Author's note: A number of people have asked where Darcy is in my story. Patience! Patience! Good things will come to those who wait.
Christmas 1814 came and all five sisters gathered with the Gardiners and Philipses at Netherfield for the celebration. Their mother did come to Meryton with Sir Albert, but they again stayed at the Longs' house. As Jane and Elizabeth had discussed, the Carters and Kitty stayed with the Bingleys and the Gardiners at Longbourn with Elizabeth and Mary. The Elfords joined everyone at Netherfield for Christmas dinner and brought the Longs with them. Elizabeth asked Mr. Bingley if he had invited his own sisters to join them, but he said that his sisters preferred to stay in London so they would not miss any of the entertainments available then. While Elizabeth only commiserated with Mr. Bingley for their absence, secretly she was pleased they were not there to put a damper on everyone's high spirits. She assumed that his sisters just did not want to be with the Bennet family, even for their brother.
There were three very important announcements made during the Christmas dinner. First, Jane and Charles announced that they were expecting another child. Then, Lydia and Mr. Carter announced that she was also expecting their first child. Finally, Kitty said that Mr. Roper had asked for her hand and she had agreed. She said that they had set a wedding date as the middle of March, just before Easter. She added that her betrothed and his father were looking for a house for them so they could set up their own household immediately upon their marriage. Everyone congratulated her without reservation.
With all these important announcements, they had great reasons to celebrate. Before the ladies separated from the men, the two uncles, Gardiner and Philips, rose to add another reason to celebrate. They said how satisfied they were with Elizabeth's management of Longbourn and that the estate was earning more than it ever had, so much that they would both be pleased to hire a steward if Elizabeth wanted to stop being so involved in the day-to day affairs. Everyone was pleased to hear this and pleaded with her to take advantage of this offer.
She rose and said, "I am happy to know that I have the option that I can me relieved of these duties whenever I choose, but I am finding that I am actually enjoying being kept busy with them. I have been finding that they are now taking less of my time than they had before, so it is not all that onerous. It is a good feeling to know that I am doing something well and that this will benefit Tommy in the future, which it now appears to be more assured. Perhaps I will take advantage of having more free time. I would like to travel to see more of England."
Several of the family at the table thought that this would be the perfect time for her mother to invite her and Mary to go to visit her in Reading, but her mother said nothing. Even though Mr. Gardiner looked deliberately and pointedly at his sister, she did not take the hint. The Gardiners then knew that it would be up to them to see that their niece got away from Longbourn more often. He was disappointed with his sister, but that was not the first time that this had happened.
Shortly after Christmas, the Elfords went back to Reading, the Carters returned to Essex, and the Gardiners and Kitty went home to London. Life in Hertfordshire was quiet once again. During January and February, Elizabeth and Mary lived quietly except for visits to Netherfield, occasional dinners out, and visits to their Aunt Philips. They attended the two assemblies held in Meryton during that time, but neither enjoyed them very much. Mary did not approve of frivolous events such as dancing, and Elizabeth found no new gentlemen with whom she might dance.
When March neared, Elizabeth was busy making sure all the farms on the estate were ready for spring planting and she and Mary made ready to go to London for Kitty's wedding. They went several weeks before that important date so they could help Kitty prepare her trousseau, leaving Tommy with Jane. Elizabeth took extra funds with her so that the Gardiners did not have to bear this expense. The four ladies had fun shopping for everything that Kitty might need for her married life. They had special fun looking for a nightgown that she could wear on her wedding night that would be sure to make that night was memorable to the new couple.
A few days before the wedding, the Carters came to town and stayed with some of his relatives, the Bingleys came and stayed with the Hursts. They brought Anna and Tommy with them but left Tommy and his nurse at the Gardiners' house so he could get to know his cousins better. Their mother and Sir Albert came and stayed with friends of Sir Albert. The Philipses had said that they could not get away from Meryton, so they were the only relatives who did not come.
The only unsettling moment occurred just before the wedding when Elizabeth was talking to Jane, Mary, and Lydia. She said, "While I am very happy for Kitty, I am not sure about her marrying a man who is so heavily involved in trade. We are gently born and were raised as ladies. Do any of you worry about Kitty's future? Will her marrying a man whose social status is far beneath ours affect how society will look on us?"
Jane was quick to defend Kitty's choice. "Lizzy, I cannot say anything negative about her choice. Look at me; Charles came from a family in trade, but he is trying to raise his status by now being the master of Netherfield. I do not believe that our children will suffer at all from my choice. I can only hope that Kitty will help her husband raise their status in the future as he appears to have a very good business that may enable them to look for an estate in a few years. I understand your concern, but I am optimistic about them."
