, considering the power of Miss Bingley’s will, and influenced by her own wish to see everyone as happy as she was herself, preferred to believe that Miss Bingley had achieved her heart’s desire of being married to a man of wealth and position, by whatever means she had considered necessary.
Late one afternoon, a few weeks before their wedding, Mary found herself standing alone in an empty house in a north London square, where she and Mr. Hayward were to live after they were married.
She strode through its rooms, spectacles perched unashamedly on her nose, notebook in her hand, measuring, thinking, planning.
Now she stood in the drawing room, looking out from the large, long windows into the gardens beneath, imagining exactly how it should be arranged.
There was just enough room for all their books—she should have hers situated on this wall, with a chair next to the shelves where she could read in the sun.
Her piano should go here—and around the fireplace, she would have several large sofas, positioned to encourage both comfort and conversation.
She was determined this would be a convivial house, full of liveliness, laughter, and good talk.
It should be as much as possible like Gracechurch Street, a place where friends would visit often, good dinners would be served, and no-one would ever stand on ceremony.
She should keep the tables well polished and she would have flowers upon them whenever they could be had.
She smiled to herself as it occurred to her that for someone who had never expected to have a home of her own, her ideas about how it should be arranged were remarkably precise.
A home of her own. Her heart still beat a little faster when she thought of it.
But that was nothing compared to what she felt when she considered the husband with whom she would share it.
She and Tom were to be married. She had found a man she loved, who loved her in return.
And here, in these rooms, in this house, they would make a life together.
There were moments when she asked herself, as Lizzy had once done, if she deserved to be so happy.
As she ran her finger down the window shutters, she felt one of those moments creep up upon her.
A shiver passed through her when she thought of how it might never have happened.
But this feeling did not last long. She had gradually discovered that the best response to glorious, unexpected happiness was not to seek explanation for its appearance but simply to embrace it and be glad.
This was a new lesson, but she did not think it would take long to master.
With a satisfied glance around the room, she made a final note and prepared to leave.
She longed to tell Tom her thoughts for the wallpaper.