Pomp and Circumstance: A Pride and Prejudice Continuation

Chapter 1: A Change is Enacted

Chapter 1: A Change is Enacted

In the character of Mary Bennet there existed a profound irony which was as follows: the only quality that saved her from being wholly ordinary was the extraordinary degree of ordinariness which she possessed.

It was an unfortunate truth that people who were ordinary of an ordinary nature would easily be forgotten by those who met them; but those who met Mary Bennet were often, in fact, liable to remember her, on account of her outstanding plainness.

"Do you remember that girl at Pemberley, Mrs. Darcy's sister, I believe, the one with the rather plain face?" Lady L--- might remark to her acquaintance Miss M--- over tea. And Miss M--- would reply, "Yes, of course. Quite extraordinary, how rather unremarkable an impression her features made. And rather dull in conversation as well, if I am to remember correctly."

This was an irony that quite undeniably existed, but a consolation, perhaps, to these unpleasant circumstances was that their object was wholly unaware of it; and, in fact, of all those closest to her, this irony was only ever observed (in fond amusement) by her father, Mr. Bennet. It was only ever observed by him because his wife, Mrs. Bennet, would never deign to admit, even in confidence to herself, a plainness in any of her daughters. Of her sisters, meanwhile, the two younger were often too absorbed in themselves to engage in astute observations on the character of others; and for her older sisters, even the sharp-witted Elizabeth, if they ever did note her tendency to subscribe too much to academic pedantry, or her unfortunate eagerness to showcase her distinct lack of musical talent, it was always done through the slightly softening lens of sisterly affection.

It is often in the wake of great change where true character is revealed, and upon the surprisingly rapid succession of marriages of three of the Bennet sisters, there was certainly a great change that fell upon the Bennet family.

Not a month had passed but Mrs. Bennet was left with only Kitty and Mary with whose marriage prospects she might concern herself. It was with this abrupt departure of three of her daughters that a notable transformation was enacted upon Mrs. Bennet's character – not, of course, in regards to the ills of health which had so long plagued her, and which showed every sign of remaining a lifelong companion – but rather, instead of the tenacity with which she had intended to oversee each of her daughters' betrothals, there suddenly fell a lull, which, to the inobservant eye, might have implied that she was no longer in the act of seeking single men with good fortune.

This change was wrought at the precise moment the realization had come upon her, as she was seeing off the newlywed Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, that once all her daughters were wed and settled, she would very suddenly be deprived fully of not only her daughters' company, but also, and more importantly, of the main activity which had occupied the bulk of her time and nerves.

Therefore, to the dismay of Kitty, who had been most eager to be shepherded around by her mother in search of suitable matches (or perhaps, in the footsteps of Lydia, even unsuitable ones), Mrs. Bennet became inexplicably reticent on the subject, which had previously been such a well-trodden path of discourse for her. It was due to this unexpected desertion that Kitty determined to take matters into her own hands, and thus was seen from then on to spend the vast sum of her time split between Jane and Elizabeth's residences, in the country and in town, until at last she met a handsome, young solicitor who wasted no time in proposing forthwith.

Thus was Mrs. Bennet left with only Mary, who on the whole made a poor companion to a woman as loquacious and nervous as her mother, but who nevertheless exerted an effort to make herself slightly more agreeable, though whether or not this effort was noticed by Mrs. Bennet, one could not say.

And what effects had been wrought upon Mary by this rapid succession of changes? They were, in fact, surprisingly agreeable. For with the absence of her sisters, Mary found not only the removal of that proverbial thorn in her side which was her sisters' beauty and charm, but also a quietude which was quite conducive to the pursuit of worldly knowledge, interrupted only by Mrs. Bennet's interludes of gossip and social outings.