Chapter 2

They sat at the table though the order had changed slightly. Miss Austen, sat in her seat still maintaining that regal bearing she had perfected with two centuries. Charles and Jane had exchanged seats after their turn in the garden. Elizabeth and Darcy retained their seats from prior.

"Shall we continue?" Miss Austen asked.

She received a stronger response from the four, a more resolute determination to squelch the lies that were being perpetuated.

"Now, Jane," she addressed, "before we return to the letter the framework of our collective history must be addressed. It seems Miss Brady failed to read the sequence of events with great detail when you were reunited with Elizabeth after Hunsford."

Mrs. Bingley nodded. "Correct. Lizzy came with Maria Lucas to Gracechurch Street. We were due to return to Longbourn shortly thereafter and did so. She never related the contents of Darcy's proposal nor his letter until that evening after we had arrived home."

"The other blight against your character accounted for by Miss Brady, besides your betrayal of Elizabeth, is your willingness to go behind your aunt and uncle to pursue Darcy and give him this letter."

"Again, as Charles has said, a distortion of my character. Why would I endanger myself, my family's reputation to seek a man who never once sought me out? Do I have such little care for my own family?"

"Apparently so based on Miss Brady's account. Why would I betray my dearest sister and worry my aunt and uncle and disregard the generosity they bestowed upon me by hosting me that winter? It is cruel as it is uncharitable ."

Miss Austen continued. "Did the Gardiners ever give you reason to act in such an irrational manner? To seek a man so wholly unrelated to you?"

"No." Jane Bingley shook her head in denial. "I hold great affection for my aunt and uncle; they are both kind and reasonable people and are very dear to us," she said, as Elizabeth, who sat on her right, gave a nod of agreement.

"Can you see yourself ever acting in such a manner, to abandon their protection so easily?" Miss Austen inquired further.

"No, it goes against my nature. Against any form of sensible thought. It is irresponsible. It is a behavior more akin to Lydia, not a woman of my age and temperament. Clearly Miss Brady is unaware of the danger that befalls young women away from home without sufficient protection."

Miss Austen picked up the parchment. "Here in the first sentence of the next paragraph, Miss Brady claims that your pity for Darcy overcame your good sense and induced you to abandon your aunt - and your family - to seek him out."

"For Miss Brady, pity to her must inspire such a greater sentiment than one's loyalty to family. So much so that such pity would inspire deceit as well," Mrs Bingley related with a hint of restrained fervour.

"I hardly know," Miss Austen shrugged her shoulders, "But it is quite discourteous, would you not say? That the plight of a stranger - mind you who insulted your family - weighs more to that Jane than her loyalty to her own flesh and blood," she concluded.

"Perhaps such a pity may inspire her to deceive her own family and go to the front to fight in the war on the eastern front of the continent," Bingley bit out. "After all, does she not hail from the region?"

"Come, come Charles," Miss Austen said, though with an amused smile. "Now, another matter she brings forth is that, you Jane, warned Elizabeth of Darcy's affections, that he admired her."

"Again, another fabrication."

Elizabeth chose this moment to speak: "As Jane made mention earlier, only Charlotte warned me to put my prejudice aside."

"She goes on to explain partially the origin of your dislike, Elizabeth, and according to the letter, which fueled your hatred of Darcy."

Mrs Darcy replied: "I hardly think her recounting such an explanation is enlightening. I made Mr. Darcy fully aware of my thoughts of him in my rejection. Needless to say, what self-respecting woman would be happy to be insulted by a man who barely looked at her nor exchanged words?"

"She suggests that your mother despised you, hence her constant 'derision' - that is the term she applies." Miss Austen prodded. "So much so that you had little confidence in yourself."

"Miss Brady fails to remember that my own mother took umbrage against Fitzwilliam then, for his comments on my beauty and his refusal to stand up with me. More than insulting me, he insulted my family and friends at that assembly."

"Additionally, could not the reverse be said then?" Elizabeth asked. "When my father complimented me on my wit and intelligence while mocking my sisters? I had my father's affections. Jane and Lydia had our mother's. As much as it pains me to say this, but it is true nonetheless, as the apple of my father's eye, I knew well enough to disregard my mother's whims as I had seen my father often do."

"Both our parents had favorites." Jane Bingley expounded. "It was unfortunate, in a manner of speaking, for in the end, it left Lydia ungovernable, Kitty followed her example and Mary was neglected."

