The Miracles of Marriage by Elizabeth Ann West

Author:Elizabeth Ann West
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781944345204
Publisher: Elizabeth Ann West

15

The sunniest parlor at Netherfield Park was full of mirth and good company. What was to be one of the last afternoons in Hertfordshire for the Bennets and Bingleys also served as a parting farewell to little Lynn’s namesake. Jane and Elizabeth had dressed smartly in complementary cut gowns of pale blue silk for Jane, and a hunter green for Elizabeth. Their Aunt Phillips, who had come to visit, wore a respectable frock with pink flowers in poplin. Her husband did well as the county solicitor all turned to for their legal needs. But Lynn Phillips was long past wearing silks except for the rare times she visited London with her husband and they took in the theater.

"I see that my sister has continued her protest. I did wonder if she would put aside her silly notions of blame and come spend one last afternoon with me," Aunt Phillips sniffed as Jane and Elizabeth looked at one another with equal expressions of relief. To Elizabeth, although she had always known her mother to be the sister of Aunt Phillips, she had not thought about their adult relationship as sisters in comparison to her own with Jane until that very moment. Suddenly, Elizabeth felt empathy with her Aunt Phillips over her mother's behavior, but she distracted herself by spreading another teaspoon of orange marmalade on her biscuit.

"Oh I'm sure Mama did not mean to insult," Jane began to explain. "It is only that the younger girls needed additions to their wardrobes before we leave for such travel. Mama took Mary, Kitty, and Lydia to Meryton for what could be made and delivered before the end of the week." Jane's voice sounded hollow in her explanation, as the words emphasized what Lynn Phillips had said all along. There were precious few days left before the wagons and carriages would depart Netherfield Park. After six generations at Longbourn, the Bennets would be gone.

"What if you came along?" Elizabeth asked, brightly. She looked to her sister Jane for swift agreement, and her eldest sister nodded earnestly. "Help Mama settle in and come see Pemberley! Then perhaps Uncle Phillips could join us at Christmastime," Elizabeth ended wistfully, realizing that she was asking her aunt and uncle to separate much like she and her own husband were experiencing. Still, Elizabeth did know that married couples routinely spent time apart once they had been married for some years. She could not recall a time when her Aunt Phillips was not married since she had been the eldest of the Gardiner children. She thought that Aunt Phillips had married first, but she was not certain.

Lynn Phillips politely declined, pouring herself another cup of tea. "I'm afraid my husband cannot spare me as the last quarter of the year is busiest. Rents to collect, properties to lease. And it always seems that people wish to place their affairs in order before the winter months. I suppose the fear of illness brings such an anxiety, but your uncle always laments that few people are worried about their legacies when the sun is shining brightly in the sky.

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