Today I'd like to welcome Kate Allan to my blog with her book "Mary Bennet"
No
one who has ever seen me would suppose me a heroine. My situation in life, the
character of my father and mother, indeed my own person and disposition are all
against me.
MARY BENNET
Mrs
Bennet is determined that all five of her daughters must marry. Mary overhears
a conversation between her parents that shatters her already fragile sense of
self-worth. She knows she is the least attractive of the sisters but to hear
that her attempts to overcome this by being intelligent and accomplished are
laughable sends her into a deep depression.
On
the way to Derbyshire she meets a strange gentleman who she considers ill
mannered. However she is intrigued by his knowledgeable conversation about old buildings.
On
arrival at Pemberley, the home of the Darcy’s, Mary discovers that the stranger
is a Mr Sharnbrook of Kent and also a house guest. Mr Sharnbrook is an amateur
archaeologist and has come to Pemberley to excavate possible burial mounds as
part of his studies. Mary is interested in his work and offers to help him sort
out his notes. Engrossed in the work, her spirits begin to lift.
A
continuation of Pride and Prejudice beginning eight months after the end
of Jane Austen's novel, Mary Bennet tells the story of how the Bennet's
neglected middle daughter tries to overcome the disadvantages of her character
and find happiness.
Excerpt
No one who has ever seen me would suppose
me a heroine. My situation in life, the character of my father and mother,
indeed my own person and disposition are all against me.
I am one of five children, all living, all
daughters. Three married last year: one married impetuously, the other two to
well situated gentlemen. We have all enjoyed excellent health, none has ever
been sickly.
My misfortune has been to have been born
plain. A misfortune indeed when all four of my sisters are acknowledged
handsome by everybody. My figure is awkward, my skin sallow, my hair lank and
my features too strong.
My solace is that I am considered to be
accomplished. I can play the pianoforte, sing, and do needlework tolerably
well, and certainly with more application than any of my sisters. I have read
more books than any of them, even Lizzy. I aspire to be a woman of information,
whose good sense and deep reflections are sought in conversation.
This was my firm view of myself and my
family until I was passing through the hall at Longbourn and hearing the voices
of my mother and father coming from the drawing room, and hearing my own name
mentioned I could not help be arrested. I stood, noticing that door was ajar,
and listened.
‘Mr Bennet, do not think that it was time
our daughter Mary was married?’
‘Why, of course, my dear. I should be
greatly relieved of my apprehension of Mary dying an old maid.’
'Lady Lucas met us in Meryton today and she
was quite forceful in reminding me that neither Mary nor Catherine are yet
married nor even bethrothed. Nor is there anybody whom we might think they
could develop an understanding. Indeed, no prospects at all!'
'She is entitled to say such a thing,' my
father replied. 'It is the truth.'
‘That is all very well for you to say, Mr
Bennet, but what are we to do? There are no gentlemen of even a tolerable
consequence in the vicinity of Meryton. Why only on Tuesday I was talking on
the very same subject with Mrs Long. With Jane’s confinement, no one will come
to Netherfield. And even the garrison is empty!’
'Kitty shall no doubt find a husband once
the militia returns to Meryton.'
'I dare say a smart young colonel of six
thousand a year might suit her very well.'
I could not help smiling at this, though I
fervently hoped that Kitty would make a more sensible match than our sister
Lydia, whom she still emulated in other ways.
'But what of Mary?' my mother said. I
leaned inward towards the door. 'We must not forget the entailment, Mr Bennet.'
'You are quite right, my dear. Mary can not
remain here with Mr and Mrs Collins.' I imagined my father removing his
spectacles and giving them a polish with his handkerchief.
‘I for myself shall go and live with Jane,
for I am partial to Bingley. He is the best of all of them.’
My
father did not reply to this directly saying he considered it his duty to do
what he could to promote both of his remaining daughters' prospects.
'My dear, you are the kindest of husbands
and the best of fathers! Though we have three daughters married, as you know,
it has always been my ambition to have all five daughters settled.’
'It is best that they all marry.' My
father's voice sounded very collected. 'No woman wants to be an appendage in a
household when she can be mistress of her own.' There came a pause and I felt
my heart beating in my chest. I should not be listening to this private
conversation. Yet because it concerned me I could not remove myself. I looked
down at my slippers and willed them to move. They remained fast where they
were.
