Page 40 of Gold and Good Sense

He opened the door. All four of his unmarried daughters were there, each dressed in elegant black gowns, their attention mostly on whatever lay in their hands. Jane was working on embroidering a ribbon. Elizabeth was reading a novel, while Mary was reading a rather heavy tome. Lydia was sketching Mrs. Jamison’s face to practice her drawing.

It was a scene of tranquility that he could not have imagined just a few months ago.

Bennet said, “I do apologize for interrupting, but I wonder if I might have a word with Lady Esther in my bookroom.”

Without a word but with her usual grace, the Lady rose to her feet. Most of his daughters and Mrs. Jamison spared him barely a glance. Asking to consult with Lady Esther was hardly unusual after all. Mary, however, watched as Lady Esther walked toward the door. Bennet could not read her expression, but he wasn’t trying overmuch. His attention was focused on the Lady walking toward him.

When they entered the bookroom, Bennet did not take his customary chair behind his desk. Rather he pulled over the chair that normally sat by the window and placed it so that he was facing Lady Esther with very little space between them. She watched him do so with a single eyebrow slightly raised in question, but she still said nothing.

He suspected very strongly that she knew what he was about to say. All the signs were there, had been there for months.

“Lady Esther,” he said as his nervousness climbed even higher. “I wish to ask you to marry me.”

There was a glint of pleasure in her eyes, which gave Bennet courage, though she did not smile.

“Oh? And why should I do that?” she asked. It was not a refusal, merely a request for more information. Bennet was quite familiar with the Lady’s way of doing this. In fact, it was one of the things he most admired in her.

The way she was always willing to talk things through, explaining her reasons, listening to his reasons, was a stark contrast to the behavior of the lady he had been married to for nearly twenty-three years.

“From the moment I first saw you, I have admired your beauty,” he said, “but that is not why I am asking. It is your placidity, tempered by wisdom and a strong will, which originally raised my interest. Over the last few months since you have been a companion to my daughters and an advisor to me, I have come to respect you greatly. Your beauty combined with my admiration and respect for all that you are have created passions in me that I have not felt in many years.”

“I thank you for the compliments,” she said. “That explains why you wish to marry me, but it does not explain why I should accept. From an objective standpoint, I stand to gain nothing from such an arrangement. I would lose my title of dowager and all the accompanying status, and I would gain nothing in return. As I am now, I am almost mother to your daughters, and until recently I was nearly mistress of your home. It is only in the last month that Jane has begun to take over in that position. Now tell me. Why should I give up my title?”

Her words were harsh and bald, but Bennet was not deterred. Her words were frequently so. The true answer lay in her eyes which twinkled with humor and shone with pleasure despite the fact that she still did not smile. It was an expression that he had seen hints of over the last couple of months as they had exchanged a few flirtatious glances and a heated look or two.

Emboldened by what he saw, Bennet took Lady Esther’s hands in his, and she allowed it. He rose from his chair, pulling her with him, and she allowed it. He leaned toward her, and the twinkle in her eyes turned to heat.

He needed no further permission.

Bennet kissed Lady Esther.

She was no shrinking miss, innocent to the ways of men and women. She kissed him back, meeting his passion and adding to it. For a few blissful moments, Bennet forgot his purpose as he lost himself in feelings he had not experienced in fifteen years or more.

Eventually, reality intruded, and he pulled back just enough to look at her. “That is why you should say yes, Esther. Please do, for both our sakes.”

She smiled. It was a rare sight and all the more beautiful for its rarity.

“Yes, Thomas,” she said with a slightly breathy voice. “It would give me great pleasure to marry you.”

He kissed her again, and this time it took much longer for him to come to his senses.

~~~~~

Sometime later, Bennet and Lady Esther re-entered the parlor where four of his daughters and Mrs. Jamison were still sitting.

Once Bennet had everyone’s attention, he said, “I want to inform you all that Lady Esther and I are engaged.”

The reactions were precisely as he imagined. Lydia squealed in delight, leaping up to hug the Lady who would soon be her mother. Jane smiled, and Elizabeth grinned, both offering their enthusiastic congratulations. Mary, too, offered her congratulations, but her expression was inscrutable.

“Have you decided on a wedding date?” asked Mary.

“We will marry in two weeks,” said Lady Esther.

“Do you not think that too soon?” Mary’s attention was completely on Bennet now. “We are still in mourning, are we not?”

Bennet could not remember a time when Mary came so close to criticizing his actions directly. She was usually a model of obedience, strictly following the commandment to honor her parents. Given his surprise, he did not know how to respond.

It was Lady Esther who stepped in. “Come, Mary. Surely you can see why a short engagement would be wise, given that I am already living under the same roof as Mr. Bennet.”