Part 3 (1/2)
Your loving daughter, Louisa Mr Wickham to Mr Parker London, August 27 Matthew, it is all up with me. I asked Darcy for the living but he refused me. He said the people of Kympton need someone who can save their souls and I cannot even save my own. D--n him! Kympton would have been perfect. The rectory is a large house and the income is generous. I could have left all the work to my curate and lived a life of ease. G.o.d knows what I will do now. You and I are both pockets to let. Did you have any luck with your family? Have they agreed to give you anything?
Wickham Mr Parker to Mr Wickham York, August 30 No luck here. You will have to write to Darcy again. It will not do to approach him at once. Wait long enough for it to seem reasonable that you have mended your ways, then write to him again. Thank him for his honesty and tell him that his words have made you look at yourself and realise what you have become. Tell him you have set your feet on the path of righteousness but tell him also how difficult it is for a man without connections to pick himself up. Play on his sympathy. Remind him of his father's love for you. Say anything and everything, but get him to give you some money.
Parker.
SEPTEMBER.
Mr Wickham to Mr Parker.
London, September 5.
I will do my best. I will wait until the New Year, a time of new beginnings when he might, perhaps, believe I have mended my ways. He will have filled the living of Kympton by then but he will have other livings in his gift, almost as valuable, and why should I not have one of them? A comfortable rectory, an annual stipend and the position of a gentleman are things worth playing for. I will just have to muddle through till then.
Wickham.
Mrs Bingley to Miss Louisa Bingley Yorks.h.i.+re, September 6 My dear girl, come home at once. Mr Hurst is here! He got here this morning and called at the house when I was out. Your pa entertained him but never mind, I'm sure Mr Hurst will overlook the fact that your pa talked to him about his shops and then offered him a gla.s.s of ale instead of something more genteel. Mr Hurst asked about all the family and then asked about you particular like. Mr Darcy is all very well, but 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' You see, your old ma knows Shakespeare, too. Come home soon; we'll have you married before the year is out.
Your doting Ma Miss Louisa Bingley to Mrs Bingley Pemberley, Derbys.h.i.+re, September 8 Ma, I'm ready to come home straightaway but Caroline says there is no call for her to leave. Most of the other ladies have gone home and she is overjoyed that she has Mr Darcy all to herself. But it will look very odd if she stays, so tell her she must come with me. Charles has told her so already but she won't listen to him; she's too busy telling Mr Darcy that he does everything better than everyone else. She sings to him, she flatters him, she parades around in front of him, she does everything but ask him to marry her. Ma, tell her she's got to come, and get Pa to tell her, too. And whatever you do, don't tell Mr Hurst that 'a bird in the hand' is Shakespeare, dearest Ma, because it isn't, you know.
Your loving daughter, Louisa Mrs Bingley to Miss Caroline Bingley Yorks.h.i.+re, September 10 Now, Caroline, you've got to come home with your sister. Mr Darcy won't run away. If he hasn't asked you to marry him yet, then he's not going to do it, leastways not when you're there. Let him see how empty that big house of his is without you, and let him see how much his sister misses you-that's the way to do it. You'll have him eating out of your hand in no time. If not, your pa's going to buy an estate and then we can have this Mr Darcy to stay and we'll see what another few weeks will do. Your pa's writing to Charles and telling him to bring you both home, so let's have no more nonsense.
Your doting Ma Miss Caroline Bingley to Miss Violet Cranmore London, September 15 My dear, sweet, most amiable friend, How good of you to write me such an estimable letter, setting my mind at ease about your family. I would have replied sooner, but Mr Darcy gave me no peace at Pemberley, wanting my opinion on this matter or that matter, until he quite wore me out. You will be relieved to know that your intelligence was altogether wrong, and that far from being an ill-favoured man he is very handsome, and as for his park being small, why, it is huge. We have but lately parted and he has invited Charles, Louisa and myself to spend Christmas with him.
Louisa thanks you for your kind defence of her and begs me to tell you that she is recently betrothed to Mr Hurst, a gentleman of fas.h.i.+on who adores her. As for myself, I will say nothing at this time, other than that I believe it is worth waiting for the right man, rather than jumping at the first man who offers. Pray do not go thinking I mean you and your sister, my dear Violet, for nothing could be further from my mind, but we both know that there are females for whom any husband is an object, no matter what he is like.
Your dear friend, Caroline
DECEMBER.
Mr Bingley to Mr Darcy Yorks.h.i.+re, December 1 My dear Darcy, It is like your kindness to me to renew your Christmas invitation, and in other circ.u.mstances I would like nothing better than to spend Christmas at Pemberley. Caroline and Louisa feel the same as I do, but we have had a sad event here and so we must regretfully decline. My father died not six weeks ago and we are all cast down by his loss; upon my honour we find it very difficult to believe he has gone. He lived long enough to see Louisa married to Mr Hurst but no longer. My mama is downhearted but carries on. She grieves for him deeply but she has the little 'uns to look after and says she cannot afford to go into a decline. Besides, he was many years her senior and she knew it was likely that she would outlive him. As for the rest of us, we miss him deeply but we all must carry on. My brother Ned means to take over my father's trade and Caroline and Louisa will stay at home to help Mama for as long as they are needed. As for myself, once I have attended to all the matters arising from his death, I mean to carry out his plan of buying an estate sometime next year. Perhaps I can trespa.s.s on your kindness and ask for your help in the matter, since it is something I know nothing about. But for now I must remain in Yorks.h.i.+re and tie up the rest of his affairs. I hope to be finished in time for Christmas, but it will be a sad affair without my father. We will celebrate in style for the sake of the little 'uns, but I think that otherwise we would all prefer a quieter affair.
