P&P Missing Scenes – The Bennet Sisters Pack Up Before the Wedding

P&P200 new banner_edited-1Jane and Elizabeth make their final preparations for their new lives…



 

Only two more days.

Less than 48 hours.

Elizabeth paused to stare out the window, forgetting to watch Agnes as she separated Elizabeth’s and Jane’s clothes into piles to be packed in their trunks. And Agnes needed supervision. She was one of several extra servants hired by Mrs. Bennet to prepare for the wedding of her two eldest daughters and she was trying to do her duty in a strange house where the other servants (and some of the family, it must be admitted) behaved as if insanity was sweeping through the entire manor.

Poor little Agnes, a thin waif of fourteen, had been noted to shake her head and mutter under her breath when the kitchen staff became overwrought over cakes that fell and breads that resembled pancakes and fell to shrieking and abusing each other. Eventually, the recriminations dissolved into tears and embraces and the baking began again. Elizabeth had taken pity on the maid and asked her to come upstairs to help them pack.

Elizabeth and Jane had shared a bedroom since they had left the nursery eighteen years ago and their belongings had become inextricably intertwined. They had learned their sewing by embroidering their wobbly initials onto the inside seams of their chemises and petticoats, and later elegantly curved initials into their stays and gloves. Because Jane was tall and willowy and Elizabeth was of a more curvaceous figure they could not share their gowns or stays, but their petticoats, fichus and gloves were identical and shared equally.

How to divide these well-loved items that had always been shared had exercised their ingenuity all day, until they eventually decided to make a game of their dilemma. The rules were simple…they would put all the items of one type out on the bed, then take turns selecting their favorites until all the items were gone. The only difficulty was that when their special favorites were involved each sister would try to give the item to the other.

Now Elizabeth turned back to the room, her eyes filling with tears as she watched her beautiful sister go through their jewelry box and lay out the trinkets they had also shared in their youth. The little pin of ivory, carved into a violet that Jane had worn to hold her fichu in place when she went to her first rout party, put on by a neighbor for the young ladies and gentlemen just out of the schoolroom. Elizabeth had gone to the same party…their mother had always given them privileges at the same time since they were so close to the same age. Lizzy had worn the enameled ring Jane had just pulled out of the jewelry box, and she had felt so grown up!

The next jewels Jane untangled from the clutter at the bottom of the box were two bracelets, identical in shape and size. The only difference was that one had amethysts set into it, and the other garnets. Their Papa gave them those bracelets, just for their first ball. She and Jane had each worn their gold crosses that they wore most days, but Papa wanted them to have something special for the ball and had presented them to the girls just before they left for the Assembly Rooms. Lizzy remembered that they had laughed delightedly with their father over them while their mother fussed with an errant curl in Jane’s hair…the bracelets had “magically” matched the flowers embroidered on their white gowns and were the most beautiful jewelry they had ever seen.Β 

Jane looked up at Elizabeth. “What is wrong my dear?” She glanced at Agnes and said, “Agnes, please bring up our tea and we will take a break before we continue packing.” Agnes bobbed a quick curtsey and hurried out the door, closing it behind her.

As soon as the maid was gone Jane went over to her sister and took her hands. “What is the matter Lizzy?”

In spite of her efforts to control her emotions, Elizabeth’s eyes filled again and a single tear coursed down each cheek. She smiled at Jane and shook her head. “It’s nothing, really, dearest. I am very happy…but I will still miss you dreadfully, my dearest sister.”

Jane wrapped her arms around Lizzy and they both clung to each other, mingling the tears they had not indulged in during the flurry of wedding preparations. The had each suppressed delirious happiness for their weddings and their husbands, sadness about separating from each other, relief to be leaving the drama that always swirled around their mother, and sadness about leaving their dear father who, for all his faults, had always loved his eldest daughters enough to exert himself to calm down their mother’s more extreme emotional outbursts. When they finally found their handkerchiefs in the pile of clothing on the bed they dabbed their eyes and tremulously smiled at each other.

Time to have their tea and finish packing.

 

 

 

20 comments

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    • Kathy Wallace on April 21, 2015 at 1:15 am
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    Just lovely!

    • Jane Odiwe on April 21, 2015 at 5:02 am
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    Lovely, Carey-I so enjoyed this with all the lovely descriptions of jewellery!

