~~~
While Charlotte began trying different personas, Jane and Charles Bingley were on a very different educational journey. Their primary mission was to identify and evaluate every single bed between Rosings and the Lake Country. As a newly married couple, full of the energy and optimism of young love, they made a serious and diligent effort to be as thorough as possible.
Once they reached the lakeside cabin so graciously provided by Mr Darcy, they managed to slow their frantic pace and simply enjoy their days in peace, harmony, and quietude. By design, they had only two servants, an old married couple who looked after the cabin. They lived half a mile from the house and came only to cook meals, deliver coal, light fires, and do light cleaning.Otherwise, they were on their own the vast majority of their time.
They had to curtail their mattress-testing endeavours, as there were only four in the house—hardly more than a day’s worth of testing. The rest of their time was spent in a very long-overdue task. They set out with great diligence, fortitude, and alacrity to do a bit of courting. They had sacrificed courtship to circumstances, but they were both well aware that they could not just skip along as two bumbling, happy people through the rest of their lives without putting real thought into it. Mr Bennet suggested they would be cheated by their servants or unable to make decisions, and both had to admit it was a real possibility. In reality, the couple had spent considerably less than a dozen hours in each other’s company before their precipitous marriage, and had not spoken a single word to each other in over a year. During that year, Mr Bingley grew from boy to man, while Mrs Bingley grew similarly by leaving the noise of her childhood home to experience a different type of married life and the birth of a niece, along with a deep and lifelong friendship with Mr Darcy. The Bingleys had both formed deep and hopefully long-lasting feelings of affection, love, and gratitude, but there was little actual experience of life to give them confidence.
Over the course of many hours spent in each other’s company, many quiet walks around the small cabin on the lake, a smaller number of trips into the local village, and even a puppet show and theatre performance, they gradually began to work out the intricacies of how they were to live their lives, how they were to raise their children, and more importantly, how they would allow their hearts to become truly joined. They both gradually came to the realisation that each of them was in love with an imagined shadow of their spouse. All in all, they were both very fine shadows. They were entirely lovable, and worthy of anybody’s consideration—but they were still shadows.Nowthat they were as one, it was time for the shadows to become a little more solid.
The shadows were easy enough to disperse by simply spending time together talking with complete honesty, or the best they could do. Complete honesty was so far beyond the couple’s capabilities that they would have a difficult time even understanding the concept, and as with many couples, there was no guarantee they would ever achieve such a state, or even strive for it. Both had been raised with the rules of propriety from the first moments of their awkward adolescence, and propriety was really nothing more than thoroughly practised deceit. All were taught to hide and diminish their true feelings, while giving good consequence to the world, deserving or not. Both had done a remarkable job of only letting the barest hint of their true feelings show explicitly, and both ended up quite nervous about how they were to live together.
However, as they began the journey of a married and dedicated couple, they spent a little time each day, whether it was lying naked twined together on one of the convenient mattresses, lying naked on the rug by the fire, lying naked on one of the sofas, or lying naked in the coach with the shades drawn; each participant gradually picked away a little piece of the shadow, and saw a little piece of what was hidden behind. They even managed some of this when they werenot naked, though in the first weeks of marriage, that particular skill was not as convenient as one might think.
Gradually, over the period of two months, the couple opened their hearts, opened their minds, and came back from their trip as a unit, a couple, a formidable force. Both members walked a little straighter, knew a little more about the world and this person they had chained their life to, and carried a certain solidity that had been lacking.
After their interlude at the lake, they travelled to introduce Mrs Bingley to their relations in the North, and then finally returned to their own environs early in the new year. Being anxious to see Mrs Collins and little Abbie before returning to Netherfield, and being apprised of a rumour that Darcy might be at Rosings as well, they decided a stop in Kent on the way home was in order.
