It was a lady’s voice, and as it came closer and became clearer, he noticed that it was a particularly lovely voice. There were no words, simply notes, and John did not recognize the tune. The almost random nature of the tune and the delightful emotion that supported the clear voice was captivating.
John stood still for several moments, unable to think of anything but what he was hearing. Though there were no words, it was clear that the voice was singing a joyful song, somehow praising and expressing gratitude for the nature all around her.
Eventually, he came to his senses just enough to realize that he did not wish to be seen, so he moved behind a large oak tree to hide himself from the direction the voice was coming from. Still, he peeked around the side to see if he could catch a glimpse of who had such an incredible voice in such a backwater place.
What he saw delighted him to his core.
Miss Bennet came into sight, but she wasn’t walking as he had expected. She was doing some sort of dance. Sometimes moving slowly, almost twirling in place. Then she would leap forward as if she were a ballet dancer at the opera. Even more than her song, her movements expressed how very comfortable and happy she was hidden here among the trees.
It was the most moving sight John had ever seen in his life. Everyone he had ever met, absolutely everyone including himself, was controlled and inhibited. No one ever expressed how they truly felt or moved how they wished to move. Ladies moved with controlled grace, and gentlemen moved in ways that intimidated or impressed.
He had never seen someone move so freely or speak so openly of how they truly felt. Though she was singing anddancing instead of speaking, it was obvious what she wanted to say.
As he watched her leap and twirl her way past his hiding place, he noticed that there was an undercurrent of slightly inhibited sensualness in her dance. Since everything else about her dance and her song spoke clearly of how she was feeling, he began to wonder if this part of it was expressing her emotions as well.
By the time she was out of sight and her song had faded in the distance, John was nearly certain that beneath the joyful gratitude for the woods, she was experiencing an unrequited love for some unknown person.
Curiosity lit within him to know who the mysterious man might be. To be the object of affection from this young lady was something he could not even imagine. Would she drop her polite plainness in his presence, or would she maintain her façade?
John resolved to observe the young lady next time they were in company together to see if he could determine which young man she had a preference for.
Chapter 8
The next opportunity was only a few days later at a dinner party at Haye Park. At dinner John was not seated particularly near Miss Bennet, but he was at least on the opposite side of the table, so he could see her.
She spoke quietly and politely to the gentlemen on either side of her, though her expression hardly shifted at any point in the dinner. She did not smile or laugh at some joke they might have made. Nor was there any hint of annoyance that she was seated between two men each of whom were old enough to be her father.
There was simply nothing, a placid expression that was barely on the polite side of indifference.
After dinner wasn’t any different. John made his way around the room, greeting and chatting with everyone for a few minutes each. He deliberately left Miss Bennet for much later so that he could have as long to observe her as possible.
However, there truly was nothing to observe. She treated all her neighbors the same way she had treated her dinner partners. She did not seek to engage any gentleman in conversation, and only sought out a few ladies. When she was chatting with others, she spoke politely, neither stifling the conversation nor extending it too long.
There was one exception. Miss Bennet spent at least ten minutes chatting with Miss Lucas, during which time she wasn’t exactly animated, but she was less apathetic than with anyone else in the room. With Miss Lucas, she even smiled once or twice.
John was surprised when he did see her smile. The expression lightened her face from something absolutely ordinary to something exceptional. For a brief moment, Miss Bennet was almost a completely different person, someone much closer to the lady he had seen dancing than the moving statue he had been observing all night.
Eventually, when John had spoken to nearly everyone else in the room, he made his way to Miss Bennet’s side and sat down next to her on the sofa.
He was a little taken aback when she almost immediately mentioned her brother-in-law. For a moment, he thought she was speaking of Darcy, but he quickly realized she must be speaking of a different one. She had four brothers-in-law after all.
When she did finally mention Darcy, John had to scramble a bit to speak truthfully but not to give away his identity. He was certain she suspected he was withholding information, but she was kind enough to let it slide.
He watched her closely throughout their conversation. She seemed a bit more animated with him than she had been with most of her neighbors, but he chalked that up to their topic of conversation. It must be rare for her to speak to anyone about places beyond her neighborhood.
When he moved off to speak with someone else, he was no closer to understanding the mysterious Miss Mary Bennet thanhe had been before, and the mystery remained as to who was the object of her unrequited love.
~~~~~
Two weeks passed before John saw Miss Bennet again. He visited the woods every day in hopes of seeing her there, but they were simply too large for him to see all parts of it. He was certain she had been there a few times at least, but he had never managed to catch sight of her.
He also didn’t see her socially. He had been told that it was a somewhat dead time of year, and there were very few social engagements. It made sense to him, but that didn’t make it easier to bear.
At least his time spent wandering through nature helped him move past his mourning for his father, and his curiosity about Miss Bennet gave him something else to focus on.
He spent most of his evenings either at the Three Barrels, playing for farthings or at the Red Lion where the wagers were significantly higher and the company was cleaner. It didn’t matter much to John, for he was always focused completely on the game.
A fortnight after the dinner party at Haye Park, Longbourn hosted a card party. Since Mrs. Bennet’s drawing rooms were among the largest in the neighborhood, practically everyone who had any status in the neighborhood was invited, which included John.
