The Unexpected Marriage of Mary Bennet: The story of Pride & Prejudice continues… by Alison Leonard

Author:Alison Leonard [Leonard, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-22T22:00:00+00:00

Interval

A Revelation

Mary, alone at breakfast (it being a Wednesday and Mr Needleman having ridden off early to Derby), waited until the Bath buns before instructing Gladys to fetch Mrs Beattie in, if she pleased.

Mrs Beattie did not please until Mary was well into her second bun. Her prepared speech hovered in the space between her plate and her mouth, removing itself as she took each bite and reasserting itself as she chewed.

Now here was Mrs Beattie, dark and thunderous, and she must assert herself. The Lord, in the middle of the night, had told her to be assertive.

This was her time of the month. Not for bleeding, but for the time between her bleedings. She had noticed this phenomenon ever since the thunder had brought on her first, and so memorable, Monthly. But, since her marriage, it had grown stronger. It was a feeling of urgency: she must do something, be someone. Become, mysteriously, in a way that could not be denied.

During these times she would wake in the night panting, and clutch her knees, and rock. She could only return to sleep by recalling her favourite Prayer for the Day: O Almighty Lord, grant that the stewards of Thy mysteries may make ready Thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.

But that left her with a question: did she herself belong to the disobedient, or to the just? Surely this panting, this urgency, threw her into the disobedient category? It seemed, at these times, that her body was ruling her mind. Which could only brand her as a sinner, bound for hell. Yet the urgency was irresistible. So it must surely be propelled by, and be a movement towards, a version of wisdom and justice.

“Mrs Beattie,” she said now, “I am aware that November storms are brewing. But I am also aware that the Custance family have Mr Custance out of employment, and so have no means to put food on their children’s plates. I wish to fill my basket with nourishment from the kitchen and deliver it to the Custance family today. Remnants will do. I saw a plate-full carried towards the meat-safe last evening, and some of the suet pudding besides. Those will do. Thank you.”

Mrs Beattie’s lips pursed, and her eyes glared full into her own. It was in the face of this glare that Mary felt a revelation occurring deep down in her belly. It took only a fraction of a second, but it was a whole world in significance.

Ever since Lizzy had left Longbourn to take her place as Mr Darcy’s life companion, Mary had wondered where this took Lizzy in terms of the private happenings at Pemberley. How Marriage, in its detail, played out. There must be some sort of private behaviour which led to the swelling of Lizzy’s belly, not once but twice, thrice, and thence to a birth being imminent. Once, twice, thrice, Mary had approached in her own mind the question of

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.