Madam and Missy — A Pride and Prejudice Variation

This is dedicated to all the writers both here and on KU who've released their stories for free! As I enjoy reading them so much, I thought that I'd have a go, and here it is.

[Note that I'm a Brit, so have written with British spelling, punctuation and terminology 😏]

In which Jane is informed and is offended

Longbourn

Mr. Bennet

Both Lydia and Charlotte had both offered to sit with him as he told Jane of her sisters' marriages. Mr. Bennet had thanked his daughter but asked Charlotte to join the conversation. After a small mid-day meal, he summoned Jane to his book-room and bid her to sit down.

"I have asked Charlotte to join us as, what I have to tell you, I told her only yesterday. She knows that it will surprise you as much as it did her."

Charlotte nodded and sat next to Jane.

"What is it, Pappa?" Jane asked. "Is someone unwell? Or hurt?"

"Yes, that is part of it, my dear," Mr. Bennet replied.

"Lizzy! Has something happened to Lizzy?"

Mr. Bennet sighed. He had barely begun and Jane was already distressed. This is going to be harder to explain than I had hoped.

Charlotte took Jane's hands and said, firmly, "Jane, Mr. Bennet has many things to tell you. Some are good and some are bad. You must try to remain calm as he speaks."

"But, but, Lizzy— "

"Jane, would it help to hear the end of the story first, so that you know that Lizzy is well?" Charlotte asked her.

Jane nodded, close to tears.

"Very well; prepare yourself — Mr. Collins hurt Lizzy; Lady Anne is taking her to London to recover," said Charlotte. Seeing Jane's anxiety begin to rise, she continued, "Lizzy wishes to see you before she leaves, and Mr. Bennet thinks that you should be told the whole story first. Now, having heard the end of the story, are you well enough to hear the beginning?"

Jane nodded again and listened to the whole story with only the occasional interjection: "Lady E?", "Betrothed?", "Not your distant aunt?", "Married to Mr. Darcy?" At this, she stood and paced the book-room. When she had regained her seat, Mr. Bennet continued. "Melissa is her daughter? And Phoebe?"

Mr. Bennet and Charlotte watched her as she sat in complete silence. Now and then, she drew a breath in sharply, as if to speak, but no words came. Eventually, she spoke,

"And all this was to be kept from me?" Jane's anxiety was turning into outrage.

"Yes."

Jane was silent again, brows furrowed and eyes unfocussed in thought. "Who else knows?"

"Of our family, your Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, as they facilitated Lizzy and Darcy's correspondence; Mary— "

"Mary? Why does she know if I did not?" Jane asked, a hint of jealousy in her tone.

"Because Mary has a similar secret, my dear," Mr. Bennet replied, kindly.

"'Similar sec—'? You mean that Mary is also betrothed?"

"Married, she is married," Mr. Bennet clarified. "And Beatrice is her child."

"No!" Jane's fury propelled her from her seat again. "And to whom does Martha belong? Is she Kitty's daughter? Or Lydia's?" she spat spitefully.

"No," said Charlotte, also standing to put an arm around the angry young woman. "Mrs. Stevens is Lizzy's lady's maid and Martha is her daughter."

"Sit, child, let me tell you more," instructed Mr. Bennet, hiding a groan of frustration. "You asked who also knows. The final person from our family is Lydia." Seeing that Jane's outrage was disguising hurt feelings, he quickly added, "She worked it out for herself. When she confronted me with her knowledge, I had to admit that she was correct." He crouched in front of his eldest daughter and took her hands in his. "I can see that you are angry, Jane, but please remember that I forbade them from speaking of this. Your anger should be with me not your sisters."

Jane burst into tears, and Charlotte put her arms around her and stroked her back. After some minutes of rocking and sobbing, she bade Mr. Bennet continue with his story.

"Of Darcy's family: his father knew before his death, but did not meet Lizzy. Clearly, his mother, Lady Anne knows, as does his sister and," he paused, "some of his cousins." He walked to the window and turned back to face her. "In fact, you know almost everyone who knows."