~~~
Elizabeth Bennet’s journey did not begin with a marriage, but it shifted its course. She was very pleased to stand up for her best friend Anne, and felt proud she might have had a beneficial influence on the woman. She was not so proud as to take all the credit for Anne’s recovery and eventual happiness, but she felt she could claim at least a little. Anne had been sick and declining before Elizabeth came to visit, and now she was robust and marrying. In an introspective mood while lying in her bed, listening to the noises coming from Anne’s chambers (noises matching those she had heard before from the servants’ attics), she reflected that she was quite happy with the situation. Nobody knew if Anne would survive or thrive in her new life. Elizabeth was not so naïve as to disbelieve Anne’s assertion that her health had been declining before she met Mr Read, but she thought Anne had as good a chance of happiness as any. Anne’s husband was satisfied, Anne was satisfied, and Elizabeth even thought that some months hence, when she actually learned of it, both Lady Catherine and even the ever-noisy Miss Abbie must be as well. Elizabeth of course had no idea that her sister Jane was now Mrs Bingley, and it would be some months before that intelligence might work its way through the war-torn waters of the Atlantic to find her in her confused and ever-changing direction.
After Elizabeth’s startling discovery that she was no longer employed but possessed a settlement, Mr Hopkinson read to her the actual contract Lady Catherine had written, and Elizabeth gasped in astonishment. How in the world was it possible? The amounts suggested Anne’s illness was hereditary, and her mother insane. Somehow, Lady Catherine had determined that Elizabeth Bennet was to be Anne’s salvation, and ensured the lady would be taken care of for the rest of her life. Elizabeth had not the slightest idea how to deal with her new fortune. She would have to establish several schools to even diminish the sum.
The month following the wedding also brought a physical journey. It would ordinarily take two to three weeks to travel from New York to Ohio, but since this was also the couple’s wedding journey, and it was the middle of winter, they took six weeks, arriving in the middle of December. They stayed at the finest inns and were not distressed if they were detained for a week. There was much to be seen, and they could take the easiest trails if the weather was foul, or the most picturesque trails when not. One might suppose that the blind would not enjoy scenery, but Elizabeth had long learned to appreciate the atmosphere of a place, to enjoy the stories she could hear from travellers, and even to live a bit vicariously through descriptions from her companions. There were also the smells of the forests and hills, the sound of waterfalls, the noises of startled animals, and plenty of other things to attract her notice.
Travel through the Appalachian Mountains would sometimes be impossible and might have made the journey even longer, but the mildness of that winter allowed them through a pass with a bit of rough travel that Elizabeth enjoyed much more than Anne. She had eventually learned to travel inside a coach with only modest distress, but still preferred her old trick of having herself strapped to a footman’s perch or even sittingbeside the coachman. It was the closest she thought she was likely to ever get to her beloved crow’s nest.
The journey, the clean air, the bouncing over every pothole in New York and the Ohio Territory, and her surprisingly candid conversations with the footmen riding with her, all led her to reflect that her life was now her own to do as she chose.
Elizabeth felt as though she had made a clean break with the last dregs of the unhappiness of the past with her untoward letter to Mr Darcy. He was a good man, and she wished him well, though she thought she might suffer pangs of regret over not seeing him again from time to time. She was sensible enough not to predict whether she would ever return to England; but it seemed less and less likely, at least in the next few years. She could not imagine braving a ship by herself through the war-torn Atlantic, nor was she willing to travel overland to the Canadas, so she was quite fixed here at least for the duration of the war.
Their arrival in Ohio sent her onto another journey. Mr Read, with the permission and encouragement of his wife, started involving her more and more in his business affairs right from the beginning. At first, he only relied on her uncanny hearing to ferret out associates who might be less than forthright. He soon discovered she had not only her special abilities, but she also possessed a sensible head on her shoulders. As he started telling her more and more of his business, he found that she remembered nearly everything and could put together associations between disparate conversations in unexpected ways. The three would sometimes talk well into the night, and between Elizabeth and Anne, they frequently had much better answers to business matters than he had any right to expect. The three turned out to be a formidable team, and Elizabeth thought they might very well be quite happy, and very productive and even important in this new territory they were helping to build.
As winter gradually turned to Spring, Elizabeth found a great deal of contentment in her new situation. She and Anne had immediately set up several schools within a day or two’s journey from their home; she was becoming more and more immersed in their business and their daily life; and she found that with time and practise, her music changed from a chore to a joy, both for herself and for all her companions. Mr Read found a good master, and she dedicated hour after hour to practise, particularly when the practise ceased to be quite so frustrating, and especially when it started becoming joyful.
