Page 70 of First Impressions
“Yes, very exciting!” she tried to match her mother’s excitement but fell short.
“To think, two daughters married. Well, one married and one going to be married. Oh, I do hope that Jane has a big wedding. We just have so many people that we need to invite. And I’m sure that Charles will have a lot of family and friends coming as well…” Irene rambled on.
Here it comes.
“Oh! Maybe he will have a groomsman or two for you to meet. Yes, I will definitely need to talk to— Jane! You have to make sure that Charles has single groomsmen. For your sister…”
“Mom, seriously? I’m still on the phone,” Beth said loudly into the phone, trying to regain her mother’s attention. She knew this was coming. Two daughters married wasn’t enough. It hadn’t even been two hours since she had found out that Jane was engaged and less than twenty-four hours since Lydia had married and she was already trying to set her up with someone.
“I know, honey. But I just want to see you all happily in love and married. Like my darling Jane is going to be. Isn’t this just wonderful? Jane and Charles. Your father is so happy; the firm is going to be in such good hands,” her mother sighed in contentment.
“Yes, I’m so happy for her. Jane deserves all the happiness in the world,” she responded sincerely “I’m going to go. I have some work emails to catch up on.”
“Oh, ok. Oh, but wait Beth! Wait! Charles wants to have an engagement dinner next weekend to celebrate!”
I’m sure that it was ‘Charles’ who wanted to have a celebratory dinner…
“Ok, when?”
“I think Saturday would probably be best. I don’t know where yet, maybe here...” she trailed off before yelling, “Jane! Where should we have your dinner? Maybe it’s better to do it out somewhere, this way everyone can see you and your new fiancé together!”
“Mom! I’m still here. Jane can just let me know later this week, it’s fine. I’ll talk to you later. Bye!” Beth gave up and hung up the phone.
Well, she knew all that was coming - her mother’s exaggerated excitement, her desire to have the whole world know that two of her daughters were married/to be married. What she wasn’t prepared for was being the object of focus again; she’d hoped all the excitement of planning Jane’s wedding would distract her mom for some time.
She didn’t want to think about meeting any more of Charles’ friends; she didn’t want to think about Charles’ friends, one friend in particular. His friends only spelled heartache for her.
Oh, God. He’ll be at their wedding,she thought as she made herself a cup of tea.
Of course, he would be at their wedding. He’ll probably even be in the bridal party. Her heart clenched at the thought of having to walk down the aisle with Darcy as the best man and herself as the maid of honor. It was bad enough she saw him at his home, sat with him at his table. The ache for that to be her normal life had been overwhelming and now she was going to have to walk down the aisle with him; it was the very thing she had blatantly refused him and consequently refused herself.It would be torture.All she could hope was that Charles and Jane had a long engagement - long enough to allow her to move on. She laughed to herself; the notion of moving on seemed like a joke right now, like the impossible.
She sat down on the couch with her tea and started up her computer. Opening her email, the most recent message caught her eye; it was from Mrs. DeBourgh.
What does she want?
Beth reluctantly opened up the email and read,
Miss Bennet,
I see you snuck out the morning after the party before we had a moment to chat. I’ve just learned that my other house guest, Mr. Darcy, left quite early that morning as well after disappearing for most of the night. Very interesting.
I have the most important matter to discuss with you immediately. I’ve made reservations for tea at the Plaza tomorrow at ten A.M. I will see you there.
Mrs. DeBourgh
Beth had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Granted, she knew that Anne and Mrs. DeBourgh had been very busy this past week settling all of the winning bids and making sure that the donations made it to their appropriate charities; her assistants had kept her up to date on the press they had been putting out as the donations were made. If shewanted to meet with her about that why wait until now? Now, if she “just” found out that she and Darcy had left around the same time that morning, that would be something that would prompt such a sudden meeting request.
Her mind began to work overtime. What would she say if Mrs. DeBourgh asked about the two of them? Yes, it was acompletelyinappropriate question or topic to broach with someone that you had hired but Beth knew that that would not stop her. If her mother was obsessed with having her daughters married, Mrs. DeBourgh was just as fixated on having Anne married to Mr. Darcy.
What could she do though? It’s not like Mrs. DeBourgh could force Phil to fire her. Even if it meant losing the DeBourgh business, Phil would never fire her; she was certain of that. The woman was very wealthy and knew a lot of people in high places. She might know a lot of Gardiner’s other clients and convince them to leave the firm as well. That Beth couldn’t let happen; she would quit before becoming the reason that Phil’s company failed.
I could find a job somewhere else, right?
She’d built an admirable career; there had to be other firms out there that would want to hire her. It was a matter of finding one that Mrs. DeBourgh wasn’t connected with and that she couldn’t ruin, which might prove difficult.
What if it meant you had to move?
What if the only way to escape Mrs. DeBourgh’s reaches was to move to the west coast, or another country. She wasn’t sure she could do it. She loved New York. She loved being close to her family, as much as they annoyed her.