    1. Thanks, Jane! Kind of into jewellery right now…have a son getting married in about a month and trying to decide what to wear with my dress for the rehearsal dinner and wedding…I think it had a subliminal effect on my story!!! πŸ™‚

    • Deborah on April 21, 2015 at 6:32 am
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    So sweet. I can just imagine the scene with 2 sisters as close as they were. Thank you for such a pretty scene over a cup of coffee.

    1. I can relate to their close relationship…my sister and I are only 11 months apart in age so we always did new things at the same age!

    • Carol hoyt on April 21, 2015 at 9:08 am
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    So sweet. Love this scene that shows is the roots of their closeness.
    Beautifully written.

    1. Thanks Carol!

    • Stephanie L on April 21, 2015 at 9:11 am
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    Beautiful scene! It makes me a little sad. I have 3 sisters and have never been that close to any of them. The bittersweet along with the so very sweet (marrying Darcy/Bingley).

    • Sheila L. M. on April 21, 2015 at 11:16 am
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    My sister and I are only 13 months apart and we always fought over and “borrowed” each other’s clothing and/or jewelry growing up. We didn’t become real friends until we both married and moved away. Even though we only see each other once or twice a year we share secrets over text messages and e-mails regularly, secrets which will go to the grave with us. I do wish we lived closer tho’.

    1. As you can see from the comment above, my sister and I are very close in age- it seemed like people always asked us our ages during the 1 month we were the same age and they would look at us (we didn’t look at all alike back then- she had dark brunette hair and hazel eyes and I had blonde or light brown hair and pale blue eyes) and ask, “Are you twins?” Our answer: “No.” Without further clarification…leaving them scratching their heads over this oddity. My mom wasn’t a good pregnant person…she had morning sickness for 9 months with each of us and would faint and have to be carried out of restaurants, etc. I asked her once how she managed to go through two pregnancies with only a 2 month break in between. Her answer: “I cried a lot.” Aaaaahhhhh. That explains it! πŸ™‚

    • Sheila L. M. on April 21, 2015 at 11:17 am
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    Lovely passage – it brought tears to my eyes as I can understand how “parting is such sweet sorrow” with these dear sisters.

  1. Such a sweet and poignant scene–I really enjoyed it! Thank you for writing for us! πŸ™‚

    Warmly,
    Cassandra πŸ™‚

  2. Very, very well done! It is nice to think that Jane and Elizabeth will be able to continue their closeness for the rest of their lives. After all, what is 30 miles of good road? I would expect Darcy & Bingley to save themselves worry and just pave the road between their two estates!

    1. Great idea, Dave! I’m sure they came up with that idea within the first year after the end of P&P and there was a mysteriously smooth and dry road between two manor houses in Derbyshire which has puzzled historians ever since! πŸ™‚

    • Julie on April 21, 2015 at 1:26 pm
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    This is so fun! The whole time leading up to the weddings is skipped over pretty quickly, so it’s really nice to see a little bit of what happened during the “flurry of arrangements”! The closeness between the two sisters has always seemed to me a reflection of Jane Austen’s relationship with her sister Cassandra, so we get to see another scene that was never written, in a way, as well….

    1. Yes, Julie, we have all really enjoyed filling in the back story from Pride and Prejudice…and from Persuasion in our other outing! Austen’s works keep their classic status through the ages because the stories are about human emotions and feelings and not about the details of daily life…It doesn’t matter what the house looks like or how long it takes to get to Derbyshire in a carriage, so we are free to visualize them and their actions however we want! Things change over time, but people and their thoughts and feelings do not…

    • RMorrel on April 21, 2015 at 4:46 pm
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    Very nicely done. Tea always works.

  3. Carey,
    I really enjoyed Elizabeth’s reflections during this time! Love her relationship with her sister and the bond they shared. Thanks for such a lovely scene! πŸ™‚

    1. Thanks, Marilyn!

    • TLeighF on April 22, 2015 at 11:06 pm
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    A touching scene. I have 3 brothers and always wanted a sister there have been times in my life when I was especially close to one brother or another, but nothing like what I imagine as the closeness between sisters. I am now blessed with two daughters who are exactly 3 years apart and I love watching their relationship. I hope they’re always good friends.

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