The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray

Author:Claudia Gray [Gray, Claudia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2023-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Marianne, though still prone to sensibility, was no longer child enough to give way entirely to every tumult of the heart. After Mr. Bamber’s departure, she attended to the tasks of the day. These were few and simple, largely those she had chosen for pleasure—but even arranging the flowers in each room touched her sensitive nerves. Thus she felt especially glad to see Mrs. Jennings’s carriage arrive.

During the initial months of their acquaintance, Marianne had found Mrs. Jennings’s company all but unbearable. Mrs. Jennings’s loud cackle, her gossipy ways, and her lack of tact still sometimes rankled. However, Mrs. Jennings had resolutely stood by Marianne after Willoughby’s abandonment and declared to all who would listen that John Willoughby was a good-for-nothing. When Marianne had shortly afterward fallen ill with the putrid fever that nearly claimed her life, Mrs. Jennings had helped nurse her with no less tenderness and dedication than Marianne’s own mother would have given. Those weeks had taught the lesson that persons might appear vulgar without truly being so. Truth was not to be found in appearances, only in actions. All Mrs. Jennings’s impolitic joviality did not diminish her worth as a faithful friend.

“Well, well!” Mrs. Jennings cried, upon being shown into the drawing room where Marianne and Juliet awaited. “How surprised I am to find you two here alone.”

Marianne flushed. Was Brandon’s absence so marked? Did others suspect difficulty? “I am sure I do not know what you mean, Mrs. Jennings. The colonel often has business with his tenantry in the mornings, particularly at harvesttime—”

“Hush, my child, how would I not know that? I who befriended him ere you were born? No, it is the absence of visitors I find most perplexing.” Mrs. Jennings’s merry eyes twinkled as she looked at Juliet. “I was certain there would be a gentleman caller for Miss Tilney. The only question, thought I, was whether ’twould be Mr. Darcy or Mr. Bamber.”

Miss Tilney blushed with mortification as Mrs. Jennings chuckled. Though Marianne was rather interested in this question herself, she had grace enough to pretend she was not, and she knew better than to mention Mr. Bamber’s most recent visit. To do so would subject Juliet to the full force of Mrs. Jennings’s mirth. “I am sure both young men are staying close to Allenham at present. They will wish to support their friend during his mourning.”

“Faugh! Such mourning as he is capable of requires no support, as it is no mourning at all.” Mrs. Jennings had briefly tolerated Willoughby when it appeared that Marianne and the colonel were willing to do so, but this tolerance had not survived Mrs. Willoughby. “True, these are dark days for the rest of us until the poisoner is found. But I shall be very much surprised if he is found far from Allenham.”

“You must not say so,” Marianne pleaded. “It is very wrong to say such a thing where it may not be true!”

Mrs. Jennings was not one to heed exhortations to silence.

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