The Road to Pemberley by Marsha Altman

Author:Marsha Altman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ulysses Press
Published: 2011-06-23T04:00:00+00:00

The sun shone brightly as Bingley and Darcy approached the lane to the Bennet house—a little too brightly, perhaps, for their preference that morning. They squinted as they walked to relieve the sun’s assault on strained eyes. Bingley’s carriage had, by his direction, set down the gentlemen at the top of the turn to Longbourn, both men admitting that a bit of air and exercise would well serve to prepare them for the coming meeting. Their rescue from Bingley’s cellar had come eleven hours after their incarceration—and, if it may be revealed, seven bottles of wine had been consumed in the interval without the benefit of food to offset its effects.

When Mr. Bennet and his family had arrived for their dinner engagement and Bingley did not appear to greet them, Mrs. Nicholls undertook to discover his whereabouts. No one could recall having seen him for some time, and his man, Hodge, who had been given the evening for his leisure after Bingley had dressed, was visiting away from Netherfield and could not be applied to for intelligence. At last, a servant was found who suggested Mr. Bingley might have gone off with the man with whom he had been seen approaching the billiard room; but when questioned further by Mrs. Nicholls, the servant—who had been taken on only within the past fortnight—could not identify Bingley’s companion, beyond that he was certainly dressed in the mode of a gentleman. He could offer no further description, as his own concentration had been directed toward disappearing from the hallway at the master’s approach, so that he himself would not be seen.

As no guests beyond the Bennet family had been expected for the evening, this new information carried with it as great a mystery as that of the master’s whereabouts. Mrs. Nicholls took charge then, establishing the Bennets in the parlor with a footman to serve them drinks while the remaining staff began a search for Mr. Bingley and the unknown visitor. After an hour, the flustered housekeeper had the onerous task of returning to the parlor to report their lack of result, grieving at the understandable distress this caused the eldest Bennet daughter.

After much discussion, Mrs. Nicholls convinced her master’s guests to adjourn to the dining room for dinner, providing assurances that she herself could not wholly trust that Mr. Bingley would arrive midcourse with some reasonable explanation for his tardy appearance. Such event did not transpire. Indeed, two courses came and went, and Mr. Bingley’s absence was still felt.

Mr. Bennet seemed to quite enjoy his repast, acting for all the world as though nothing were amiss. His wife made amends for his indifference, spending the entire evening caterwauling about the effects of Mr. Bingley’s neglect on her nerves and appetite, while said appetite became fully sated from the selection of meats, savouries, and vegetables appearing at each course. Miss Bennet, it need not be said, ate nothing, but sat staring in silence at her dishes in obvious distress. Miss Elizabeth Bennet ate but little and concerned her discourse with attempts to console her sister.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.