Page 164 of The Governess of My Heart
“I plan to do it right away. Would you like to accompany me?” he asked, and she agreed.
Mr. Bennet sat in the library as usual, not wanting to be disturbed by anyone in the house, especially his wife, but when he saw Mr. Bingley and Mary together, he was more than surprised.
“Good morning, Mr. Bingley. I assume you had called on the girls, not me. But your company is most welcome on mornings like these.”
Mary felt extremely nervous about her father’s reaction and was glad her mother was not in the house. Mr. Bingley wasted no time expressing his wishes to Mr. Bennet, seeking his approval to marry Mary. Mr. Bennet was initially shocked to learn hisdeclaration as he heard his wife’s plans about Jane marrying him almost daily. He looked at Mary and saw the nervousness on her face. Mr. Bennet was not like his wife; he did not care about whom Mr. Bingley married as long as it was one of his daughters. He saw no reason to deny the match and consented without hesitation. He knew his wife would not be happy that he chose Mary over Jane, but he did not care.
Mr. Bingley was delighted with his consent, and Mary felt relieved as well; she breathed a sigh and left the library after thanking her father. Mr. Bingley left her as a happy man and promised to return the next day; he was excited to convey the news to his family and wanted to write to Darcy right away. He was unaware that Darcy was on the way to town that very moment.
When Mrs. Bennet returned with the others to Longbourn, she was shocked to hear the news. Jane immediately became hysterical and lashed out at Mary.
“You must be jesting; this is not possible! How could you be engaged to Mr. Bingley? Don’t you know that he meant to marry me?”
Mary was not scared of her sister or mother anymore.
“That was your imagination. He saw through your ulterior motives, Jane; you could not fool him,” Mary said.
“Enough! You cannot marry him; call off this engagement immediately.”
“Why should I? I love him, and he loves me; we are not entitled to obey your requests.”
“Mamma! Talk some sense into this girl. She cannot marry him. Look at me and her; how could he dream of marrying someone so plain? Ask her to call this off,” she cried.
Mrs. Bennet hurried inside to speak with her husband again.
“Why did you give him your consent? Don’t you know that Jane wants to marry him, and she deserves it.”
“Fanny, do not be ridiculous. He is a wealthy man, and I cannot risk the chance of losing him. What if he married Jane or Mary? Who cares about it?”
“I care; Jane will be heartbroken.”
“She will find someone else. If Mary is well settled, then that is good for our family; you act as if Mary is not even born to us; she is not Elizabeth, remember that.”
Mrs. Bennet left the room angrily and could not understand how Mr. Bingley could fall in love with Mary.
How could he propose to Mary when my most beautiful Jane is available in the market?
According to the sensibilities of Mrs. Bennet, none of her daughters matched Jane’s beauty, and she could not comprehend the reality of Mary winning over Mr. Bingley’s heart and reached for her smelling salts to calm herself; little did she comprehend that her headaches were just about to get worse in future.
Chapter 47
At the end of the first day of their journey, Elizabeth and Georgiana sat together in their room as they had stopped at an inn for the night. They preferred to have their supper upstairs, and Darcy understood Elizabeth’s hesitance in being in Lord Anderson’s company and agreed. However, he joined Lord Anderson when it was time to eat and tried his best not to offend him in the whole affair.
“You did not have to force yourself to keep me company, Mr. Darcy. I am quite well on my own. I am never alone as my past haunts me now, and my mind never allows me to rest as it is spinning questions about my future.”
“Trust me, sir, I am not here just for the sake of civility. As much as I care about Elizabeth’s feelings, I understand your intentions towards her now. I can see that you are trying to make amends for what happened in the past.”
“But she does not, does she?”
“She has her reasons; you may not fully understand how difficult her life has been since she knew the truth about her past. I am not certain you are aware of every detail that happened in Hertfordshire.”
“I am aware that her parents, I mean Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, were forcing her to marry someone not of her choice, and she had to run away to save herself.”
“It is not as simple as that,” Darcy said, wanting him to understand how much his actions impacted Elizabeth. He explained how Mary had saved her and how the people who raised her planned to let Mr. Collins ruin her just to save Longbourn. He watched the horror on Lord Anderson’s face as he understood the depth of her suffering in the past.
“I do not know if Lady Martha informed you of this; Elizabeth was employed in London before travelling to Derbyshire. She had to leave her employment there due to circumstances.”
As uncomfortable as it was for Darcy, he related the horror she had faced while working in Mr. Brooks’s house.
