PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY THE TENORS VEVO ON JUNE 18, 2015.
Isn’t this a perfect song for the Monday after Father’s Day Sunday? I thought it was. 🙂 I have paired it with an excerpt from At All Costs. Bingley looked up to his father and learned many good lessons from him. In fact, one of these lessons is where the title of this book comes from. It’s here in this line, which is from very, very near the end of the book: “My father taught me many things, but the one he stressed more than any other was that a man must protect that which is dear to him at all costs.” Below is another place in this book where Bingley is thinking about his father.
At All Costs, Chapter 4 Excerpt
“Harris is to leave with you when you leave Derbyshire, is he not?” Bingley cut a sidelong glance at Richard, who nodded, as they walked. Harris was an ever-present annoyance that Bingley would gladly see gone. “Is it not possible to send him back to Brighton early?”
Richard laughed. “I have no reason to do so.”
Bingley sighed. “That is unfortunate.”
And it was unfortunate indeed, for that very gentleman happened to be the one that brought Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth to Pemberley. It was also Harris who took Jane’s arm as they strolled around the garden, and it was Harris who claimed the seat next to Jane when they all finally paused for a rest. And it was also Harris who was now monopolizing the conversation.
“It is a lovely day, is it not?” Harris asked as they sat in the shadow cast by Pemberley across the side garden at this time of day.
It was the consensus that it was indeed a fine day — for the weather was pleasant. However, for two of the party, the day was not so fine as it could have been. Bingley was in general annoyed by the presence of Harris and, in specific, irked by Harris’s attentions to Jane.
That lady was also not best pleased by the presence of Captain Harris. For, upon their return to Willow Hall yesterday, Jane had confessed to Elizabeth that she could no longer bear the guilt of playing one gentleman against the other. The techniques that Lydia had mentioned seemed to work as Mr. Bingley did look put out, but she feared Captain Harris was beginning to think there was a greater attachment on her part than there was. And so, she sat now wishing to dissuade that particular gentleman while longing to know if she had any hope with Mr. Bingley. The frustration of the situation was enough to cause her smile to fade and to keep her rather silent.
This change in Jane’s usually cheerful countenance did not go unnoticed by Mr. Bingley. What could the cause of her silence and sad expression was, he did not know, but seeing her so saddened his heart and made him long for a great wind to sweep away all the others so that he might speak to her in private.
“The summers here are rather pleasant,” Harris was saying, “but there is nothing like a sea breeze on a warm day. When I was a child, my father would often take us to the sea for the summer. Ramsgate was his favoured spot. You have been there, have you not, Mr. Darcy?”
“Yes, we had a small cottage there, but it is gone now.” Darcy’s tone was one that spoke of not wishing to discuss the matter further. Harris, however, seemed not to notice.
But then, thought Bingley with a small sigh, nothing appeared to gain Harris’s attention except himself and, to a lesser degree, the lady seated beside him.
“Gone?” Harris said in surprise. “I should not like to give up such a piece of paradise.” He added with a grin, “Mother continually asks Father to purchase a place there. However, Father sees it as an unnecessary expense since it is easy enough to rent a place, but, to me, having a place in Ramsgate to be used at your convenience and leased when you are not in residence seems the best of all things — pleasure and income. Father does not agree, nor does he like to travel so much as I do. He is content to be contained within Derbyshire except for the occasional foray into town or to indulge mother with a time beside the sea.” He turned to Jane. “What of you, Miss Bennet? Do you enjoy the sea?”
“I do not know,” said Jane. “I have never been there.”
“But your sister has been to Brighton.”
“Yes, Lydia has been to Brighton, but she is the only one of us who has. And, had it not been for her particular friend inviting her to visit, she would not have seen the sea either. We are not great travellers. Our father prefers to stay at home.” Jane saw Elizabeth’s brows rise, but Jane did not care if her tone was not so pleasant as it normally was. She wished for Captain Harris to both stop speaking and leave her side for just a moment.
“This is what assumption does,” said Harris, clearly unaffected by Jane’s less than sweet response. “We tend to see the world and everyone in it as our experiences teach us, but we must not assume that all have had the same experiences.”
“No,” said Jane, “we should not.”
“Your father was in trade,” said Harris, turning to Bingley. “He had ships, did he not?”
“He did.”
“So you have been to the sea?”
“I have.” Apparently, Harris was desperate to have someone agree with him on the superiority of a summer beside the sea to one in Derbyshire. He would not find such a person in Bingley, even if Bingley did prefer the sea — which he did not.
“And what was your opinion of it?” Harris leaned forward in his chair as if eager to hear what tales Bingley would have to share.
“It is vast and full of water.”
Harris blinked. “Is that all? Were you not captivated by its beauty? Did you not like to listen to the calls of the gulls?”
“The gulls will steal your lunch, and the beauty of the sea can turn in an instant to a fearsome monster that snatches life. While I do have some fond memories of the sea, Captain Harris, the most enduring is far from fond, for, you see, my father perished in a storm in the Irish Sea.”
“Oh,” Jane’s hand rested on her heart. “That is very sad indeed.”
Bingley gave her a grateful smile. “To be fair, the sea has carried great wealth to our family, for which I am thankful, but it has also carried away that which was most dear. So, I cannot look upon the sea with the same tranquility that another might. If you will excuse me.” He rose and walked away from the group. His father had been gone for three years, and yet the pain of his sudden departure had not dulled enough for Bingley to speak of it with great equanimity.
Jane watched Mr. Bingley go and yearned to follow after him, to lend him an arm for comfort and her presence to fill the void he must feel. Colonel Fitzwilliam was sharing some tale of having been aboard a ship when the wind had come up and waves had tipped the vessel this way and that, but Jane was not listening. Her eyes were still with Mr. Bingley, who was being called to by a footman and hurrying away.
Oh, he’s my favourite Bingley ever. 🙂 He’s not what one might expect. To quote the story one more time: “Bingley needs no help from me,” said Richard with a wink. “A fierceness lies behind that pleasant facade.”
In case you missed seeing the Current Book Promotions page update: And Then Love, the first book in the Willow Hall series is on sale for $0.99 but only until tomorrow.
That music was delightful and, of course, I teared up. Three generations of men there. The one singer reached out for his young son and the other singer when and hugged his own father. How touching. Poor Bingley and poor Jane. I am sure they worked it out to everyone’s satisfaction. Blessings, Leenie. Stay safe and healthy.
It was just such a sweet song! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it.