As spring advanced, and the fields of the Ohio Territory started to show their early efforts for the next crop, Elizabeth felt true contentment and happiness.
Easter services found Elizabeth thankful for all the bounty life had given her, with not the slightest concern that her loss of sight meant the end of her life. She might never marry, but she would be content; and if Anne’s frequent attendance to the chamber pot of a morning was of any significance, she thought she might well enjoy the supreme benefits of being an honorary aunt or godmother before the start of winter.
Yes, Elizabeth Bennet’s journey was not at an end per se, but it had delivered her to a place where she was safe, happy, and content. She lived a life entirely free of regrets or vexation.
If, late at night, alone in her bed, she missed the company and conversation of a certain gentleman from Derbyshire, the thought never survived to the light of day… well, almost never.
~~~
Fitzwilliam Darcy found that, having delivered his cousin to the care of Miss Lucas, he was at a loose end; he therefore began a journey of introspection. At Pemberley, he anxiously read each note from Miss Lucas regarding his cousin’s condition, resolutely resisting the temptation to ride to the lodge andscream at the man or shake him until he understood. He quietly examined how he might remove the colonel from the joint guardianship of his sister should it be necessary, and attended to the estate business that was his lifeblood.
November brought heavy rainfall, which in turn produced flooding and damaged tenants’ cottages. This was nothing new; it happened every few years, and each time they tried to prevent a recurrence, so he did not have the same tenants flooding repeatedly. There were preparations for the care of the fields for winter, ensuring everything was ready for spring planting, and seeing that lingering issues were addressed. Winter was a time of renewal, rebuilding, and rest before the work of the next season was undertaken.
Darcy also spent time working on his investments. His forefathers had built Pemberley on years of efficient agricultural management through good and bad times, but it required diligence. There were a number offormerly profitableestates where the owners—through neglect, changing markets, inattention, or worse, a wastrel heir—had lost their profitability. In an odd twist, the war on the Continent had driven up agricultural prices; so, while his cousin the colonel suffered pain, death, and war, Darcy reaped record profits. The irony was not lost on him, but he was aware that hundreds of tenants and villagers depended on his decisions. The same profits that made him wealthy flowed to ever-increasing prosperity for everyone within his sphere. He reaped the profits at the top, but all those below depended on his good stewardship. He was also keenly aware that the war would eventually end, the prices would decline again, and he would need to be poised to handle the change.
Darcy also spent considerable time thinking of the future. His journey was certainly not set, but he knew he could not go on as he was forever. Centuries of Darcys demanded he expandthe estate, his benevolence, and his efforts to ensure a good future for both his heirs and Derbyshire.He considered raising sheep versus crops; investing in mining or timber; investing in innovations such as canals or steam engines. All these took time and effort. Like it or not, much of this was done in the clubs and card rooms of London, and he had a duty to be well informed and spend wisely.
Future generations… future generations… future generations…
Whether through mental obstinacy or simple inattention might never be known, but the crossroads of his life occurred to him in the middle of the night. He woke with a single remembered phrase echoing in his head. He knew not if he had dreamed the phrase, or if he had woken and started thinking it while muddled, or whether the thought had waited patiently in his mind for months for him to notice until his mind and soul finally lost patience and decided to force it into his consciousness. Either way, he woke in the middle of the night, two months after delivering his cousin to Miss Lucas, with one memory echoing clearly in his mind. It was the last thing Jane Bennet said to him the day his cousin accosted her:Well, sir, I ask because I am curious about exactly how much time you spent in conversation with my sister Lizzy.
The thought would not go away. He had spent a few dozen hours with Miss Elizabeth Bennet; in that time, she had taught him more than most of his masters at Eton and Cambridge. Caroline Bingley had prematurely ended the association, and he had tried his best to do the gentlemanly thing and no longer importune the Bennet sisters, and yet… and yet… and yet—he could notquiteput her out of his mind. She was always there, lurking on the periphery.
