Chapters 13-15 Happy Was The Day

Battle lines formed between the four remaining Bennet sisters living above stairs as they prepared for the annual assembly. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Mary crossed lines and invited her to ready for the evening’s festivities in her shared room with Kitty, while Kitty had thrown her support to Jane. 

“You can join Jane if you’d like to preserve your position, Mary, I won’t mind,” Elizabeth offered as Mary untied the wraps that had been in Lizzy’s hair since the previous afternoon. After the restriction to the house and exclusion from dinner, Lizzy made a decision to put the free time over Jane and Miss Bingley to good use: her vanity. Her curls would be the tightest and longest lasting of the evening as a result of her additional freedom from social obligations.

Mary frowned in the vanity glass at her sister’s poor attempt at martyrdom.

“Right is right, wrong is wrong. Mr. Darcy has done much for our family and when pride cometh, then cometh shame,” Mary recited from Proverbs.

Elizabeth inspected two combs before her as options for her hair that evening. One set, a gift from her sixteenth birthday, had been seen so many times by Mr. Darcy, she didn’t wish to wear the familiar set again even though they were the fancier of the two. But the second option, a loan from Mary, also failed to please her as they were very plain, but Elizabeth did not wish to appear ungrateful for her sister’s love and care.

“You believe Jane feels ashamed?” Elizabeth asked, confused about Mary’s thoughts as to how the proverb and situation related to one another.

“Your Mr. Darcy never abandoned you,” Mary explained.

Elizabeth twisted a quarter turn in the chair, earning a hair pull from Mary’s work. “Ow!” Elizabeth grimaced, then took a breath, remembering her sudden inspired thought. “Say, I completely forgot about the string of seed pearls from Aunt Gardiner! They will set off your combs so well!” Elizabeth waited for a nod from Mary in agreement to her plan, and before her sister could resume untying the knots of the curling rags, Elizabeth stood. “I’ll fetch them from my room,” she explained, dashing to the door in her shift and robe.

She came up short two steps into her room as Kitty and the maid, Betsy, worked on Jane’s hair, now glistening with the milky iridescence of seed pearls woven between her limp curls. Kitty looked at Elizabeth, not as far along in her preparations, and sought approval of Jane’s appearance.

“Isn’t she lovely?”

“Those are mine!”

Kitty’s mouth opened in shock as such disagreements never happened between her older sisters.

“Jane?” Kitty asked.

The eldest Bennet daughter did not bother to turn around and face Elizabeth directly.

“They’re already woven into my hair. Just leave it.”

“So you do not deny that you pilfered through my things!” Elizabeth charged.

“And had you been preparing in here, I would have mentioned it and you would never deny them to me,” Jane explained.

Elizabeth crossed her arms, and narrowed her eyes as Mary joined the fray behind her.

“Then you won’t mind me taking your golden chain for my hair, after all, you would never deny me, either, would you, Sister?”

“But I am to wear that!” Kitty interjected, holding up the chain in question. “Jane promised.”

Soon, three of the Bennet sisters began squabbling with each other, while Mary watched on and the poor maid stepped back to press herself against the wall. The raised voices attracted the notice of their mother who bustled into the room, nearly knocking poor Mary to the floor. 

“What petty arguments are happening now? Surely you are not fighting over shoe roses!” Mrs. Bennet bellowed.

“Jane took Lizzy’s pearls for her hair, and promised me her gold chain, but now Lizzy wants to wear it!” Kitty tattled.

Mrs. Bennet, hearing Lizzy’s name twice, faced her second daughter with a gaze of pure wrath. “I should have known you were disturbing the preparations.”

“Mama, that is not fair. Jane is the one who took the pearls without asking,” Mary interjected, a rare vocalization that gave even Mrs. Bennet pause in her emotions.

“And why shouldn’t Jane wear the pearls? Lizzy’s dress is green, Jane’s is such a lovely shade of blue and white silk,” Mrs. Bennet walked over to the gown hanging upon the wardrobe door to prevent wrinkles. She fingered the delicate silver brocade along the bodice, the sensible reason Jane did not wish to wear gold in her locks. “Yes, the pearls match Jane’s attire,” she pronounced.

“Then I should wear the gold chain! I am engaged to be married, and Kitty is not. If Jane is going to wear my pearls, she should not have promised her usual accessory to another,” Elizabeth said, firmly, emphasizing her ownership of Jane’s choice.

Mrs. Bennet scoffed. “And you would deny your other sister what would have been the highlight of her evening? How cruel you’ve become, Lizzy.”

