Jump to new as of March 14, 2001
Part 1
A faint whisper fell over the congregation. The doors in the back of the chapel, and a tall, dark, mysterious man stood in the doorway. No one of those that were gathered that Sunday knew who he was or what he was doing in their small town.
The tall, dark, mysterious man took the empty seat in the pew in the back of the chapel. Edmund Bertram, the minister, who was the only one who had seen the whole thing, tried to re-establish order within the congregation. But all his efforts were in vain as he continued his sermon on the vices of pride and prejudices.
After church was finally over, a certain women by the name of Mrs. Phillips, squealed in excitement and scurried as fast as she could over to her sister to spread the news. By this time the tall, dark, mysterious man had disappeared without a trace.
"My dear sister" Mrs. Phillips said a little out of breath. "You will never believe what I have just heard."
"Sister, please make haste, and tell me."
"Oh it is to much dear. OH! The land beyond your own, the Netherfield Plains, have been taken. Netherfield is let at last!" (Sorry, I just HAD to use that line)
"My dear sister, what do you mean by this?"
"Oh, don't you see. A young man, of large fortune, has come to take over the settlement of the Netherfield Plains. And he has brought with him a friend from the city."
"Sister, do you realize the value of this piece of news?! What a wonderful thing for my daughters!"
"Yes, yes. Now I must be going. This is too good to be true!" With that Mrs. Phillips left her sister, Mrs. Bennet. Now Mrs. Bennet was very excited, and the tall, dark, mysterious man was forgotten. She then ran in search of her daughters and husband to share the good news. But only her two eldest, Jane and Liza, were to be found. The two lovely girls were deep in conversation about the tall, dark, mysterious man when their mother found them.
"My dear Jane! Liza! Have you heard?" Mrs. Bennet called out when she came closer to her daughters.
"No mother, we haven't yet heard." Jane replied in her usual soft and demure manner.
"Netherfield Plains have been taken over again."
"Oh Mama, that is wonderful." Liza said.
"Yes dear." Mrs. Bennet said. "But you have not heard the best of it. The Neitherfield plains are to be taken over by a young man of large fortune, and he has brought along company from the city."
Jane and Liza gave their mother a satisfying reaction, as they knew her schemes and matchmaking ways too well, and Mrs. Bennet ran off to find one of her other five daughters to share the news with.
Part 2
Edmund Bertram was slightly confused. All right, he was completely bewildered. During his sermon, which he had specially prepared for that Sunday, something of the oddest nature had happened. While ministering to his congregation, through the back windows of the church he had seen a tall, dark, mysterious man run by. Then he had seen, what most people would have describe as a lady, but at the moment looked more like a rabid dog, run by in a most unladylike manner. Then he saw the tall, dark, mysterious man stop in front of his church, and that was when the doors flew open, causing him to lose the attention of his congregation.
"Edmund darling, do be glad that the lady hadn't come in as well." Fanny, Edmund's wife, said after he had related the whole thing to her. She had been sitting with the congregation, and therefor saw nothing, and was glad that her husband had some more information to offer her.
"Yes dear, you are right, as always. I must count my blessings, and not my misfortunes. I can always give the sermon next week, seeing as no one was paying attention today, and no one would know the difference." Edmund said, still rather disappointed
After dinner, Fanny sat by the fire as Edmund read to her from the Bible, as he always did on Sunday evening. The events of the day had worn Fanny out, and she was asleep within 15 minutes. Edmund, on the other hand, was still shaken from his earlier fright, and couldn't even think of sleeping. Hearing his wife gently snoring, he shut the book and kissed her on the forehead. Edmund then sat himself at the table and pulled out the letter that had been delivered by messenger the previous morning.
The letter, being from someone of high status back in the city, had piqued his curiosity yesterday, but he had been far too busy to open it. Having not much else to do now, he opened the letter and skimmed through it. He tried to comprehend what the writer was requesting, but his mind kept returning to the tall, dark, mysterious man who had interrupted his sermon that morning. He wondered who he and the lady were, and what they were doing in the small town. Edmund tried to concentrate on the letter, but soon found himself falling asleep.
Part 3
However displeased William was by the sudden move, he also knew that Charles had good reasons for doing it. Ever since the death of Anne de Bourgh, William's betrothed, Charles' sister Caroline had displayed several angry and mad outbursts that steadily grew worse with time. Caroline's removal to the country would save Charles' family embarrassment in the up-scale society of Boston, which they had, until now been a part of. William also felt a need to protect Charles, since they had been very close friends, and also felt part of this was his fault. Even though he had never liked Anne, she was his betrothed, and her death seemed to have triggered Caroline's present madness.
William and Caroline arrived at the nearest train station to Meryton early Sunday morning. Charles had been delayed a few days, but had sent the other two ahead of him. William then hired a carriage to take them the 37 miles to Meryton. While confined in the carriage with Caroline, William began to question his coming again.
As William stepped out of the carriage, he felt a shove against his back, and soon found himself face down on the dirt road.
