Mary Bennet couldn’t stand listening to any more of this, this was a church, not her own home! If the excuse of illness hadn’t already been used up, she wouldn’t have wanted to come at all.
And sure enough, the sermon had barely ended before a crowd gathered around Mr. Ethys and that woman! If Mr. Ethys weren’t so exceptional, how else could that other Mary possibly be enjoying treatment like this?!
How could she have the nerve to say she’d been struck speechless the very first time she saw Mr. Ethys? And yet Mr. Ethys didn’t seem to mind at all!
He acted as if he hadn’t even noticed, letting that woman use him as something to show off!
Oh, that wretched liar! So that day when she’d first seen Mr. Ethys, the two of them hadn’t even been anything to each other yet!
If the other Mary had simply told her the truth back then, everything would be different! She would have been Mr. Ethys’s true wife, and the one standing beside him right now ought to have been her!
“Goodness! Mary, slow down, your hand is still hurt—” Mrs. Bennet wasn’t quite used to Longbourn’s attention not being on her own family for once.
After all, following last year’s ball at Netherfield, everyone’s focus had been fixed on Jane and Mr. Bingley. And later, Lizzy’s happy news with Mr. Darcy had drawn even more attention.
Now that Lizzy was finally married, she’d stayed behind in Derbyshire and wouldn’t be returning anytime soon. And Jane’s wedding with Mr. Bingley was still months away!
Mrs. Bennet, taking in the lively scene before her, decided she’d better go after her daughter instead. Goodness, how careless of her, one evening unattended, and Mary had somehow managed to injure herself.
Watching the two of them leave one after the other, the couple who’d been the center of attention found their own excuse to bring things to a close. No further inquiries were needed, the truth was already plain to see.
Mrs. Bennet had just mentioned that the other Mary’s hand was injured. With only a little probing, those in the know immediately supplied the answer.
Longbourn really was far too small a place, whatever happened, everyone knew about it eventually.
The night of that heavy rainstorm a few days ago, Mary Bennet had hurt her hand on a tool left carelessly in her family’s toolshed, nearly losing the ability to play the piano.
“What a pity, everything lines up, and yet we have no proof.” Mary was nearly certain the other Mary was behind the damaged road, but there was no witness, and certainly no physical evidence. Even with the right suspicion, there was nothing she could actually do.
“What proof do we need, anyone can see she can’t keep a secret. Just test her a little, and let her admit it herself.” Octavius didn’t think this would be difficult, find the right person to press, and she’d surely spill everything.
“Do you have someone in mind?” Surely not himself?
“Just wait, you’ll have your answer soon enough.” The man sounded quite confident about this. “It’s almost November 30th, I’ll come with you to make the delivery to the army.” A good chance to see how things stood there too.
“All right.” Mary didn’t refuse.
Over the next several days, nothing new turned up on the Bennet side. The girl had only gone to Meryton to buy some painkilling tincture, with no other visitors seen.
By the time delivery day arrived, the weather had, for once, turned decent. Still cold, but at least the rain had stopped.
Several neatly stacked crates of milk soap were loaded onto the cargo cart, and Mary climbed into her husband’s carriage.
“Your carriage really is comfortable. How many pounds would it cost to have one custom-made like this?” She wanted one too, plain on the outside was fine, but the comfort inside absolutely couldn’t be compromised.
“I’ve never actually asked, but I know commissioning a carriage like this takes quite a while. If you don’t mind, you’re welcome to use this one for now, and once your new one’s ready, we can swap back.” Octavius knew Mary wouldn’t accept it if he simply gave it to her outright, just as she hadn’t accepted the pearl jewelry before.
So he needed a different approach.
“No, I don’t take advantage of things like that. Go ahead and ask about the price for me first, if it’s within what I can accept, you can help me arrange it afterward.” This carriage was already far too conspicuous besides, and Mary had no habit of taking what belonged to others.
“That’s simple enough, just ask William once we’re back.” See, even when it came to borrowing something, she still wouldn’t accept it easily. Octavius didn’t push the matter further. For now, nothing about their relationship had really changed, and this wasn’t the point anyway.
As they talked, they soon reached the garrison in Meryton. The line of carriages drove straight in, and by the time they stopped, the officer from before, Mr. Richard, and the tax officer Mary knew well were all already waiting.
“Good afternoon, everyone.” After greeting them and introducing her husband, Mary had everyone begin inspecting the goods first. “For ease of transport, only a single layer of straw separates each bar of soap. Going forward, storage should focus on ventilation and dryness, best to stack them layer by layer.”
Having carefully explained the proper storage method, the inspection of goods was complete. There was no question about the quality, only the quantity still needed confirming.
Others handled that part while Mary and the army men went into the reception room to begin the formal transaction.
First came the army’s certificate, drafted in advance. Mary took it and looked it over, though honestly, she couldn’t tell whether it was genuine or not. It didn’t matter, though, as long as the tax officer was present. He would note this on the tax registry, and going forward, the tax on milk soap transactions with the army would only require a 3% payment.
“Let me take a look.” Seeing that it was about to be put away, Octavius reached out for it.
Fair enough, Mary handed the certificate over to him, and they could move on to settling the payment.
“This is 38 guineas and 10 pence, count it yourself.” Richard handed over a pouch, pouring the rose-gold guineas and pence out onto the table in front of everyone.
“That’s correct, exactly 40 pounds.” One pound equaled 20 shillings, and one guinea equaled 21 shillings, the math worked out to that exact figure.
Compared to paper notes, Mary definitely preferred guineas. Their gold content was high, one guinea equaled a quarter ounce of gold!
