Page 132 of The Crown’s Gift

Across the lawn, Lady Bennet was already asking Bingley which bedchamber she might use.

* * *

Mary's wedding was everything Jane's and Elizabeth's had not been.

It was small.

Lady Bennet fought this condition through winter and surrendered only when Mary said, with quiet finality, "Mama, I wish to know every person present."

Forty guests attended the Meryton church in June. Mary wore cream rather than white, with no royal jewels and no train beyond one she could manage without practice. Her published music was played by Georgiana, who paused before the processional and gave Mary their old signal.

Slow the measure.

Mary smiled and walked toward Mr Avery.

Sir Thomas escorted her. At the final pew she stopped.

"Papa, I am not frightened."

"I am. One of us should preserve tradition."

"You will like him after I marry him too."

"I like him now. That increases the danger."

Mary laughed softly and continued.

Mr Avery's expression warmed as Mary approached, as though the room had indeed waited for her voice. Their vows were quiet, their happiness unmistakable.

The breakfast at Netherfield filled only the dining room and terrace. Lady Bennet discovered that forty people could produce sufficient admiration if seated closely. Mr Collins gave a brief blessing revised by Charlotte. Kitty presented Mary with a portrait at the pianoforte, not performing but composing, her expression absorbed and at ease.

Lydia offered a toast.

"To Mary, who taught me that quiet people may be planning more interesting lives than loud people suspect. And to Mr Avery, who reads every page she writes and still intends to marry her."

"Has married," Kitty whispered.

"Even braver."

Mary and her husband settled in London, where Mr Avery practiced law and Mary composed. She kept her own income from publication under the marriage settlement Sir Thomas insisted upon. Mr Avery took pride in it without attempting to manage it.

Kitty's landscapes were displayed at a small Derby exhibition and sold to people outside the family, a fact Lady Bennet repeated more often than the prices justified. Kitty did not marry at once. She divided her time between Netherfield, Pemberley, and London instruction, becoming a favorite of Georgiana's and an observer whose gentle portraits revealed more than fashionable likenesses.

Georgiana remained a frequent visitor at every Bennet household. When she no longer required a formal companion, Mrs Annesley retired to a cottage near Pemberley and remained a cherished friend of the family.

Lydia was presented at nineteen.

She entered Court in pale yellow with Lady Bennet, Jane, Elizabeth, and Kitty watching. She made a correct curtsy, answered the Queen without shouting, and withdrew backward without stepping upon anyone.

Outside the drawing room, she leaned against the wall.

"I did nothing memorable."

"That was your stated ambition," Elizabeth said.

"It is less satisfying than expected."

The Queen had asked about her work for soldiers' families. That notice mattered more than the glances of officers at the following ball, though Lydia enjoyed both. She later danced twice with Lieutenant Samuel Carter, Captain Carter's younger brother, who admired her energy and did not mistake it for permission. Sir Thomas observed him for an entire season before allowing serious courtship.