Both Mary and Lydia agreed with Jane, but Mary's arguments were based more that the goodness of a person should be the main reason for their status, and not the social group into which they were born. Although Elizabeth was not completely satisfied, she hoped that Jane was right in what she had said.
The wedding and the wedding breakfast went very well and the newlyweds left for a week in Bath. The Carters, Bingleys, and Elfords then left for their homes. Mary said that she wanted to return to Longbourn with the Bingleys, but Elizabeth had been convinced to stay with the Gardiners for an extra week before returning home. She decided that Tommy would stay with her in London as their cousins were enjoying playing with him.
Elizabeth found that the Gardiners had planned to keep her busy that week. Every night, they either went out to see plays or music, or they invited guests to come for dinner. Again, every dinner included at least one unmarried young man, but Elizabeth was not interested in any of them. Her Aunt Gardiner tried to talk to her to find out what she found lacking in her guests and what she wanted in a possible suitor, but Elizabeth was vague and would not open up to her. This was unusual as her Aunt Gardiner had always been a good confidante, much more sensible that her mother.
During the days when the weather was clear, Elizabeth and Tommy went with their cousins to a park so they could run off their extra energy. She had kept Tommy with her and she delighted to see him trying to run to keep up with his cousins. At almost two, he was still very unsteady on his feet, so his attempts at running resulted in many falls. Fortunately, his cousins were patient with him and included him in their games. At the end of the week, Elizabeth and Tommy returned to Longbourn. She was pleased to learn that the planting was going well on all of the Longbourn farms.
That spring and summer of 1815, several events of special note happened. In March, word came that Napoleon had escaped from his exile on the Isle of Elba and had returned to France, where he again raised an army of loyal Frenchmen. Then in July, the great news was that there had been a huge battle at Waterloo with the French forces that resulted in a resounding victory for the English and their allies. Napoleon was captured and sent into exile to the remote island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. As several families in and around Meryton had sons in the army, this news of his final defeat was very welcome.
That summer, both Jane and Lydia were due to give birth. Jane's delivery came first, a son who they named Donald Charles. Elizabeth and Mary went to Netherfield with Tommy to look after Anna while Jane was in labour, but, of course, neither was not allowed to in the delivery room with Jane when she gave birth. Both Anna and Tommy detected the excitement even though they were not sure what was happening. The birth went well and the baby was presented to his sister and toddler uncle. Elizabeth and Mary took Anna and her nurse back to Longbourn for a few days to give Jane a chance to recuperate in peace.
Then word came that Lydia's time had come and that their mother had gone to Essex to be with her favourite daughter at this critical time. This news upset Elizabeth as her mother had not bothered to attend to Jane for either of her deliveries. The news just reinforced Elizabeth's poor opinion of her mother. She just seemed to have lost all interest in her family, except possibly for Lydia. Lydia's baby was a daughter that she called Frances Anne, obviously after their mother, which pleased her very much.
A further piece of news that did not excite the sisters at first was that the parson in Meryton announced that he would be retiring and that a curate would be coming to replace him until a permanent parson could be appointed. The first Sunday that they saw the curate, they were not impressed. He was young, not all that good-looking, and seemed to be shy until he began to preach; he was hesitant at first until he warmed up to the theme in his sermon. During his sermon, Elizabeth saw that Mary was watching him very closely and following his words with interest. After the service, Elizabeth found Jane and suggested that she invite the curate to dine at Netherfield and invite her and Mary as well. Jane immediately saw what Lizzy was planning and she agreed that this could be a good opportunity for Mary to meet someone who might be interesting to her.
The conversation at dinner did not appear to be promising at the beginning as the curate, Mr. John Tower, proved to be quite shy and seemed to find it difficult to talk to young unmarried ladies or even Jane. Elizabeth saw that she had better find a topic that he might be able to talk about. She turned to him with a smile and said, "Mr. Tower, I was confused about what your sermon was really addressing. I know that there was a deep message that you were trying to convey, but I seemed to have missed it. Would you mind explaining it to me?"
She was correct in her assumption that he would talk more easily about the message in his sermon and he began to explain the essence of what he had tried to convey to the congregation. When he came to a pause in his explanation, Lizzy, who was sitting next to Mary, nudged her with her knee and looked pointedly at her. "Mary, were you not speaking to us about this exact point some time ago?"
Mary was flustered at first, then realized that her sister wanted her to respond to Mr. Tower. She reached deep inside her and found the courage to speak. "Yes, I was. I was reading Fordyce's Sermons and found almost the same message that you talked to us about in your sermon this morning. However, Mr. Tower, I found your sermon was much clearer in conveying that message than what I read. I enjoyed hearing you speak very much." Mary continued to compliment the curate and everyone saw that his ears turned red at Mary's words. Once started on this religious topic, he and Mary continued to talk for the rest of the dinner, mainly to each other, much to the delight of the others.
