Page 17 of The Gossip War
Elizabeth was coming around, but Jane surprised me again. “Wounded he may be, but he creeps not to die—only to hone his edge in quiet.”
Lizzy laughed, though there was little humour in it. “Another dusty tome, Jane?”
She showed her own humour. “No, I just made it up.”
“How would that look,” William asked.
I had to think about that a minute.
“The servants will be well up and about by six. All we need do is tell our story to the right people at the right time.
“Naturally, in our version the proposal happened earlier, but William did not seek consent because Lizzy would have to leave before Jane recovered.
“A loose woman tried to compromise an engaged man out of sheer desperation.
“You could even embellish it by suggesting she had aparticularreason for rapid nuptials, if you get my drift.”
Elizabeth and Jane gasped at that last one, but the men were no more shocked than I expected. This was not complicated, and I suspected the girls gasped out of habit more than shock. They were not that naïve.
“It would be all over Meryton before we arrived at church, and to London before tomorrow.
“William would strike the second blow by writing to his gossipier noble relatives, and I would strike the third by writing to my very clever brother in Cheapside.
“They would be in the tattle section by Wednesday and shunned from good society by Friday. The only thing even resembling friends they would have left would be people trying to take advantage of their weakness to get at Bingley’s money.”
Elizabeth and Jane gulped at that, but I do not know if they felt bad for the Bingleys, or disappointed at the level of sheer malevolence I was capable of.
William asked, “What if we do not strike the first blow?”
“It is much harder to put out a fire than to light it, and the longer it burns, the harder it is to extinguish.”
I had to admit that I surprised myself, mostly because I at least half-agreed with Lizzy—I am not a clever woman. Perhaps I underestimated myself.
With my main contribution made, we spent a good hour discussing the pros and cons of both approaches, and all the variants. I admit here and now it was the most fun I have had in years, and having my husband and two most sensible daughters showing me respect and listening to me did wonders for my nerves.
In the end, I was certain of one thing:
Those fools would rue the day they took on Francine Bennet!
Longbourn Library, 4 AM, Mr Bennet
I will admit right here and now that my wife put me in my place definitively.
It had been some time since I was proud of her and ashamed of myself, but I supposed we still had a few years to see if we could make our lives more harmonious—or at least, less disharmonious. Certainly, respecting her more was a good start.
When she suggested going for the jugular, I expected at least Jane and maybe Lizzy to be shocked and argue against the idea, but as often happens, I was mistaken.
To this day, I have no idea if Jane was experiencing the reaction of someone spurned in their affections, or she was angry because after twenty-two years of pining, she finally got the best of brothers, and he was under threat.
I suppose she also felt keenly for Miss Darcy’s safety, since she was obviously another sister, who might increase the average sensibility of the family.
After an hour of discussion, there was much to be said for each camp, and several compromise variations short of all or nothing.
Jane surprised us by being the first and strongest advocate of the burnt ground strategy. She was all for salting the fields, killing the cattle, and poisoning the wells. When she was not speaking, she kept glancing at my writing set as if she could not wait to start the assault straightaway.
Elizabeth took the more conciliatory approach, I supposed to be contrary, or perhaps to enjoy the novelty of being on the opposite side of the kindness divide in a dispute with Jane for once in her life. On the other hand, she was the one who would be in the thick of things, while Jane would be watching the battle from the ramparts, so perhaps she had a better perspective.
My wife sided with Jane, and while some might argue she just wanted to be vindictive, she was just being protective of her girls (including the new daughter-in-law), as we should be.
