A Continued Affection

Part 23

"I wonder if we ought to have gone out with Mama and the others," Jane remarked, as she sat diligently sewing with Mrs Gardiner in the Gracechurch Street parlour.

"Really?" Elizabeth shot her a look from her position by the window, where she had been perched all afternoon, watching the comings and goings of passers-by outside and pretending to read. "You are not aching for a little respite from Lydia's never-ending speculation about the assembly?" She shifted her position, conjuring an impression of Lydia from her imagination. "I wonder how many different gentlemen I shall dance with this evening...it is so exhilarating to think one might meet so many different people in one night, not like the Meryton assemblies when it is always the same crowd..."

"Your sister is excited," Mrs Gardiner remarked, peering over her sewing at Elizabeth, who obediently slid back to a more comfortable stance and abandoned mocking the absent Lydia.

"She is not the only one," Jane murmured, under her breath. Before she could be drawn on her comment, though, the door opened and Mr Bennet bustled in.

"A letter made its way into my pile and yet I see it is for you, Mary!" he declared, handing over the folded missive.

Mary had been huddled in a corner, buried in a book she was reading with far greater success than Elizabeth managed. She had succeeded, after many years of practice at Longbourn, in drowning out the conversations of her sisters and aunt and was thoroughly absorbed in the fictional world surrounding her, so that it took her father two attempts to call her back from it, and by the time she reached for the letter, the exchange had drawn the attention of everyone else in the room.

"A letter?" Mrs Gardiner beamed. "How lovely. Who is it from?"

Mary frowned, recognising the penmanship as belonging to Sally and wondering what could have been so pressing it necessitated a letter when they would surely see one another again in a matter of hours. Her heart in her throat, she broke the seal and smoothed out the paper, scanning it for any clue to disaster. Finding none, she let out a breath and read over the whole again, more slowly.

I know we shall see you again this evening, Mary, but I have never thought that a reason to neglect to send a letter. And, please note that I write we because the penning of this letter is not entirely my idea. My brother bade me write to you, to remind you of your promise to attend and occupy him while all your sisters are dancing. (I include in parentheses so you know that this is my opinion and mine alone, but I think that you must also not neglect to take a dance or two yourself, whatever my brother cares to say on the matter. I shall insist upon it, so prepare your arguments if you like, I shall not listen to them!)

Mary smiled, picturing the bickering that would surely have taken place between brother and sister during the writing of this section.

"It is good news, I hope?" Mrs Gardiner had noticed the change in her niece's expression and was eager to know what it was that raised a smile on usually serious Mary's face.

"It is a letter from Sally Egerton," Mary said, not lifting her head from the note as she read on.

My brother has instructed me to write the following, although he will not tell me any more than this. "The plan is underway, and all shall be accomplished in good time." There, now, I think it quite unfair of you to have secrets and make me go-between but keep me in the dark. Sidney has the patience to resist my pestering, so I will apply all my questions to you, Mary, and trust that you will be a good friend and confide in me later, so I, too, may share in the secret.

Mary bit her lip, wondering if the plan Mr Egerton referred to here was the plan to reunite Mr Darcy with Elizabeth. She lifted her eyes towards her sister, almost reflexively, wondering what Mr Egerton could have contrived, and what gave him the confidence to think the matter all but resolved.

"Well, Mary, do not keep us in suspense!" Elizabeth laughed, noticing that Mary's attention had strayed to her. "What does Sally say?"

"Nothing of consequence," Mary murmured, hurrying to fold the note up. She was not quick enough, for Elizabeth hopped down from the window and into the seat next to Mary, peering over her shoulder as she folded the note, and spying a word or two she thought gave a clue to the whole.

"Or is it not Sally at all that writes of her own accord, but at the request of her brother?" She laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth too late and realising that, if this were the case, she had just betrayed the secret to the entire room.

"It is Sally," Mary said, crossly. "She merely includes a note from Mr Egerton about something we discussed at Mr Darcy's dinner." She smiled, tautly, praying that Lizzy would not guess that she was the something discussed. Elizabeth was looking at her curiously, though, and Mary feared her attempts to explain had merely made matters worse.

"Well, I think it fine that you have found such friends in the Egertons," Mrs Gardiner remarked, drawing her brother-in-law into the conversation, for Mr Bennet lurked in the doorway, a disconcerting frown puckering his forehead. "Don't you agree, Mr Bennet?"

"What?" His frown deepened, before clearing into a distracted smile. "Yes, yes. Very fine man, Mr Egerton. Hmm."

He turned and bustled away, leaving Mary to imagine what he had taken from Elizabeth's comments. Her cheeks burned as she slipped the letter away, wishing that her sister had not taken such an unusual interest in her doings. Now Papa was surely convinced there was more to the letter than there was. Mary bit her lip. Mr Egerton could not possibly refer to anything else but their plan to match Lizzy with Mr Darcy, could he? What other plan could be in motion?

"He seems quite taken with you, Mary," Mrs Gardiner said. "Such a charming man, especially considering all he has suffered."

"He bears with his afflictions far better than I should!" Jane said, with a kind smile. "And his sisters are delightful."

"Not like your sisters, eh, Mary?" Elizabeth asked, jabbing her painfully in the side. "Now, do not try to hide your note away. I promise not to try and read any more." Her eyes flashed with fun. "Although I think if there is romance and mystery you might share it with the rest of us. I need some entertainment!"

Mary snapped her book closed and passed it to Elizabeth, standing and making her way to the door.

"Here, if you are looking for some occupation, why not read this? It had far too much drama in it for me, but no doubt it will be precisely what you wish for at the moment."

She left the room, not waiting to hear her sister's reply, and did not stop until she'd reached the privacy of her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

If Mr Egerton was as good as his word then Lizzy's happiness might be settled as early as that very evening! Jane, too, seemed a mere course of hours away from securing a proposal from Mr Bingley. Might she, Mary, allow herself a moment or two to dream of her own future? She had dared to think, for one tiny, fleeting moment that when Sally wrote of an instruction from her brother to her - to Mary - that it would be some declaration, however veiled and vague. But she had been mistaken. He is merely doing as I asked. She could kick herself. She had sensed something in his manner that evening at Mr Darcy's, had dared to think he might be poised to ask her his own question and she had been so affrighted by the thought that she had blundered in with her discussion of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth.

Have I squandered my chances? she thought, peering awkwardly in the mirror and tugging at her hair. What more could she do to show Mr Egerton how she favoured him? And would he care to reciprocate?