P&P200: Mrs. Gardiner receives a surprising letter
The morning post brought a letter from Longbourn to Gracechurch Street. Mrs. Gardiner was delighted to recognize Lizzy’s handwriting on the outside. Jane’s letter reporting the arrival of the newlyweds at Longbourn had satisfied her basic curiosity on the subject, but she knew she could count on Lizzy to provide a more amusing version. She settled herself in her favorite chair to enjoy it.
She was disappointed to see how brief it was, but as she began to peruse it, those thoughts were replaced by astonishment. By the time she reached the last line, she was already on her feet and hurrying to her husband’s study, where Mr. Gardiner peered at her over his ledger with an inquiring look.
Mrs. Gardiner waved the letter. “Oh, my dear, I have just received the most startling intelligence from Lizzy! It seems she had no knowledge of Mr. Darcy’s involvement in Lydia’s marriage, and she writes to me asking for an explanation after Lydia let something slip about his presence at the wedding.”
Mr. Gardiner’s brows drew together. “She was not aware of it? How can that be? She herself admitted in Lambton that she had told Darcy of their elopement. Of course, he never told me directly that she was aware of his involvement, but I would never have allowed him to act as he did but for the belief of her being a concerned party!”
“I know, my dear. Everything pointed to Lizzy’s involvement – his ability to find our house in London, his detailed knowledge of the situation; and of course his admiration of her at Pemberley could not be denied!” She handed him the letter.
He scanned it with a frown. “I assumed that he would be a member of the family very soon. What must he have thought of me, to accept such a sum from a man wholly unconnected to us?”
Mrs. Gardiner laughed. “Do you suppose it would have made any difference, had you refused his assistance? I have never met any gentleman so determined on following his own course. If you had declined his offer, he would simply have gone ahead with it on his own.”
“But why has he not made Lizzy an offer? Everything points in that direction.”
“Perhaps he wished the matter of Lydia to be resolved before he spoke to her?” Mrs. Gardiner suggested.
“Perhaps so. After all, it would be better to allow this scandal to die down before tying the proud Darcy name to the Bennet family.”
“Well, I for one hope he does not wait long! Poor Lizzy must be in such suspense. I will have to send her a reply without delay.” She turned to go, then looked back over her shoulder with an arch smile. “Oh, how I will tease her about her great conquest!”
14 Responses to P&P200: Mrs. Gardiner receives a surprising letter
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What fun it would be to hear Mrs. Gardiner tease Lizzy on her “great conquest!” Thanks, Abigail!
I like to think Mrs. Gardiner is a good teaser!
I am always sad when I read Austen that there were so many restrictions as to what can be said and what cannot, both by men and women. Of course if everyone in P&P had said what they felt, thought and wanted to, there would be no story. Simple as that. I just always put myself into that time period and feel the squeezing tightness of restraint women were made to endure – not be able to freely express themselves, behave in terribly constrained ways, be restricted from going where they wanted and with whom they wanted due to “appearance and propriety”.
At least the Gardiners loved Lizzy enough to give her and Darcy some breathing room whenever possible. They truly were “special” relatives for our dear couple.
I’ve thought the same thing, Rae – P&P is a story of failed communication. If either Elizabeth or Darcy had been free to say what they meant, they would have been together so much sooner. It makes me wonder how many couples never reached that point because of the constraints on what could be said.
I can just imagine the conversations the Gardiners had at Lizzie’s expense! What was obvious to them before Darcy or Elizabeth were willing to admit it to themselves. Thank you Abigail!
I love all these P&P200 pieces, this one fits perfectly, I can just imagine it happening. I hope there is another one for when the Gardiners hear of the engagement
What a fun twist on the story! Lizzy’s letter sure stirred the Gardiners up. Now she’s in for it from her aunt. ;D
Thanks for the vignette!
“poor Lizzy must be in such suspense”
Lizzy – “If he fears me, why come hither? If he he no longer cares for me, why silent? Teasing, teasing man! I will think no more about him.”
really, poor Lizzy..
ive said it once and ill say it again : I love these P&P 200 posts on Austen Authors!
Re P&P being about failed communication – yes, of course it is. From Mr Collins to Darcy to Bingley to Jane to Elizabeth, the characters all struggle against convention, against misconceptions, against opening up. When Mr Collins and Mr Darcy open up to propose to Lizzy, they’re totally clueless about her and how to present themselves favourably.
Aren’t pretty much all novels about failed communication? And what is more human than a failure to communicate? We all get frustrated about our inability to get our meaning across to another person. It happens all the time to each of us, and we see other people struggle and even part, when the right words could change their lives. I think the real miracle is that we humans do manage to connect and communicate as much as we do. Happily Elizabeth and Darcy eventually connect – and where would the story be if they hadn’t struggled reach each other’s heart? Jane Austen not only gave us realistic characters, she put them in realistic situations.
Abigail,
Thanks for this lovely vignette! It has been wonderful reading about all the possible secondary scenes that probably took place within the story but Jane could not actually have (or chose not to) in her book. The best thing about reading JAFF to me is this – all the scenes that we know probably happened but are not in the book. Precious little pearls our dear JAFF writes fill in the blanks for us. This is like watching the DVD extras of a good movie. You finish watching it but we can really let go of it so we check deleted scenes, bloopers, comments, insights, etc. Anything that can keep us connected to the story. What you guys do is truely wonderful. You provide us with the extras so we can prolong the enjoyment a little longer. Thanks again.
Rita Watts
Aww I love the Gardiners. I hope they tease Darcy a little bit, too, when next they see him.
Very nice, Abigail. Like Monica above, I love the Gardiners. They rock!
I love reading blogs that have a bit of what happened with other characters as events are going on in a story