'Let us consider instead what kind of
character of a man might suit rather a young lady of many accomplishments and
deep reflection,’ my father said.
I was pleased to hear myself thus described
and could not help leaning closer towards the door so that I did not miss a
word.
'Mary was somewhat partial to Mr Collins
when he first came here,' my father continued. 'Is he the kind of gentleman to
make her an agreeable companion?'
'You mean a clergyman? Only if he is
certain of a good living, Mr Bennet. In times like these-'
'My dear, I speak rather of Mary's
disposition.'
'You speak in riddles, Mr Bennet. The
answer is quite plain!’
‘Tell me, Mrs Bennet,' he said after a
pause. 'I have no objection to hearing it.’
‘Kitty and Mary must go to Derbyshire. You
must write to Lizzy at once and tell her it is her duty to see her sisters
married. Tell her I shall not speak to her until she does so.'
‘I shall do no such thing.'
'Mr Bennet! How you delight in vexing me!
My poor nerves!'
'But I will write to Lizzy and ask her to
introduce her sisters in their neighbourhood. She will have the good sense not
to let Mary sing in company. And Darcy is a man of sensibility. He may have
acquaintance suited to Mary’s character.’
I had always considered my father the more
sensible of my parents but why did he mean that I should not sing in company?
‘And Kitty?’
‘Kitty may go too.’
'Mr Bennet, why did I ever doubt you? We
shall see all five daughters married and I shall be the happiest mother in Hertfordshire.
And you are quite right: Mary must not sing. You must be quite explicit to
Lizzy on this point. Nor must she be allowed to play the pianoforte in
company.'
'Her application to that instrument is to
be admired but in truth she is not musical. Yet I expect a man of sense will
overlook this once he has seen her other qualities.'
I flattened myself against the wall feeling
its coolness on the palms of my hands. Papa thought I was not musical.
'I do not know of what you speak, Mr
Bennet, for Mary has none. She does nothing to encourage the attentions of
gentlemen. Nothing! Her countenance is always serious, as is her conversation.
She never smiles, is awkward in company and she is ill at dancing. And she is
so plain. Perhaps you place too high hopes on Darcy knowing a suitable
gentleman.'
I could not bear to listen a moment longer.
I tiptoed away from the door feeling the pressure of tears behind my eyes. My
own mother thought so little of me! And my father scarcely better. They said I
was accomplished to everybody but in truth they thought me plain, gauche,
unmusical. I knew that I was no beauty, that I was often awkward in company
through shyness, that I was bookish and serious. Yet I had striven to be
serious and to work hard at the pianoforte, more so than any of my sisters, in
order to make up for my other deficiencies. What was I without these things?
About the Author
Kate lives in the Bedfordshire countryside, England, close to the Chiltern Hills. She developed plans to be a novelist at the age of seven after reading about the career of prolific children's author Enid Blyton, whose adventure and mystery story books she read avidly. She taught herself to use her mother's typewriter to try and make her stories look like "proper books". Endlessly fascinated by "the past", Kate took a degree in History before starting a commercial career.
She began
seriously writing in 2001, taking a notebook with her on the train to make best
use of her commute to work. She wrote two historical novel manuscripts before
receiving an offer of publication for the second - a short novel - in 2004 from
DC Thomson. Fateful Deception is a romantic adventure set in the
early 19th century and was shortlisted for the 2005 RNA New Writers
Award.
2006
saw the publication of Perfidy and Perfection, Kate's romantic comedy set in
Jane Austen's England, and the publication of two short novels: Fateful
Deception and The Restless Heart.
Kate
also writes in partnership with author Michelle Styles under the name Jennifer
Lindsay. Jennifer Lindsay's first novel, The Lady Soldier, is a
romantic adventure about a lady who disguises herself as a man in order to
join Wellington's army. It was published in 2005.
The
kind of stories Kate writes are those that she would like to read, and she
hopes that others will find them enjoyable and entertaining too.
Kate
is member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors.
BLOGS INVOLVED IN THE BOOK TOUR
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