Chapter 2
August 31, 1807
Thirteen-year-old Catherine Bennet poked her head into the parlor where Mama sat with Jane and Elizabeth, each of them working on some kind of needlework. “Mama, I am going to visit Mrs. Parker,” she said.
Mama glanced up from her work, nodded, then looked back down at her hands. Catherine going to visit Mrs. Parker was so commonplace by now that it didn’t really require any comment.
Catherine skipped down the front driveway, feeling very happy. She loved the sunshine and the fresh air outdoors, though she still didn’t particularly like getting dirty. She had learned, however, that some of the best things in life come with a bit of dirt or a bit of mess.
The reason she was so happy was that, just now, she had finished her best painting yet. It still wasn’t quite as good as she wanted it to be, but she could tell that she was getting better, and she wished to share her triumph with Mrs. Parker. After all, if it wasn’t for Mrs. Parker, Catherine likely would have never taken up painting in the first place, because she would have been afraid of getting her clothes or hands dirty.
When Catherine reached Mrs. Parker’s cottage, she walked right in the front door. Mrs. Parker had told her she could enterwithout knocking, since it would save the older layd the effort of getting up to answer the door.
When she looked into the little sitting area, Catherine became suddenly concerned. Mrs. Parker was sitting in her old rocking chair, holding a letter. Tears were streaming down her face.
“Mrs. Parker!” cried Catherine, rushing over to the old lady. She knelt down in front of her so she could see her face better. “What is wrong? Are you sick?”
Mrs. Parker squeezed Catherine’s hand and said, “No, dear heart. These are happy tears. This letter is from my sister, who I haven’t heard from since I ran away with my husband.”
Relieved, Catherine stood and went to the other chair. “I am happy for you,” she said. “Is your sister doing well?”
A wide smile grew on Mrs. Parker’s tear-stained face. “She is. In fact, she has invited me to come live with her. She has a much more comfortable income than I do, since she was wise enough to marry well. Now that her husband is gone, she wants some company, so she hired a Bow Street Runner to find me. Apparently, it was never her choice to ignore me. First, she was forced to by our father. Then, her husband also refused to acknowledge me. She apologized most profusely, for almost a full page.”
“Are you going to be leaving?” asked Catherine, suddenly quite alarmed.
This took the smile off of Mrs. Parker’s face. “I am afraid so. She is my sister, and I cannot pass up this opportunity to be with her again after all these years. I will stay until the end of September, so that I have time to prepare and say farewell to all my friends. Then I will be leaving for Suffolk, where my sister lives.”
“But what will I do without you?” cried Catherine.
Mrs. Parker reached out and grasped Catherine’s hand. “You will do very well. You have other friends. You have four sisters, a mother, and a father. You shall barely even miss me.”
“But I shall,” said Catherine adamantly. She wanted to stomp her foot for emphasis, and if she had been standing, she might have done so. “You have taught me everything. You can’t go.”
“Apparently, there is one thing I have not been able to teach you,” said Mrs. Parker gently. “Acceptance. There are many things in life we cannot control, and you will be much happier if you learn to live with them, work around them. Stamping your foot and screaming at the world to stop hurting you never works. It only wears out your shoes and makes you hoarse.”
Catherine knew in her bones that Mrs. Parker was right. She knew that her friend had to leave. She had heard Mrs. Parker talk about how close she and her sister had been as children. For the older lady to have the chance to spend her final years with her sister was a gift that could not, should not, be refused.
Yet, the idea still hurt.
“Catherine, I will write to you,” said Mrs. Parker. “Without fail, I will write every week. We shall not lose each other completely. After all, I shall miss you just as much as you will miss me, for you have brought a bit of sunshine into my life and given me a reason to feel useful again.”
Catherine nodded. “I shall write back,” she said. “I promise. And when I am old enough, I shall come visit you.”
Mrs. Parker smiled again. “That sounds wonderful. I look forward to seeing you all grown up and ladylike.”
~~~~~
Mrs. Parker did not leave immediately. Since she had lived in Longbourn village for many years, she had grown quite close to her neighbors, so she wanted to take some time to visit with each of them. Additionally, there were many arrangements to be made for such a permanent move.
Catherine visited as often as she could during this time, almost every other day. She helped Mrs. Parker pack away her few belongings. She even helped the lady clean, though it was Catherine’s least favorite thing to do.
A week before Mrs. Parker was scheduled to leave, Catherine entered the little cottage only to find a horrifying sight. Mrs. Parker was lying in the middle of the little sitting area, clearly dead. Catherine ran back home, and Papa took over. Later, the coroner pronounced that Mrs. Parker’s heart had given out.
Catherine was distraught. She had mentally prepared herself for Mrs. Parker to move away, but she was not prepared to lose her altogether. She didn’t know what to do with herself or even how to feel. Sometimes, she cried, but there were also times when she was simply furious with the old lady for making friends with her then leaving so suddenly.
Three days after Mrs. Parker’s death, Uncle Phillips came to their house. Uncle Phillips’ wife was Mrs. Bennet’s sister, and since Aunt Phillips quite doted on her nieces, Uncle Phillips was a very familiar figure to Catherine. Even so, it was entirely unusual for him to request to speak with her and her father together, which is what he did in this case.
Uncle Phillips was one of only two solicitors in Meryton, and he happened to be the solicitor in charge of Mrs. Parker’s will. Once Catherine and her father were seated in her father’s study, Uncle Phillips showed them both the will of Mrs. Parker.