Elizabeth again spoke: "I will not dissemble, I did find my mother at times difficult at that age. But then I did have some understanding of her concerns, she had no son to inherit and worried greatly of our welfare with the eventual demise of my father. She did have a mean understanding, I grant you, but her concerns were merited though not well-expressed. My father, who had the means and intelligence to see after our affairs failed to do so and was negligent of my mother's concerns."

"Your parent's marriage was quite common though the means your father came about was more inspired by infatuation rather than abiding love," Miss Austen observed.

"Hence my rejection of Collins. What good is it to have a comfortable house when the condition inside the walls reflects the chaos of purgatory. No, Jane and I both learned that lesson well enough to pursue the marital example set by our aunt and uncle."

"And I concur wholeheartedly," Jane said, reaching for Elizabeth's hand and grasping it. "For both of us, our patience was rewarded, though the road did not prove easy." They smiled at each other.

Miss Austen soon called them to attention.

"Again she writes that Jane warned you Elizabeth - I think we have sufficiently addressed that fallacy. I see no need to beat a dead horse." She lifted her eyes to glance at Elizabeth and received a nod to continue. "The letter also mentions that you had no interest in flirting with Darcy but only to put him in his place."

"Again," Elizabeth said, "she is hardly sharing information which was not readily known."

"Now that we have completed the second paragraph, I would like to hear your thoughts on the whole Elizabeth, since it was mostly concerning you."

"There is nothing new that that letter has recounted. What I find disappointing is that Jane in the letter has chosen to abuse her sister's trust in such a manner as to invalidate her refusal of Darcy."

"Jane?" Miss Austen turned to her.

"I trust my sister and consider this account," she pointed to the damning letter, "officious in the extreme. To interfere in such a private matter, regardless of the pity I had then for Darcy, is very much an action another person may take on willingly, let alone an unmarried woman. I expect my cousin Mr. Collins to act in such a manner."

"Or myself," Darcy offered, "at one time."

"Or my sisters," Bingley shared.

"Or Lady Catherine de Burgh!" Elizabeth added merrily. "She lives to be of use to others."

"True, true," Jane Bingley conceded with an amused smile before turning somber to address Miss Austen: "As you alluded to earlier, my love and loyalty for my sister governs my actions. That Jane has neither loyalty nor any sisterly affection."

"And you Darcy? Were you such an imbecile to misunderstand Elizabeth's rejection?" Miss Austen asked with an amused smile.

"I was foolish then, though I hope not that much of a fool. I would hardly wish to share more than one category with Collins. One is plenty!" He said with an amused grin.

"Indeed, it is!" Miss Austen chortled.

He continued: "Elizabeth clearly made her sentiments known to me and in time, I came to agree with her conclusions about my behavior however how painful such a recollection was to me. The letter I gave her was in order to explain my own actions. I can only assume Miss Brady thinks little of my intelligence that I need an additional response as to why my suit was rejected from a party that was not invited, nor welcomed to the discussion."

"Perhaps she wished to continue the discussion," Miss Austen teased.

"No," Darcy stated resolutely, "and not in such an officious way. The only other person welcomed concerning the affairs I related to Elizabeth was Colonel Fitzwilliam."

"And why not Jane?" Miss Austen slightly goaded. "If you could bring someone to validate your account. Why not Elizabeth?"

"By all means, she can, but the primary members of this particular discourse were myself and Elizabeth."

"That Jane acted outside the bounds of integrity and honesty," Jane Bingley stated.

Elizabeth spoke: "Any additional party, without my welcome or my husband's, is simply meddlesome."

"In my letter," Darcy clarified, "I made mention of my cousin Fitzwilliam as someone to confide in should Elizabeth request his assurances of my account. Such an offer was never made by her to me and for that Jane to assume as much is presumptuous to say the least. What Elizabeth and I said to each other concluded in Hunsford. Should she have wished to communicate with me, I know her to be capable of seeking me out if she so desired."

"And even if I should have wanted or wished to do so, my own discomfort would forbid me," Elizabeth shared. "Especially after the rebuke he received from me."

"Hence your reluctance to tour Pemberley," Miss Austen replied.

"Exactly so," concurred Elizabeth.