"I do not know Mr. Darcy's sister or cousins," protested Jane.

"You know Colonel Fitzwilliam, Jane," Charlotte pointed out.

"Rich—? The colonel knows?"

Mr. Bennet caught her slip and half smiled. "The colonel was Darcy's best man at their wedding. Another of Darcy's cousins is James, Mary's husband— "

"James Fitzwilliam? He came for the ball at Netherfield and stayed with us when you disappeared the following day."

"Yes, that James." Mr. Bennet nodded.

"He is Mary's husband?"

"Yes, that is correct. His father, a bishop, is Lady Anne's younger brother and performed your sisters' wedding ceremonies."

"And the others? You mentioned a sister and more cousins."

"Darcy's sister stayed here in the summer but used an assumed name."

"Gina? Gina Prout is Mr. Darcy's sister?" At Mr. Bennet's nod, she continued, "And is Hannah Prout another sister?"

"Jane, dear, calm yourself. For reasons that I shall not divulge at the moment, Miss Georgiana Darcy stayed with us for her own safety— "

"'Safety'? Was she in danger? Who would harm such a sweet child?"

"Jane, please." He waved his hands in a calming motion. "I cannot tell you; I am not permitted to tell you. But, allow me to continue. Despite their very similar appearance, Hannah Prout is not a sister but another cousin. I am prepared to tell you her real name if you would like to know it."

"I think that I ought to know it, Pappa."

"She is Miss Anne de Bourgh and is hiding here from her mother, Lady Anne's sister."

"Why is she hiding?"

"I shall leave that for you to ask of her. She might not wish me to tell more of her concerns."

"Mmm," said Jane. Her brows were furrowed again, but Mr. Bennet hoped that it was in thought rather than her earlier anger. "Very well," she said after a few minutes of silence. "What happened during and after the ball, and where is Lizzy?"

Mr. Bennet explained that the colonel had thrown Mr. Collins out of the ball after his inappropriate behaviour towards Elizabeth. He spoke, very carefully but straightforwardly, about the monster's assault on Elizabeth the following morning, then paused to carefully study Jane's face. When she bid him to continue, quite bravely, he thought, he told of Darcy taking Elizabeth to stay with Lady Anne, and of his own trip to deposit the monster at the steps of Rosings.

"I am sorry to have to tell you, very sorry, that the monster hurt Lizzy badly. Lady Anne has proposed that she takes Lizzy, Mary and the children to stay with her for the winter while she recovers."

"Why could she not come home? We could care for her here."

"We could, that is true. I see two difficulties: Darcy would not be able to stay with us, unacknowledged as he is as her husband. And I promised him that, if he would keep Lizzy safe, I would deal with the monster; as you can imagine, Darcy was furious."

Jane nodded.

"The second difficulty is that Kitty would not be able to keep Lizzy's injuries to herself and our neighbours would want to know all about it."

Jane nodded again.

"There is a third reason," interjected Charlotte, who had been listening in silence. "It would be horrid for Lizzy to see the destruction in the dining room, or to see the dining room at all."

Jane nodded a third time and conceded, "Yes, I see that."

Mr. Bennet went to crouch in front of his eldest daughter again. "I think that that is enough for now, but, should you wish to know more, come back."

He watched as Jane took a deep breath and agreed.

"Now, I have a question for you: would you like to visit Lizzy tomorrow before Lady Anne takes her to London? I think that would help Lizzy to recover if you could do so without being too distressed."

Jane nodded. "I should like to see her, Pappa. Will you be there too?"

"Yes. I am considering asking Miss Hannah to come, too, so that she can see the Darcys, but shall not if that would displease you."

"She would probably wish to see her family and could do so while I talk with Lizzy. Does that sound reasonable?"

"It sounds perfect!" Mr. Bennet kissed Jane's forehead. "I expect that you would like to have some solitude to think about all of this, so why not go to your room and I shall send Mrs. Hill up with some tea for you."

When Jane had left the room, he turned to face Charlotte and blew out a long breath of relief; it was done.

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