"AHAHAHA!!!"
"Great," William thought. "Caroline is having another outburst. Just what I need."
"Caroline! What do you think you are doing?" William asked, when he had managed to pick himself off the ground.
"Following orders." She stated, matter-of-factly. And then she raised her parasol above her head, as if to hit him. William knew better than to stay there, and ran away from the mad-woman as fast as he could.
"Come back here! Running will get you nowhere. You won't be able to escape the powers of the one on most high. AHAHAHAHA!!! " Caroline then ran after William, waving her parasol over her head as she went.
William, still running, did not know what to do. He ran down the main street, with Caroline following behind. At the end of the street he ran back the other way, trying to dodge Caroline as he passed her. He then saw the parish church. Remembering that it was Sunday, he threw the doors of the chapel open, hoping for some good luck. Seeing all the people turn around to look at him, William suddenly became very shy and reserved, and simply took the back seat, hoping not to cause any further disruption.
As it turned out, Caroline did not follow William into the church. She couldn't. It was the one place on earth see had been forbidden to go. In disgust she made her way back to the carriage, only to find it gone, and all of their belongings in the middle of the road. So Caroline, who had calmed down, sat down on the nearest porch and waited for William to come back.
Part 4
The train was late. Edmund grew rather impatient. William tried to relax and drown out Caroline. The two men were waiting for the same train to arrive. William was waiting for his dear friend Charles Bingley, and Edmund was waiting for Mrs. De Bourgh, and her new parson, Mr. Collins. Caroline's loud attempts to impress William weren't easing anybody's nerves, and everyone present was glad to finally see the train pull into the station.
After the train pulled to a stop, three very different people stepped off. The first was Charles. Full of smiles and boundless energy, he greeted his good friend and sister. Next Mrs. De Bourgh steeped off, closely followed by Mr. Collins. William, who wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, came to full attention when he saw Mrs. De Bourgh. He hoped she hadn't seen him. He didn't want another scolding, since she still believed he was responsible for her dear Anne's death. However it seemed that it was Edmund that was engaging her in conversation for the moment, and he was safe for now.
"Mr. Bertram, I would like you to meet Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins, Mr. Bertram. And this I suppose is your wife, Mrs. Bertram." Mrs. De Bourgh said, pointing to Fanny.
"Yes, this is my wife, Fanny. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Collins." Edmund replied.
"Allow we to profess my deepest gratitude for your having let me come out here to learn the ways of a clergyman, for one that is held in great esteem by Mrs. De Bourgh. I assure you, the pleasure is all mine." Mr. Collins said, with a deep bow.
At the coaxing of William, he, Charles, and Caroline made a hasty departure from the train station. But with one unpleasantness gone, another one arose. It seemed that at some point between the train arriving and leaving the station, Caroline seemed to have gone into another one of her "fits". Neither William or Charles knew the cause of her insanity, and it wasn't until they arrived to Meryton, that she calmed down.
For Edmund and Fanny the ride back to their home in Meryton was as far as possible from pleasant. Mrs. De Bourgh could not be kept quiet and had to put in her opinion about everything that she saw. Mr. Collins made it his duty to compliment her about every statement made, and every one grew longer and longer. Fanny was glad to arrive into town and get out of the carriage. At least in her home she would be able to put some distant between herself and her guests and be able to leave them to her husband.
Part 5
"My dear, what on earth could this have to do with our daughters? But if you insist on having him at the assembly ball, why don't you and the girls go over and invite him yourself." Mr. Bennet replied, with a lot less of his wife's enthusiasm.
"Mr. Bennet! How could you not see? I plan on having him marry one of our daughters. Think of it. A wealthy man from the city. 'Tis a very good thing for our daughters!" Mrs. Bennet said. She would have gone on, had there not have been a gentle knocking at the door of Mr. Bennet's study.
"Come in." Me. Bennet called.
The door opened and Eliza, the second eldest, entered.
"Eliza, my dear. Your mother here wants me to go over to The Netherfield Planes and invite Mr. Bingley to the assembly ball. What do you think? Shall I consent and go over." Mr. Bennet asked Eliza.
"Oh father. Please do. Jane and I would love for him to come. And we have heard that the tall, dark, and mysterious man who interrupted church just yesterday is Mr. Bingley's friend. We would so much like to find out who it is." Eliza said to her father.
"Well my dear, it is settled. I shall go over to The Netherfield Planes tomorrow to invite Mr. Bingley to the assembly ball. You shall not have to worry about your daughters any longer." Mr. Bennet said, turning to his wife.
"Oh Mr. Bennet! I knew you would have had pity on my poor nerves, and that you were not so cruel a to do such a thing to your daughters." Mrs. Bennet said as she ran from the room to give the news to all of her other daughters.
After she had left the room, Mr. Bennet asked Eliza what it was that she had wanted, and she confessed that it was precisely what they had just agreed upon that she had wanted to know. Having her answers, she hurried to Jane, hoping to be able to save her from their mother. Mr. Bennet turned back to his book and resumed his studies.