PP AU
Bonds of Duty
Jane's Stance
Jane stood in a long white dress with sequin sparkles all over it. She stood in a room whose walls were as white as her dress. The windows went from ceiling to floor and had dark burgundy drapes kept open by matching ties. A large chandelier with colors of the rainbow in its crystals shone overhead.
The light from the chandeliers sparkled and fell onto the carpet, disappearing and blending into the light yellow carpet. The room's white furniture, with gold-laced accents, was complemented by dark vases, fresh flowers, and other miscellaneous items.
Elizabeth walked in, upset; she could not believe her sister was not marrying Charles. "You said you loved him. Why did you say no? And why are you marrying a man we do not even know?"
"Charles had no backbone to his sisters, even when Mr. Darcy went after him; you know it was your husband who went to London even if he never said it." Jane turned to her sister without raising her eyes. "Why should I have accepted him?"
"But, sister, surely you are not going through with marrying this man. We do not even know him."
"Franklin Jarris is our cousin, with proof William and his father have been lying to the courts all these years. So, you cannot say we do not know him."
"Sister, you know what I mean."
"Elizabeth, Franklin is not a bad man. At thirty-five, he is not too old. I have asked around, and while he shares father's humor, Mr. Jarris's reputation says he does not mock his close family. So, I will have that. I am not stupid; or deaf, people call me vapid and other names that go along with it. He does not. There are things you do not know about him. If I marry him, our sisters, if they remain unmarried, will not be in danger of living on the streets when father dies, nor will they have to go live with you if they do not wish to leave Longbourn."
"But he..." Elizabeth found her sister's hand going up and her eyes hardening in a way they had never done before, so she stopped and changed what she was going to say. "I wish you well."
Later that day, Jane came out of the church of Meryton on the arm of Mr. Jarris to the shock of Charles Bingley, who was driving by. Unlike the people of Meryton, he knew just how much Mr. Jarris really had in the bank. His overinflated ego—created by his sisters—instantly popped, as did his sisters' egos, who had not believed the talk in London.
"You really should not turn your nose down at Mr. Jarris; he has more money than he is telling people. When he marries, his wife will never want."
The words had come from a very reliable source. So, now that Caroline was seeing it in reality, she was silently furious that Jane Bennet had gotten what she wanted and that the Bennet sisters were now far more secure in Longbourn than she was in London society. And it made her furious, and her brother seeing red at his sister, but there was nothing other one of them could do about it for Jane was now Mr. Jarris of Longbourn and would not ever leave her father's ancestral home.