“Pleasure doing business.” Once the tax officer had finished his registration, and once the counting outside had also been completed—
“Gentlemen, pleasure doing business, see you in five days.” Money in hand and certificate safely put away, Mary left the garrison feeling entirely at ease. Nothing had gone wrong, everything had proceeded exactly as agreed.
“Wait, we’re going the wrong way, this isn’t the road home.” Mary noticed the carriage taking a turn away from the expected right-hand path, and quickly spoke up.
“That’s right, I’m taking you to watch a show.” Octavius told her not to worry, it was just ahead.
A show? This wasn’t London, there was no theater here.
Oh, she understood now. It was going to be a show performed by real people!
“How did you know she’d be here?” Spotting Mary Bennet not far off, Mary finally understood what kind of show this was. “That person you said you’d find, did you actually find them?” That had been rather quick.
“I found the right person a while ago. Bringing you here today is so you can see the result.” Come along, the show was about to begin.
Was he really this confident? Mary got down from the carriage and followed him, the two of them were soon led through a door by someone waiting there.
“Shh, listen closely.”
Once their guide had left, the small, dimly lit room held only the two of them. Mary listened to the voices right at her ear, holding her breath without quite meaning to. She couldn’t tell if it was to hear the other Mary’s voice more clearly, or for some other reason.
She could clearly remember there had still been some distance between the two of them just a moment ago!
“Vicar, I still can’t sleep well, and my hand still hurts terribly.” Hearing the other Mary’s voice, Mary set aside every other thought.
“The painkilling tincture isn’t working? You’re already using quite a large dose, if it’s not helping, then something else must be going on. My child, poor sleep can also come from carrying a burden on your mind. Perhaps if you spoke of it, you’d find that burden lifted.” The vicar’s voice was warm, but Mary could tell it wasn’t the resident vicar of Longbourn.
“If I speak of it, will I really sleep well again?”
“Try it. Your sleeplessness has gone on for several days now, it’s no small thing. If it continues, your family will surely notice eventually, and you’ll have to speak of it then regardless.”
After a long pause, Mary Bennet’s voice rose again.
“Vicar, I’m terribly jealous of someone, because she has the husband I wanted for myself! That day, the very day I saw him! Back then he wasn’t even her fiancé yet, and she lied to me about it!”
“I’ve never felt jealousy like this before. My two sisters both found remarkable husbands too, but I was quick to wish them well. This time, though, this time was different!”
“Watching those two get married, I couldn’t bring myself to smile at all. And when I learned that man had left the very second day after the wedding, I don’t know how happy that made me.”
“But the moment I heard the person I was jealous of being called someone’s wife, I grew angry all over again. So I took advantage of my sister’s vanity to sabotage something.”
“Afterward, I used that as an excuse to go see her, but she saw right through me! I was terrified in that moment. And yet, I couldn’t accept defeat!”
And so, on that sleepless, rain-soaked night, Mary Bennet had taken a tool and gone out, walking all the way to the door of the Richman house. In the end, she hadn’t struck the door, instead, on her way back, dragging the tool along, she’d very nearly fallen herself.
“I went half-mad with anger back then, and struck the road wildly with the tool. By the time I came to my senses, I’d already dug out a hole in the road.”
“I thought, since their cargo cart went out every single day, if it fell into that hole even once, I’d at least have vented my own anger a little.” The hole had grown bigger and bigger under her blows, until finally satisfied, Mary Bennet had covered it over with the very stones she’d dislodged. In fact, underneath, it was all hollow.
Hearing all this, Mary still felt a jolt of shock.
It wasn’t the damaged road itself that startled her, it was the thought of someone showing up at her doorstep, carrying tools. If not for the suggestion he’d made earlier, the fence and extra gate wouldn’t have gone up outside so quickly.
Had there been no such barrier the day Bennet came calling, would she have simply forced her way straight in?
Even knowing that, even if the girl had gotten in, nothing might have actually happened, but once malice takes root in someone’s heart, it doesn’t fade so easily.
“What is it?” Octavius noticed a change in her breathing, was she startled?
“I was thinking, what should we do about this now?” Coming back to the present, Mary knew Bennet’s behavior needed to be stopped, but how best to go about it?
“If you walked out there right now, she’d be terrified.” That girl didn’t have much backbone to begin with.
“No, that would let her off too easily.” If she walked out now, the other woman could simply deny everything afterward. “Let’s do this, let’s put on another show.” Mary quickly thought of a plan, and pulled him quietly out of the room. Once outside, she spent a moment explaining what needed to be done.
Listening to her, Octavius felt the deep blue in his eyes flicker with interest, not a bad idea at all.
“Come on, let’s give her a scare.”
Behind the door, Mary Bennet was still pouring out her heart, as if trying to purge all the torment and malice she’d carried these past few days in one go. The man beside her showed not the slightest impatience, simply listening quietly.
“…To be honest, I really did see someone that night, and it was a woman!” The familiar voice drifted in, and Bennet’s words came to an abrupt stop. She strained her ears, her whole attention now fixed on what was happening outside the door.
“With that much rain that night, you must have seen wrong.” It was Mr. Ethys! There was no mistaking it, it was him!
“No, I don’t think so. I saw it quite clearly. Judging by the build, it was definitely a woman. I just don’t know who it could have been, and she was carrying something quite heavy in her hands, at that.” Mary’s voice paused, as if turning the thought over. “You don’t suppose it was a thief, taking advantage of the rain and darkness to rob our house?!”
“No, no, no, something about that figure felt so familiar. I’m sure I know who it was!” She quickly contradicted her own words.
Hearing this, the color drained from Bennet’s face on the other side of the door.