Sensing a chance to keep the gold chain, Kitty began to quibble her lower lip as though she might cry. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in utter shock at how carelessly any concern for her had been thrown aside. Refusing to reveal how pained she was by her mother’s favoritism, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her trunk. She could almost imagine Mr. Darcy’s embrace and reminded her vanity that his love hinged not on the baubles and jewels she wore. She ignored the shouts and continued discussion between her mother and Kitty until at last she imagined a new image of herself at the assembly that evening.

“Betsy,” Elizabeth said to draw the maid’s attention, trying to avoid another argument all together. “Would you please ask the gardener to cut a dozen rose blooms from the garden? I know a number of our bushes are still in bloom. Mary and I shall wear roses in our hair,” she announced, turning back to beam at Mary.

Kitty inspected the thin filigree of gold in her hand, suddenly disappointed that it would not compete nearly as well with elegant blooms in one’s tresses. 

“I want to wear roses, too!” she announced.

But Betsy had already bowed and stepped out, anxious to remove herself from the family’s discord. 

“Now Kitty, you wished to wear the gold chain,” Mrs. Bennet said, feeling outsmarted by her second daughter again, and it was too late to unwind the pearls from Jane’s hair for flowers without damaging the delicate curls. “Besides, most of the blooms will be ragged and dingy from the cool weather. We’re long past the height of rose season.”

Elizabeth smirked at her mother and realizing there was no more of the battle to be won, led the way for her and Mary’s retreat back to the other bedroom. When the door closed, Elizabeth took a deep breath and decided to make an entreaty of Mary. 

“I wish to tell you something, ask for your assistance, and I won’t ask you to keep it a secret,” Elizabeth explained.

Mary pretended to inspect the gown she was to wear for the night’s assembly for any last minute repairs needed to the hem or sleeves. The yellow frock had been one she owned for two years. She remained silent so that her older sister could continue, and avoid a commitment one way or the other.

“As I am one and twenty, Mr. Darcy and I have plans to marry by special license in London. I wrote to our aunt some days ago and received word in this afternoon’s post. She has invited me to visit her and any sisters of mine wishing to make the trip, as I have detailed for her my problems here,” Elizabeth said, inhaling sharply and blowing out a deep breath to keep her emotions under control. 

Elizabeth waited for Mary’s response but before her younger sister could answer, Betsy knocked on the door with an offering of roses from the kitchens.

“There was already blooms awaiting, Miss,” Betsy explained and gave a quick curtsy. She stood, unsure of what to do, and Elizabeth soon understood the young woman’s difficulty.

“Return to my other sisters, Mary and I can manage,” Elizabeth said, smiling at the young woman who had always been kind and helpful to her. As she dismissed their help, she brought the blooms to Mary.

“How were there blooms already cut? That is most strange,” Mary commented, and Elizabeth noted she did not ask about the London plan.

Choosing to accept her sister needed time to think about the proposal, Elizabeth did not press for an answer one way or the other. Instead, she giggled. “I had expected Jane and I to wear jewels in our hair, and to have the flowers for you and Kitty. But, this is much better, if you ask me,” Elizabeth said.

Mary sniffed the rose and smiled at the pleasing scent. Relying again on Scripture, she uttered the harshest condemnation of their other two sisters: “She that is greedy of gain troubleth her own house.”

“Aye,” Elizabeth said, with a laugh as Mary returned to Elizabeth’s hair so that they could finish and she would return the favor in kind. “And I am anxious to leave this house of trouble to join my own with peace!”

By nightfall, the Bennet family filled their two carriages to join the annual harvest season assembly in Meryton. The earlier disputes and strife soured the moods of all four Bennet daughters, but dividing themselves along the same lines avoided further disagreement. Mary and Elizabeth rode with their father, the sweet fragrance of the roses in their hair improving the air inside the vehicle.

Violins and a pianoforte played pleasing tunes too slow for any dancing, but allowed the half score of neighboring families to greet one another and share good tidings. Spring and autumn called the modest meeting house for the village into duty, as it conveniently attached to the public rooms of the tavern and inn. Where past years, the Bennet daughters would have marveled and enjoyed the decor and splendor, half of their party were only preoccupied by seeking out two specific attendees. Unfortunately, the Bennet party arrived before the Bingley siblings and Mr. Darcy from Netherfield Park, and so Jane and Elizabeth stood looking beautiful as they attempted to conceal their disappointments.

Mr. Bennet took the opportunity to pull his Lizzy aside and detail instructions he had received from his wife.

“Your mother has imparted that you agreed to dance the first set with Mr. Darcy,” he stated.

