Page 23 of The Sole Love

Chapter 10

The journey to London was torturous. His mind constantly conjured an image of Jane kissing—or worse—that young man who might be her half-brother. He looked with such loathing at his wife that she took refuge in the farthest corner of the carriage and closed her eyes. But Mr Bennet would not accept her silence.

“This is no time for sleeping, madam.”

“I am not sleeping—only thinking about what we can do.”

“First, we shall avoid telling her the truth.” Mr Bennet imagined Jane’s despair at news that could destroy her world.

“Thank you…” Mrs Bennet hoped the crisis would pass once they began deciding what to do together.

“I am not doing this for you, but for my daughter. I do not want such a shameful secret to cloud her life…or her reputation. It will be difficult enough to convince her to renounce that man if she is in love. Only a few weeks ago, she was still regretting the other one.”

“I know. We have to do something…and fast.”

“Does Mr Haskett know?”

“No!” she cried in anguish. “I did not know for sure until some weeks after our marriage, and I hoped she was yours.”

They travelled in silence for a time; then Mrs Bennet spoke in a voice her husband did not recognise. He had become used to her constant anger and the tone she used on almost every occasion. He tried to remember how she spoke when they were young, but the image of that woman made him ill. He stopped the carriage to breathe in fresh air away from her. But they had to continue their journey and arrive in haste to prevent an irreparable tragedy. His pain became intolerable.

“I do not know how we shall proceed,” Mrs Bennet whispered once her husband returned. “How can we impose our decision on her when we have always let them decide such matters for themselves?”

“We shall speak to the Gardiners.”

“No!” she shouted and then began to cry anew.

“We shall not argue about this. We need help, and you are not the best one to manage such a situation.” He was determined, and Mrs Bennet did not know how to make him change his mind.

“I hoped we could do something on our own.”

“No! I have confidence in your brother and his wife. She is different from you: gossip is not her chief preoccupation in life. Perhaps after this, you will reconsider your behaviour. Such chatter is less pleasant when it is about you. Am I right, madam?”

Mrs Bennet did not answer. She just hoped that a miracle would save her, but the heavy burden on her soul would not disappear so easily.

“Please, say something,” she pleaded.

“For now, there is nothing else to say.”

“But it happened twenty-three years ago,” she whispered.

“For you, madam! For you, it happened years ago. For me, it happened yesterday. Now, wipe your eyes. I do not want Lizzy and Jane to see that you have been crying.”

∞∞∞

They arrived in London shortly after noon. Mrs Gardiner greeted them with great astonishment.

“I never imagined you would come so quickly, but I am happy to see you! Mr Gardiner is at his warehouse, but he will not be long.”

“Where are the girls?” asked Mr Bennet, looking around, still hoping they were home.

“Mr Haskett and his wife invited them to the Bond Street Bazaar.”

Mrs Gardiner saw her sister-in-law collapse onto a sofa, so pale that she seemed genuinely ill rather than suffering from her usual complaints about her nerves. She rang in haste for a maid to bring fresh water while observing Mr Bennet, who seemed indifferent to his wife’s condition.

She felt that something was not right. Neither of them was in a normal state of mind.

“Are they with Mr Haskett?” Mr Bennet asked, clearly worried, but not for his wife, who had almost fainted on the sofa while the maid tried to help her.