After dinner, the ladies did not separate from the gentlemen but they all went into the sitting room. Elizabeth said, "Mary, if I play several pieces, will you then follow me with some more?" They took turns playing, much to the enjoyment of everyone. Elizabeth had stayed on the piano bench to turn the pages while Mary played. When she finished, her sister seemingly innocently led Mary to sit next to Mr. Tower on the couch.
"Miss Mary, you play very well. I thoroughly enjoyed your music. I do not often get a chance to hear such fine playing."
Jane saw that their conversation might need a boost. "Mr. Tower, please tell us about your family. Do you have brothers and sisters?"
"I have two older brothers but no sisters. My oldest brother will inherit our estate and my other brother entered the army. I chose the church." Both Jane and Elizabeth now understood why he seemed to be so shy around ladies.
Mary again found the courage to talk, "No sisters! There are five of us sisters and only one brother. Three sisters are married, so just Elizabeth and I are left at home with our brother, who is very young. Our father died several years ago and our mother has remarried and is living with her new husband in Reading. Elizabeth has been looking after our brother and the estate for several years."
The conversation went a bit easier after they began to talk about their families. Before Mr. Tower left, Elizabeth invited him to come to Longbourn for tea. She and Jane smiled at each other at this auspicious start. Poor Bingley thought that they were up to something, but he missed detecting their match-making plans. It was only after everyone had left that Jane explained to him what was happening. Bingley was pleased to hear this as he shared their concerns about Mary's future. Just like his wife, he wanted each sister to find the happiness in life that he had found with his beloved Jane.
Mr. Tower did come to Longbourn for tea that week, the first of a number of visits. For some reason, Elizabeth always seemed to be called away at some point in time when he was there, leaving him alone with Mary for varying lengths of time that increased with each visit. Elizabeth knew that it would not be completely acceptable for her to invite Mr. Tower to dinner if no other gentlemen were attending, so she asked her Aunt and Uncle Philips to come so she could invite him with propriety. Her aunt quickly saw what Elizabeth was planning and she went along with it wholeheartedly. At dinner, Mary was seated next to Mr. Tower and everyone else saw that they talked to each other, even if their talk was a bit stilted. After dinner, Mary again entertained everyone on the piano, which their guest seemed to enjoy very much.
This routine continued for several months, into the late autumn. Finally, Elizabeth decided to ask Mary outright. "Mary, you seem to get along very well with Mr. Tower. Have you two spoken about the future?"
"No. He does seem to like to be with me, but he is quite shy."
"Mary, remember when Jane almost lost Mr. Bingley when she did not openly show him that she liked him? I do not want this to happen to you as well. Do you like him? I believe that you two are well-suited for each other."
"I do like him and he is less shy now when we are together than when we first met him. I believe that he likes to be with me."
Lizzy decided she had better push them or they just might miss a good chance at their future happiness. "Why do you not speak to him about the future, perhaps only indirectly if you cannot ask him directly? He is so shy that he may not find the courage to raise the issue with you. From how he is with you, I believe that he likes you a lot. If it will help, you will have a dowry of two thousand pounds, and perhaps a bit more than that."
"Lizzy, the more I see of him, the more I believe that we would make a good couple. I could help him in so many ways. But how could I possibly raise this possibility with him?"
"Mary, perhaps you could use scripture. Did God not make a promise to Adam 'to make a help meet for him,' meaning someone who will be fully compatible with him and will be a source of strength for him? What if you asked him if he had ever thought about having someone who could help him with his pastoral duties and to be with him in the future? You might begin the conversation by saying how much you admire him and would like to help him in any way that you could. You could say that you believe that God made you the perfect helpmate for him, that you think that you are destined to be with him as his helper. You will need to find a time when you two are alone and that the topic arises naturally. I will certainly help you in this."
"We do talk about many different things, so I should be able to find a way to bring up Adam and God's promise to provide him with a helpmate."
"Mary, has he ever held your hand, or offered you his arm to hold?" Mary shook her head negatively. "Then you have to find a way to get close to him when you talk to him. You might just touch his arm and smile at him. You have a very nice smile. No man can refuse a woman anything when she looks him in the eye and smiles at him."
"Lizzy, I am not sure that I could do that. Would he not think that I am too forward or even wanton?"
"Mary, think of how Jane almost lost Mr. Bingley. If you really want Mr. Tower, you will find it in you to do this. Please try. I want to see you happy and I am convinced that you and he will make a perfect couple. You have to find the strength in you to do this. I know that you can do it."