"Unlike that Jane," began Mrs Bingley, "Elizabeth and I are not in the business of pushing ourselves in the path of 'rich men.' It was one thing for me to call upon Miss Bingley as she put on airs, at the time, of friendship. In pursuing to continue that friendship, my attempts were refuted."

"What Miss Brady fails to understand is the customs of our society. A genteel woman had little room to act and given the precarious nature of our standing, and as daughters of a country squire with little to recommend ourselves, our actions were heavily scrutinised. No lady, worth her education and good breeding, would willingly act in such a manner," Mrs Darcy shared. "We shall leave the fawning of rich men in their capable hands of the ton debutantes."

"Now Jane, we continue with her most damning assault on your character," Miss Austen said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Apparently, you held no affection for our dear Bingley."

"A fabrication of her imagination," Jane Bingley resolutely stated. "She did not read the events of our collective history. Or dismissed them entirely for her own selfish reasons."

"She says it was all an illusion orchestrated by your mother, the people of Meryton, and even Elizabeth was under a false impression," Miss Austen related as she put the parchment on the table. "By such an account you are talented just as Wickham in that regard."

Jane shook her head with a despondent sigh. "First I am ingratiating as Collins, officious as Lady Catherine, and now deceptive like Wickham."

Miss Austen leaned back onto her seat, "Unfortunately so my dear, it seems Miss Brady is determined to sink your character in every way possible."

"Well, let us not deny her success! I have never thought so ill of myself as I have this afternoon since we began canvassing her attempt."

"She says that you never mentioned your love for Bingley, at least in words."

Charles Bingley scoffed, affronted on his wife's behalf. "How could she? It would be inappropriate for her to speak of such a thing when we had not reached some sort of understanding."

"In this letter, that Jane claims that she should have never danced twice with Bingley," Miss Austen shared. "She alludes that you only did so because Bingley had asked in the presence of your mother."

"I have aged with time, but I can recall my own happiness at having had Charles bestow his attention on me," Mrs Bingley said. "I was quite pleased with the events of that evening."

"She continues to say that had Charles offered his hand, you would have resigned yourself to accept him, because of your family's situation and the entail."

"That is not true," Jane said as she shook her head, saddened and weary. "On more than one occasion I related to Lizzy my feelings for Charles. It was not at all a concoction of Lizzy's imagination. Perhaps Miss Brady should review those particular segments of our history to gain a greater understanding of my person. Furthermore, if I truly cared to marry to save my family from the entail, then I would have resigned myself to Mr. Collins and sought him out instead. He after all made it clear from the start of his arrival that he wanted to marry one of us."

"In the following paragraph she reiterates the same position, that your heart remained untouched."

"More lies," Jane Bingley said. "My heart was touched. Even after Charles' departure I returned to London with my aunt and uncle. I called on Miss Bingley. I would hardly consider my behavior to be that of an indifferent party."


References:

1. The regard Elizabeth and Jane shared for Mrs Gardiner

Mrs. Gardiner, who was several years younger than Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips, was an amiable, intelligent, elegant woman, and a great favourite with all her Longbourn nieces. Between the two eldest and herself especially, there subsisted a particular regard. They had frequently been staying with her in town. (P&P, Ch 25)

2. Mrs. Bennet's comments regarding Darcy and his insult against Elizabeth

"….She was therefore obliged to seek another branch of the subject, and related, with much bitterness of spirit and some exaggeration, the shocking rudeness of Mr. Darcy.

"But I can assure you," she added, "that Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him! He walked here, and he walked there, fancying himself so very great! Not handsome enough to dance with! I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man." (P&P, Ch 3)

3. Darcy's letter

"You may possibly wonder why all this was not told you last night; but I was not then master enough of myself to know what could or ought to be revealed. For the truth of everything here related, I can appeal more particularly to the testimony of Colonel Fitzwilliam, who, from our near relationship and constant intimacy, and, still more, as one of the executors of my father's will, has been unavoidably acquainted with every particular of these transactions." (P&P, Ch 35)

4. Jane at the Meryton Assembly

The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane's pleasure. (P&P, Ch 3)

5. Jane's shares her thoughts on Charles Bingley with Elizabeth after the assembly

When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him. "He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!—so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"

"He is also handsome," replied Elizabeth, "which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."

"I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a SECOND time. I did not expect such a compliment." (P&P, Ch 4)