Page 17 of The Sole Love

“Yes.”

“How many days do you think they will spend there?”

Mrs Gardiner smiled at her niece’s impatience.

“Now you must stop, Elizabeth Bennet, and allow life to proceed at its own pace. Learn a little patience. I hope he will come to dinner when he returns, but you cannot oblige everyone around you to live at your speed. Last night was important. You both said you were sorry. Now you must wait and see what follows.”

Her aunt was right, but patience seemed particularly difficult when Elizabeth had so much left to understand about Mr Darcy and, increasingly, about herself.

“Now, Jane,” Mrs Gardiner said. “What did she tell you?”

“Jane thinks she has finally found a gentleman who might take Mr Bingley’s place.”

“I do not like this haste.”

“Neither do I. And, to tell you the truth, I was embarrassed last night when my shy sister, whom I had described as still crying over her lost love for Mr Bingley, went outside alone with a gentleman she had barely met to admire the stars.”

“It was odd, I admit, but Mr Darcy did not know she had barely met him. As far as he knew, they might have been acquainted for years. In any case, I do not think your family is the obstacle to him that it once was. Let us leave the past where it belongs and think of the future. And be happy that Jane has begun to live again. Perhaps we may finally hear laughter in this house.”

“And imagine how happy Mama will be. That is probably why Jane stayed at home, to write and tell her the news.”

They found Jane in the dining room reading, and before anything else was said, she asked them both not to mention David Haskett if they wrote to Longbourn.

Mrs Gardiner and Elizabeth exchanged an involuntary glance of surprise. Jane noticed it and laughed, another sign that something had changed in her after the months she had spent withdrawn into her unhappiness.

“Ladies, I have been sad, and perhaps I have seemed absent, but that does not mean I failed to see what was happening around me. For all my love for Mama, I suspect she had some part in Mr Bingley’s departure by speaking of our marriage before either of us had even declared our feelings. This time, Mama will know when I decide she should know. I have written her a long letter precisely explaining that. Her interference in matters concerning our affections and marriages must come to an end.”

“Good for you!” Elizabeth exclaimed, and the sisters embraced under Mrs Gardiner’s affectionate gaze, proof that no disagreement between them could last for long.

Chapter 8

It seemed, indeed, that Jane had found happiness again. Over the next few days, there were constant visits between the two families. Remembering the past, Mr Haskett became so nostalgic that he asked the Gardiners to invite Mr and Mrs Bennet to London so that they might all enjoy a happy reunion.

He often recalled the time they had spent together in Bath and spoke fondly of the life they had known in those days.

“However,” he said, “there were rules we could not break. Our children should be grateful that some things have changed in the last twenty-five years. In our youth, when a father decided upon the lady his son should marry, the son had little choice but to obey. I could not have imagined opposing my father’s decision. Love and other sentiments were not so important then. What mattered was family and fortune.”

Jane and David smiled at those words, certain that nobody would force them to marry against their will, while the older men looked at them, wondering whether their attachment would grow strong enough to end in marriage.

“We will not make the same mistake Mrs Bennet did with Mr Bingley and Jane. It is a little too soon to think of marriage,” Mrs Gardiner said cautiously to her husband.

“And I think, my dear, that our niece finally understands that mourning over the past is useless. And I must say that the Hasketts offer a splendid opportunity. They are not only a family of considerable means but also good people. It would be very pleasant to have young Haskett in our family.”

Elizabeth was the only one who remained somewhat circumspect. She remembered Mr Darcy’s letter and his description of Mr Bingley, who seemed to fall in love too easily; now she was worried about her sister, who had exchanged tears for a joyful face almost overnight.

Jane seemed to have forgotten their small disagreement, making Elizabeth wonder, with a little malice, whether she wished to restore their former closeness or merely to forget everything that did not concern David Haskett and her new feelings.

“I should prefer to talk further with her about that matter,” Elizabeth said to Mrs Gardiner. “I consider it an important discussion. I never imagined that she feared my behaviour might damage a relationship of hers.”

“I believe that presently she thinks too little, and you—too much. It would be better if you could both find a way between those extremes. We must let her live her life as she wishes and stop trying to protect her from everything. She has her flaws; you have yours. Flaws or not, we all have them. What matters is recognising them and trying to change, as you have done, and I hope she has undergone a similar process. I have learned that you cannot change people unless they wish to change themselves.

“You are ready to sacrifice yourself for Jane and for your family. Jane loves you all dearly, but the sacrifices she would make are different. She would stay beside you if you were ill or give up a ball if you needed her, but when faced with the great decisions of her own life, she is more inclined to put her own happiness first. And I do not say that to blame her. Perhaps you go too far in one direction, while she is simply more inclined to think of herself.”

“You are right,” Elizabeth said. “I have almost had a revelation: perfection does not exist in the real world, and I have always considered Jane perfect.”

“I know, dear,” her aunt replied. “But the depth of your feelings makes you react in this way. Jane is ruled more by sentiment than you are. When she is happy, she gives herself entirely to that happiness, just as when she was unhappy, she could see very little beyond it. Must I keep reminding you that everyone has flaws? Me, your uncle, your parents.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, Mama has some…and even Papa.”