Mary Barton was a reserved young woman, and from a very young age, she was used to being unnoticed. From birth, she had been ignored by her mother, and her only friends were her sister Elizabeth and, to a lesser extent, Jane.
So, when such a wonderful man as Mr. Barton showed interest in her, it was easy to fall in love with him. From the beginning, their marriage had several obstacles, mainly due to her own mother. When she had finally achieved happiness, Mary had a miscarriage and was plunged into deep sadness. Elizabeth was the only sister who cared for her welfare and came to visit her. Due to her husband's devotion and her sister's affection, she was finally recovering.
The challenge she now faced was different; ever since the people of Meryton found out her husband had connections with the nobility, they had become the center of attention. Several people who had previously greeted her just out of courtesy now wished to befriend her, and she did not know how to handle her new popularity.
On this particular night, she wanted to avoid attending the party at Lucas Lodge and being in the same room as Mr. Collins. The fact was that Mr. Collins still stared at her in a way that made her feel very uncomfortable.
Not wishing to arrive at Sir William's house alone, Lord Sebastian went to fetch the Bartons and Miss Bennet in his carriage, and they were the last to arrive. Miss Bingley was among the first to greet her friends, Mrs. Barton and Eliza, warmly.
Given his popularity, Lord Sebastian had to listen to Sir William and Mr. Collins's long, nonsensical monologues for several minutes while Elizabeth immediately approached Georgiana, and they talked animatedly about the new novel Georgiana had lent her.
"... I finished reading the novel you loaned me just a few hours ago, and I completely agree with you. It is one of the best novels I have ever read. I will return it to you tomorrow as Mr. Barton has to go to Netherfield Park."
Georgiana smiled and said, "Do not worry; I have read it twice already. You may keep it for a few more days so Mary can also read it. Did you really like it as much as you said?"
Excited, Elizabeth exclaimed, "I loved it! I really liked Colonel Brandon and Eleanor. I confess that I would have wished Colonel Brandon to marry Eleanor and not Marianne."
Confused, Georgiana asked, "But why? The Colonel was in love with Marianne, not Eleanor. Besides, Eleanor was in love with Edward."
Elizabeth nodded. "The Colonel was indeed in love with Marianne, but she was not particularly nice to him initially. I guess in the end, she changed her mind and finally fell in love with the Colonel."
"Are you talking about a novel?" Darcy asked.
Elizabeth nodded, and with a smile, she asked him, "Indeed, do you like to read novels, Mr. Darcy?"
"I do not have time to read novels."
She smiled broadly and said, "Hmmm, you realize you did not answer my question. Let us speculate. Imagine if you had the time. Would you like to read a novel?
He shook his head and said, "Honestly, I prefer to read other things than novels."
She nodded slightly. "What would you like to read?"
"Well, for example, I prefer to read Shakespeare's plays or sonnets, new farming techniques to improve Pemberley's productivity, history, and natural science books. I would rather read any other type of genre than a novel. However, I admit there are some fascinating and well-written ones, such as Sir Walter Scott's novels."
"I also like Sir Walter Scott's novels. Maybe you could read the novel your sister lent me and give us your honest opinion." She paused and added, "I propose a game to get to know each other better; since the three of us like Shakespeare's plays, each of us has to tell the others your favourite play and favourite character and justify why. Do you agree?"
The siblings agreed.
The three of them talked animatedly for several minutes: Georgiana preferred 'Romeo and Juliet' and did not have a favourite character; Elizabeth favoured 'A Midsummer Night's Dreams', and her favourite character was Beatrice from 'Much Ado About Nothing, while Darcy preferred Hamlet, and his favourite character was also Hamlet.
At the other end of the room, Mr. Collins's eyes followed Mary Barton, who was conversing with Miss Bingley with a mixture of hatred, admiration, and desire. Charlotte did not remotely arouse the strong feelings Mary Barton aroused in him. Sometimes he fervently wished that Mr. Barton would die so that he could possess Mary once and for all. It did not matter that he was married; his wife would understand. Influential men like him were known to have mistresses.
However, since he knew he could not kill Mr. Barton and the gentleman was in excellent health, his wishes would be impossible to achieve. He must completely forget about his obsession with possessing Mary Barton, but that would not stop him from taking revenge on her. Days ago, he had seen Kitty and Lydia Bennet shamelessly flirting with two officers in Meryton, and as he knew they were the silliest young women in the Kingdom and were utterly unsupervised, he paid Captain Denny and another officer a few pounds to completely ruin them and then abandon them, preferably one or both of them pregnant. The plan was perfect, and revenge would be very sweet.