“Of course I intend to dance the first with Mr. Darcy—” Elizabeth began as her father interrupted.

“I would like that to be the only dance you give that man,” Mr. Bennet said, with a meager attempt at authority in his voice.

Elizabeth craned her neck in earnest to the arrival of the man in question; only half of her mind considered her father’s edict. When she suddenly comprehended the command that was given to her, but not Jane, she turned her entire attention to her father and raised her voice slightly as the music hit a swell in dynamics. “I shall do no such thing! It is my greatest desire to dance as many times as I may with Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth said excitedly, slightly echoing the tone and timbre of her younger, but married sister, Lydia.

“Your reputation, and the reputation of your sisters—” Mr. Bennet began to explain, but his second eldest daughter walked away, shaking her head at her father’s insanity. He considered going after her, but changed his mind when he spied that the pernicious suitors had arrived. Couples surrounded him as they sorted their pairings off for the first reel, and to his dismay, his two oldest daughters took their places near the top of the line with their respective beaus.

Elizabeth offered nothing but the brightest smile for Mr. Darcy, utterly unbothered by her father’s edict. In her pocket held the precious letter from her aunt, the one that granted her a safe haven for their plans to marry in London.

As she stepped with him by her side, promenading through the lines, she excitedly gave him the news.

“I have heard from my aunt in London!” she exclaimed.

Mr. Darcy bowed his head, and stepped his feet in time with the other gentlemen. As he neared her, he asked the appropriate remark as to the contents of the message. Elizabeth did not fail to please.

“She writes I may visit anytime along with any of my sisters who shall join me!”

Revealing that she was eavesdropping on Elizabeth’s conversation with Mr. Darcy, Jane suddenly turned to look over her shoulder, against the direction of the dancing. Elizabeth did not see this as she focused on Mr. Darcy, but Jane’s partner, Mr. Bingley bore witness.

“My dear?” Bingley ventured as he and Jane neared close enough to speak courtesy of the dancing sequence. “What distresses you?”

“Lizzy is planning something,” she said, with a slight annoyance to her voice.

The couples took turns with each other just before Jane and Mr. Bingley would take their place at the end of the line, the third most prominent couple of the evening by precedence. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would follow in kind after the next completion of steps.

“Did you ask a sister to join us?” Mr. Darcy asked, looking pointedly at Jane, who ignored him.

Elizabeth waited until Jane and Bingley were forced to separate themselves from their closest proximity by virtue of the reel’s dance steps. When it was safe to speak in relative privacy that only the chaos of a dancing floor could provide a young couple, she flashed a smile at Mary, standing off to the side and electing not to dance this set.

“Mary,” she said, with pride in her voice and earning a nod from her beau.

Another vigorous sequence stifled the conversation for a moment, but Mr. Darcy managed to inquire if Mary had agreed.

“Not yet, but nor has she declined,” Elizabeth shared, hopefully.

Elated that there appeared to be no further impediment to their nuptials, and his plans for Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy spoke in his loudest voice yet. “Then I shall call tomorrow, early, with my carriage.”

More than a few heads turned near Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy as they readied to join the end of the line as well, as whispers fluttered through the crowds meandering on the edge of the dancing. Had they heard correctly? Did the proud and stern Mr. Darcy declare that he was calling for Elizabeth Bennet in the morning with his carriage? Most relied on neighbors nearby and their hearing to confirm or deny, but Sir William Lucas, ever a man of action, chose to query Mr. Bennet directly.

He found his friend close to the punch bowl and waited for the opportune moment to clap him on the shoulder, just as he lifted the glass goblet to his lips.

“Bennet, my friend, good to see you in the one daughter married club! Your youngest, eh, that was a surprise! A surprise indeed,” Sir William Lucas congratulated his friend with a sly hint to the gossip swirling around the nuptials of Lydia Bennet, now married to Lieutenant Wickham.

Mr. Bennet sputtered on his punch, allowing Sir William Lucas to take a position next to his friend properly and gesture in the direction of the dancing couples.

“I was waiting closely to see young Lizzy and let her know how my Charlotte is returned to the neighborhood, for reasons I’m aware your kin have shared. And as I stood, I heard the most remarkable news! Mr. Darcy plans to call tomorrow on Elizabeth with his carriage!”