Thank you again for your kind invitation.
Charles Mr Darcy to Mr Bingley Darcy House, London, December 3 My dear Charles, I know how difficult it is to lose a father. You have my sympathy. If there is any way in which I can help you, you have only to ask. Georgiana will be as sorry as I am that you are not to spend Christmas with us.
Of course I will give you my help with finding an estate, whenever you are ready to look for one. I think it an excellent idea. A man of your standing should have a family seat and I am sure your sisters would welcome it.
I will be going to my Fitzwilliam cousins for a few weeks in January and then to my cousin Philip's estate in Wilts.h.i.+re in February but I hope to see you in town thereafter. You must spend the summer with us at Pemberley. Your sisters and your brother-in-law are welcome. Georgiana will be very glad to see you all again. She has been practising some new pieces on the pianoforte and I know she will be eager to play duets with Caroline and Louisa.
In the meantime, I hope that you and your family are able to make a tolerable Christmas.
Sincerely yours, Darcy Mrs Bennet to Mrs Gardiner Longbourn, Hertfords.h.i.+re, December 4 Sister, you must come to us for Christmas as usual, we are all expecting it and the girls are looking forward to seeing their cousins.
We have need of you here, for the Lucases are getting above themselves now that Mr Lucas has been made a knight, though what he did to deserve it I cannot imagine, only made an address to the King, and I am sure that Mr Bennet could have done it just as well if only anyone had taken the trouble to ask him. And now we must call Mr Lucas 'Sir William' and see him give up his business and move out of town and call his new home Lucas Lodge, when it has been called Wayside Cottage ever since it was built. But there, they are putting a new veranda on, as if that made a difference, and think themselves very fine. Lydia laughed and said that we might as well call our house Bennet Palace, and I am sure she is right.
Ah! Lydia. She is a comfort to me, sister, and I do not know where I would be without her, for my other girls are a trial to me. You do not know what it is like to be a mother to five girls, and not one of them married, though Lydia is so spirited I swear she will marry before any of them. She is a little young to be going into company, to be sure, but she set up such a commotion when we left her behind the other day that we now take her with us wherever we go. She does not look out of place, for she is as tall as her sisters, and I believe she will soon overtop them all.
When you come to us, pray bring the latest fas.h.i.+on books. I will not have it said that my girls are behind the times.
There are rumours that the Sothertons are so heavily in debt they will have to leave Netherfield Park and then rent it out to strangers. I am sorry for them, I am sure, but if a family with five sons should happen to take the Park, it would be a very good thing for my girls.
Write soon and let us know if you will be joining us for Christmas.
Your fond sister, Janet Mrs Gardiner to Misses Elizabeth and Jane Bennet Gracechurch Street, London,
December 6
My dear Lizzy and Jane, Is it true, as your mama says, that the Sothertons might have to leave Netherfield Park? If so, I am sorry for it. Whatever your mama's hopes as to the possible tenants might be, old friends are never to be treated lightly, and any new people in the neighbourhood must be viewed with clear-sightedness-even if a family with five sons, all eligible, should take the house. Fortunately, you both have a great deal of sense, and I expect you to use it.
But perhaps things will not come to such a pa.s.s. There is yet a chance that Mr Sotherton will see the error of his ways and retrench before such a step becomes inevitable. I hope so, for it will be a blow to you both to lose Susan, and Mary will miss Lucy, just as Kitty and Lydia will miss Eleanor.
Speaking of your younger sisters, I do not like to think of Lydia being out so soon. She is not yet fifteen, and young for her age. She has always been giddy and p.r.o.ne to rashness, even if she is so very tall; in fact, I think her height is a danger, for it leads people to a.s.sume she is older than she is.
Your mother has been unwise to indulge her in this particular. I know that I can say as much to you, Jane and Lizzy, for you are sensible enough to have seen it for yourselves.
I hope to use what influence I might have to curtail your mother's indulgence of Lydia when I see you all in less than a fortnight. But in the meantime you must do what you can to lessen the evils of such folly, by reminding Lydia how she should behave and by dissuading your mama from including Lydia in the evening parties wherever possible.
It has been a long time since we have seen you. The children are already talking of nothing but coming to Longbourn and I am looking forward to seeing you all. You must tell me if there is anything you would like me to bring you from town. There will be some room in the carriage, although not very much, as the children are growing all the time. Your uncle complains that soon he will have to sit on the roof!
Give my love to your sisters, Your fond Aunt Gardiner Miss Elizabeth Bennet to Mrs Gardiner Longbourn, Hertfords.h.i.+re,
December 8
Dear Aunt Gardiner, Nothing is certain with the Sothertons yet, but it seems likely that they will have to let Netherfield Park very soon as my mother says. Mr Morris-Mr Sotherton's man of business-is going to speak to him seriously in the New Year and try to persuade him of the necessity to economise, but Susan has little hope of him succeeding.
One thing is certain, however: they cannot remain at the Park unless there is a change in Mr Sotherton. And if every attempt to change him fails, then Mrs Sotherton is intending to go to Bath after Easter and look for some suitable property for them to rent.
It is hoped that the sober air of Bath might do something to cure Mr Sotherton of his propensities, and if not, at least the family will have the income from Netherfield Park to sustain them, for they hope it will be possible to live very cheaply in Bath.
I hope it does not come to that. I will miss Susan dreadfully if she goes, and Mary, I know, will find Lucy hard to replace. Jane will bear the loss of her friends as she bears everything, with goodness and grace, and I believe that Lydia will not mourn the loss of Ellie for very long. She has made a new friend since coming out, Miss Watson, and the two of them laugh and gossip whenever they get together, which is very often, since Miss Watson lives not far from my aunt Philips's house.