Previously:

Lady Matlock leaned forward "Now tell me your plan for dealing with our second problem."

"It strikes me that the ton is just Meryton writ large as far as gossip is concerned," said Jane. At Lady Matlock's nod Jane continued "The prime subjects of gossip, in general, are those people who can be regarded with distain, if not contempt. When news of my youngest sister's escapade reached Meryton my other sisters and I were regarded as such. In the eyes of Meryton we were well and truly ruined."

Lady Matlock interrupted, "I'm sorry that I said …"

Jane waved the apology away. "Think nothing of it; it was a perfectly natural reaction. We were ruined for that brief time before I married Charles. My marriage removed some of the stain of that ruination as far as Meryton is concerned; when Elizabth marries Mr. Darcy, the balance will be washed away. I assume that when word first hit the ton that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were to be married, Elizabeth was regarded with contempt, as being a fortune hunter, and Mr. Darcy with distain, for having been taken in." Again, Lady Matlock nodded. Jane continued, "Then when Elizabeth jilted Mr. Dary she was regarded as touched in the head and he was – well, from what Charles has told me, Mr. Darcy was suspected of having all sorts of horrible things wrong with him if a poor, unknown country chit would cry off marrying him."

"Exactly, in fact such speculation continues," said Lady Matlock. She smiled at Jane "But I assume that your plan is to have the truth of the matter get out and that will remove the distain."

Jane shook her head. "No, the truth of the matter would only increase the amount of distain the ton has for both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. The truth of the matter is that my sister was so enthralled by the lies told by Mr. Wickham that she believed the worst of Mr. Darcy – and her anger at him was further fueled by his arrogant presumption that he knew a lady's heart better than anyone which led him to brag about keeping me and Charles apart to your son. They were both mistaken in what they understood to be true and it took some time and a great deal of talking to unravel those misunderstandings. And the truth of the matter is that all this is too complicated for gossip; gossip requires a simpler story. My plan is to provide the ton with a simple story that not only explains the jilting but excites jealousy towards both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy instead of distain."

Lady Matlock's eyes got big and she leaned forward, "Do tell."

Jane held up a finger. "Before I tell it to you, some rules must be set as to when and how the story is to be told.

Lady Matlock made a vague circular motion with her hand. "Please continue." Her expression made it clear she was reserving judgment as to the content of such rules.

"The story cannot be told until after the wedding," said Jane. "I think you should wait to tell it to your circle until the newlyweds have left for Pemberley, which I understand will be on the third day after the wedding. If before then anyone asks you about why they married just put them off."

"You don't want your sister and my nephew to know about this story," said Lady Matlock.

"Not at all – if they ever found out we …" here Jane gave Lady Matlock a hard look "were behind this story their retribution would be terrible and swift." Jane smiled to relieve the sudden tension. "I think that once you have heard the story you will agree that their reactions when they are teased about it will lend it verisimilitude."

"Teased?"

"I think teasing, jealous teasing, will be the most likely way the story ever gets back to them. But before I get to the story – of necessity the story is metaphorical …"

Lady Matlock scowled at Jane. "Metaphorical? I thought this story was supposed to be simple."

"It is; as simple as can be. But if anyone in your circle is slow on the uptake you cannot be explicit in your explanation – if need be, let someone else explain it to them in your absence. Now I understand that you are meeting with Elizabeth tomorrow."

"Yes, I thought I would get to know her and give her some pointers on dealing with the ton."

"Could one of those be that she should never answer any questions about what occurs in the martial bed – at most, she should say that she is satisfied and leave it at that."

Lady Matlock gaped at Jane. "The marital bed? What sort of story are you spinning?" She shook her head.

Jane ignored her ladyship's question. "But will you …"

"I certainly will; in the ton you always have to be careful about what you say; it can, and will be used against you. Now let's hear this salacious story of yours."

Jane started, "Once upon a time …"

"Really?" Lady Matlock stared at Jane. "A fairy tale?"

Jane nodded and started again. "Once upon a time, in a high and far off land, lived a princess. The princess lived in an old and dilapidated castle in a small and poor kingdom; a kingdom so small and poor it only had the one castle.

Like so many young maidens of her station the princess had never seen a horse."

As it so often happens in these tales, a rich and handsome prince from a large and rich kingdom far to the north came to visit the castle where the princess lived."

When the prince saw the princess, it was love at first sight."

After a very brief courtship the prince proposed to the princess and she agreed to marry him."

Now the prince was very proud of his horse – a very large stallion – and he wanted the princess to go for a ride with him on his horse."

So soon before the wedding the princess was reluctant to take a ride on the prince's horse but he coaxed and coaxed and she finally agreed."

But when she saw how huge the prince's horse was that she was expected to ride, she was overcome with fear and she ran away."

The prince searched for the princess for a year and a day and he finally found her hiding in another kingdom."

It took a while but the prince finally convinced the princess that riding his large horse would be very pleasurable indeed and so they were married."

And they lived happily ever after." Jane grinned at Lady Matlock.

Lady Matlock stared at Jane for a long moment and then she began to laugh and laugh.