Mr. Bennet pursed his lips and spied his wife, across the room, talking with Lady Lucas and her sister Phillips, very animatedly. They also stared directly at his daughters both dancing a second set with the gentleman they began the evening with, raising more talk and questions. Jane’s banns were announced, so there was little fodder provided from that coupling. No, the mutterings and outright queries from the closest family friends revolved around Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

In a rare moment of character failing, Mr. Bennet grew angry. And as he watched Elizabeth laugh heartily and her eyes sparkle at the wit offered by the gentleman who’s behavior had disturbed Mr. Bennet’s peace the most over the last two months, ever since Lydia ran off with Wickham, his heart battled absolute rage.

“Bennet?” Sir William Lucas interrupted his friend’s silent fuming.

But Mr. Bennet did not answer his neighbor. Ever a man prizing his solitude over social demands, he walked away amused by his new found pride in fatherly authority. Although his steps quickened as his baser emotions remained in the forefront of his mind, the man who enjoyed nothing more than manipulating the foibles of others, did find a great irony in his circumstances.

As the music came to an end, and without a clear plan in mind when he began his movements, Mr. Bennet soon found himself directly before Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. To keep appearances, he nodded his head in Darcy’s direction, receiving a similar sign of respect from the man that all but announced some kind of arrangement had been made.

“I am here to inquire if you intend to dance the third set, Mr. Darcy, and if so, have you considered my daughter, Mary? I do believe she cares to dance and the other gentlemen in attendance appear to be too dull to notice such an English rose amongst them,” Mr. Bennet challenged, with poor Mary standing close enough to hear her father’s entreaty to her eternal mortification.

“I do, and you anticipated my actions, sir,” Mr. Darcy covered for Mr. Bennet’s humiliation of both of his daughters. He turned to Mary and bowed. “Miss Mary, may I have the pleasure of the next set?” he asked.

Mary glanced to her sister who gave a single, barely perceptible nod, and then she risked a full smile, “I would be delighted, Mr. Darcy,” she said, and the two of them walked to take their place in the lineup.

“I believe Sir William Lucas is looking for you,” Mr. Bennet said. But to his consternation, Mr. Bingley appeared by their side, having handed Jane off to their mother.

“Miss Elizabeth, may I have the pleasure of dancing this set?” Mr. Bingley asked.

Offering her father a pitiful smile as she accepted Mr. Bingley’s hand, she walked away slightly curious as to why her father wished for her to speak to Sir William.

“Forgive me if you’d like to see to your family’s business,” Mr. Bingley said. They were so late to the set that they had to stand and wait for their turn to perform.

“Worry not, Mr. Bingley. I’m sure whatsoever Sir William has to impart to me can be of no importance or my father would have relayed such information himself,” Elizabeth said, thinking briefly if the news affected her good friend, Charlotte Collins, Sir William’s daughter.

Mr. Bingley nodded and watched carefully to estimate the time before he would lose his opportunity. Next to him, Elizabeth only had eyes for Mr. Darcy dancing with Mary, and the gentleman had trained his eyes on her as much as possible in return.

“Right, so there is no easy way to do this, but I asked for this set to ask a question,” Mr. Bingley managed, taking a breath.

Elizabeth smirked, cheered at spying her intended making conversation with Mary. Her sister’s complexion sported a healthy rosy glow under the candlelight and preferred attention of a man she respected. She hoped that Mr. Darcy would encourage her sister to join them in London. Mr. Bingley distracted her from her happiness, though, with his query.

“Your sister Jane is most upset. Are you planning to elope with Mr. Darcy with a special license?” Mr. Bingley asked, earning a shocked reaction of a stifled gawk from his future sister by marriage.

“I wonder why my plans and your friend’s plans have any cause to vex either of you. Your wedding is your own, and you have enlisted the aid of my mother in declaring so,” Elizabeth countered.

The pairs of couples reached them and Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth were swept up into the frenzied steps of the third set, a piece played and danced more uptempo than the two previous sets. Both partners unhappy with the other, the physical exertion stymied further discomfort between the pair.

Unwilling to risk a full argument on the dance floor, Mr. Bingley inquired no further. When at least their required time together came to an end, Elizabeth offered advice to Mr. Bingley.

“Do not allow my sister Jane to send you on her errands. And if you must ask about the business of Mr. Darcy, you should ask your friend directly.”

“Miss Elizabeth, I only meant to ask in relation to the discussion you held for many to hear around you. It is common knowledge now that my friend, who played an instrumental role in your sister’s unhappiness for many months, plans to call upon you with his carriage come morning.”

Elizabeth came up short in her steps as they were walking away from the dance floor. Suddenly, the whispering groups of her neighbors throughout the assembly room swirled in her vision.

“Miss Elizabeth?” Mr. Bingley started, but Elizabeth turned away from him and bolted for the back door that would lead to the adjoining tavern.