Page 5 of A Most Favourable Match

“As you will, sir,” nodded the younger man. “I am happy to talk with you now or on any future visit, at your leisure. We have a year ahead of us.”

“We have a year,” Mr Bennet repeated, with a wry smile. “Indeed, we do. Why the rush?”

He chuckled to himself at the blank faces in the room from everyone but Elizabeth.

“Mr Bennet will have his little joke,” said Mrs Bennet with forced laughter. “Jane, do take Lord Grantchester outside to walk in the gardens while the sun is shining. He may speak to Mr Bennet on legal matters after that. Are you absolutely sure you won’t stay to supper tonight, Lord Grantchester?”

“I cannot,” Lord Grantchester declined politely. “I should, however, very much enjoy a stroll in the gardens with Miss Bennet.”

He stood and offered his arm to Jane, who took it so shyly that Elizabeth got to her feet too, intending to join them outside for moral support. A hand on her arm restrained her, however.

“Not you!” her mother hissed under her breath, and then returned to her normal tones. “I need your assistance with something, Lizzy. I pray you will stay here and advise me.”

Reluctantly, Elizabeth sat down again and watched Jane leave the room on her fiancé’s arm. Perhaps she had been wrong, in any case. Perhaps Jane would prefer some time alone with her husband-to-be. She would simply have to hope that her mother’s reading of the situation was clearer than her own.

∞∞∞

While the rest of the family were much buoyed by Lord Grantchester’s first visit, and Lydia and Kitty could scarce eat their supper for chattering about the Meryton assembly, Jane herself remained quiet and reserved.

Elizabeth had been happy to see Lord Grantchester again and looked forward to his future visits, but something in Jane’s mood bothered her too. She could not help wondering if there were not some complication of which she was not aware.

As she went to say goodnight to her father in his library, Elizabeth paused outside the door on hearing her mother’s voice inside.

“I am glad that the marriage contract will be a simple one and that Lord Grantchester says his family are pleased with the match,” said Mrs Bennet in somewhat plaintive tones. “But with all that, I cannot understand this matter of waiting a year, Mr Bennet. Why does he not marry Jane now?”

“Who knows, Mrs Bennet? These noblemen are laws unto themselves, remember. Given the ages of Lord Grantchester and Jane, and the lack of any family dispute, it is hard to see any need for such a long engagement, but we must humour them, I suppose.”

“Well, it’s a shame. They could be married this summer if they wanted, and I should love to see Lady Lucas’s face. Can you not persuade him to an earlier wedding?”

“Whether it would impress Lady Lucas or not, these wedding plans are not for you or I to dictate, my dear. We have little leverage, in any case, being able to offer so little in the way of dowry.”

“Did Lord Grantchester mention her dowry?” asked Mrs Bennet, an anxious tone creeping into her voice. “Does he know she will have only one thousand pounds?”

“Oh, Grantchester expects nothing, my dear. He is entirely disinterested in the matter. In fact, he was willing to settle a large sum on Jane and any future children himself, without any prompting from my side.”

“He must love her very much indeed,” his wife declared with great relief. “What a generous man!”

“Indeed, but you must see that we cannot arguewith their plans. It would be ungrateful and pointless as well, I suspect.”

“I suppose so,” Mrs Bennet sighed reluctantly. “How much was he willing to settle…?”

Deciding not to interrupt her parents or listen any longer, Elizabeth crept back to the staircase and up to bed.

∞∞∞

“Can I ask you a personal question, Jane?” Elizabeth asked as she set down her candle on the nightstand and climbed into bed beside her sister.

Jane had already been washed and changed for bed when Elizabeth came upstairs. While already in bed, Jane’s eyes were wide open, and she seemed very far from sleep.

“Of course you may,” Jane replied, smiling vaguely.

“Do you really love Lord Grantchester?” Elizabeth enquired, hoping that her question did not sound too inquisitive or critical.

Jane frowned and hesitated for what seemed a long time before she answered. “I think I do,” she said at last. “But I do not really know what love feels like, Lizzy. I worry I do not really know what I feel. Lord Grantchester is a good man, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is a good man,” Elizabeth had to agree quickly. “But I think him a good man too, and so doesalmost everyone else of his acquaintance. Yet, none of us is marrying him.”

“What do you mean, Lizzy?” asked Jane with some unease. “What are you saying?”